Fire Suppression System - Asset Protection

Behind the T-handle there is a solid aluminum block that is notched, which means once the handle is mounted it will not turn. Plus, the wire cable won't twist. So one person must hold the T-handle in the direction you want it to face once mounted while the other person feeds it through the black sheath and cuts it to length.

While I hold the T-handle, Dad cuts the cable wire 1 inch past the actuator.

Here you can see where the cable wire will be attached to the actuator-see the groove?

You must use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend a "Z" into the cable wire in the same direction that the T-handle is going to be mounted. Yes, you guessed it, I am still holding the T-handle.

Firecharger says that it's extremely important that once the cable wire is attached to the actuator that there is no more than 1/4-inch of play in the wire, otherwise you could prematurely set off the system.

Speaking of setting off the system, remember I said that the actuator rotates when you pull the T-handle? Well, in this picture you can see the brass arm that it rotates around. A CO2 cartridge will screw into the end of that bracket closest to the actuator. Inside the actuator, there is an oversized needle which, when the T-handle is pulled, punctures the CO2 cartridge, pressurizing the bottle.

There are two safety pins on this system-one on the actuator (shown)and one on the T-handle, both prevent the system from being accidentally discharged. You will see later that the part of the system in photo 16 is covered by an aluminum hood. It's important that you remove the safety pins before you roll onto the track, otherwise all of this work will be for nothing if you have a fire.

This is the two-port cylinder head at the top of the bottle. Inside there is a brass rupture disc. When the pressure inside the bottle builds up enough, the disc ruptures and releases the chemical. Here the threaded nut that will be attached to the aluminum feed tube gets tightened.

This is the location for the T-handle. We had to fabricate a small tab out of some angle aluminum that we had around the shop so that we would have a place to attach the handle. You can see the release tube being threaded through the hole in that tab. The tank is already in place and while I'm feeding cable through the hole, Dad is pulling it to measure and cut it prior to securing it to the actuator.

To mount both nozzles we had to drill through the aluminum cockpit wall with a step bit. These nozzles spray in a 180-degree pattern giving us a number of options when choosing mounting locations. This nozzle is mounted just above the dry sump which sits above the transmission. It is aimed so that part of the spray blows on to the right side of the engine from carb to headers, the dry sump, and then toward the oil tank down the tunnel toward the back of the car.

With the hole for the 1/4-inch aluminum tube that feeds the nozzle cut, we decided to head down to our local parts shop and get some rubber grommets. They just press into place and provide an extra level of protection. Overkill maybe, but we don't like to take any chances.

Because of the throttle linkage that was in the way, we had to bend the aluminum delivery tube.