Not as sexy as a big wing or a Nitrous bottle, but well worth the effort.
I am starting to take longer trips and longer laps at bigger events so the car is under more stress. I have chased all of the major safety items, steering, brakes, fuel lines, headlights... but there will always be things you can't predict, or control. Some folks say no vintage car should be without an extinguisher, and I tend to fall on that side as well. It's kinda tough to argue against fire safety in any car. In 2020 alone there were over 173,000 car fires in the US (low-offset.com, link below). It's not unique to new or old cars.
Extinguisher-wise you commonly have 2 options.
* There is a standard "dry chemical" which will put out a variety of fires you may have in a car (A,B &C) but will damage delicate electronics.
* Option B is a Halon-type "clean agent" which will not damage your electronics but is more expensive. My concern with Halon is simply being in an enclosed space with it. If the car is on fire my assumption is my electronics are already having a bad day. Read up on them, their benefits and drawbacks and make your best call.
I looked around and I liked the Rennline mount the best. I don't have a roll cage to use as a mount, and I want to still use the car, well, as a car. Take the Mrs to a nice dinner. Normal person stuff. The Rennline mount is small, well made, neat and out of the way. It also does not impact the seat's ability to move around much. You can move the seat back but not forward, so you want to mount the thing with the seat close to where it will stay. The nice thing is you can remove the extinguisher and bracket when you go out on a dinner date or something where it could be in the way.
Their instructions are a bit vague, more of a general approach given the range of cars this probably can fit, so here is what I would have wanted to know in my own case:
The mount basically gets sandwiched between the seat rail and the floor. Is this ideal? Probably not in a strictest sense, but it is working fine. How much support does the floor pan really provide to the rail? With the mount the seat rail is not supported fully under its complete length but is still bolted to all of the factory mount points for safety. I mounted it in front of the passenger seat since that one is empty more and so it can't interfere with the driver if it comes loose etc.
The kit is pictured with their fancy aluminum quick release, but does not come with it. The release you get is the one that comes with the extinguisher you've chosen. You will need to order the fancy quick release separately if you want that.
I went with a red extinguisher, which saves a lot of cash. Why is silver so expensive? Who knows. #fashion
I did not pay up for the more expensive "clean" chemical for a fairly simple reason. These small (2.5lb) extinguishers are meant to get you out of a fire, not to put the fire out. It's a pretty common misconception people have. I used to have it too. My brother-in-law is a professional firefighter, and in my own work in security I wind up working on fire safety. Even the larger devices you have around an office are generally just meant to get you out. That is why the dept shows up with a pumper truck to do the big job. (duh). Depending on the size of the fire, you may be able to put it out - but please don't count on it. Get yourself to safety.
Not so fun fact: in some (most?) cases the FD will only contain a car fire, not try to rescue the car. The logic is simple - the car is probably already totaled by the time they get there & there is no sense in risking the safety of the firefighter(s) They will just keep it from spreading to surrounding structures etc. and put it out from a distance. There can be lots of toxic chemicals given off, struts can explode, and there are other hazards which are very real. You do not want to be near a car fire.
If you have a fire in your 911, it will probably be under the rear decklid. You have oil, gas, a very hot exhaust manifold & electrical connections. If you are truly unlucky you have a Magnesium engine case or wheels (link below). If it smokes enough to stall the car or become visible to you while driving, you may have a real fire going. To try to "put it out" you would need to pull over, pop the latch and then lift the decklid - giving the area even more oxygen to burn while you are standing there facing it. (Please Don't)
Think through any action you take very carefully.
Enough of that, how do we install it?
Step 1: I like to test fit things first. Do I have all the bits, how does it work, what should go first, that sort of thing.
The mount came with the extinguisher. The black plate mounts unde the seat rail, the silver section slides in and out for access and the red lever locks the silver piece in place.
The directions are vague but of the 2 spacers, the thick one goes in the rear and the thinner one goes up front to allow the locking tab to work. I used a little locktite on the rear screw.
The seat mounts are funky, I always recommend taking pics in case they come out. They are not symmetrical. This is the outside rear mount. You need to remove the front bolts and loosen the rears in order to angle the seat track enough. Don't take out the rears if you can help it. They are super tight and a nuisance to re-install.
This is the inboard rear mount on the passenger side, which of course does not match the outboard one. Because.
Here is the mounting plate sandwiched in place. If you read the seat page you know there is a metal block that the screws go into. To reassemble, line up the holes and then hold the metal block in place with a finger or 2 until you can start the screw. I mounted mine with the rear-most holes in the bracket. You can mount it farther in if you would like. Just test your seat movement etc. before you lock it all down. I want it out where I can easily see it and get to it in a hurry.
Swing the latch CCW and you can pull the mount completely out if you are not going to need it for some reason.
Slide it in and lock it down by turning the arm CW. It does not impact seat movement forwards or backwards in my 1988 G-Body and when I sat in the passenger seat it did not interfere with my legroom. (dirty floormat sold separately)
I want the extinguisher out where it is very visible and easy to reach. I hope I never need it, but if I do, I want it to be an easy grab.
References:
Fighting car fires: https://www.firefighternation.com/firerescue/fighting-vehicle-fires/#gref
What kind of extinguisher do I need in a car? https://low-offset.com/guides/best-car-fire-extinguisher/
Magnesium fires: https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/hoselines-water-appliances/article/11300616/firefighter-training-extinguishing-magnesium-fires
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