[ Alto Works ] Japan Dry ABC Powder Fire Extinguisher, Part 2

Now that we have our Japan Dry Chemical PAN-3AG fire extinguisher, how do we keep it in the car safely? It can’t roll around under the seats and can’t be secured with velcro or the like… at least safely. The last thing I need is a 3kg projectile inside the cabin if I get into an accident. Not to mention many race sanctioning bodies, at least in the US, require a securely mounted metal bracket with bolts and nuts.

The most typical mounting option is in the footwell in front of the driver or passenger seats, bolted to the floor or the seat mounts. As mentioned previously <l>, the fire extinguisher needs to be accessible when I am tightly buckled into my seat. I initially liked the idea of a footwell-mounted extinguisher, as it is quick and easy to access, but given that this is a tiny kei car, legroom is already at a premium.

On race cars, mounting to a roll cage, such as on a harness bar, is another common solution. One would only need to reach around and grab the extinguisher. Unfortunately, there is no harness bar and the other bars are far too inconveniently out of reach.

This leaves only the rear passenger footwell to mount an extinguisher and I think it’s still a pretty good location. I can easily reach back around with my left arm, flick open the metal band, and grab it should I need it. Most importantly, the rear seats cannot be currently used with my roll bar, so there will not be any rear passengers.

Mounting it will be another matter entirely. The transmission tunnel is rather slim, so it is not wide enough to accommodate both bolts drilled through. The second bolt will have to be mounted by an extended stainless metal plate.

This is my mockup shot. As you can see, only one bolt can be mounted directly. With the extra bracket, it seems fairly secure. The only issue is I had to ensure that the two bolts clear the rear parking brake wires. Since this is not an AWD car, there is no rear transmission shaft.

A simple two holes drilled through the tunnel, deburred, and painted, the mount is ready to go on. I cut a bit of the carpet to allow the screws and bracket to clear the dampening foam underneath. With some stainless screws and silicon to seal out the water, the fire extinguisher is mounted!

A simple and quick project, one well-worth the addition if the need ever arises!

[ Alto Works ] Japan Dry ABC Powder Fire Extinguisher, Part 1

Safety first… as long as it’s cheap enough. I’ll go into what I mean shortly.

My Alto Works project is a bit of a haphazard mix of used and new parts, put together by a guy who pretty much knows absolutely nothing about cars -- me. So let’s just say there is a fair potential for something catastrophic to occur, whether it be something as simple as a car having drivability issues to maybe, however small the chance is, a fire.

It is overly dramatic for me to say the car will catch fire, but I’m going to use this excuse to add yet one more thing to the car: a fire extinguisher. There is a reason race cars often require a fire extinguisher or a fire-suppression system to not only protect the driver, but keep damage in case of fire to a minimum. With a full race harness and a roll cage, the fire extinguisher will also need to be readily accessible.

As cars have a wide variety of materials, there are many potential sources of fire. The three major categories of fire that we are concerned with in a car are A, B, and C. Class A fires come from paper, plastic, wood, or textiles, as commonly found in automotive interiors. Class B fires are from grease or oil sources. Class C fires are electrical fires. A fire extinguisher installed in a car will need to protect and stop all these potentially dangerous fires.

Doing a bit of research, I discovered an unbelievably wide range of suppressants used in extinguishers, each targeting specific fuel sources. Suffice to say we only really need to know about ABC dry powder and Halotron I (or formerly Halon) extinguishers for our ABC needs.

ABC dry chemical powder extinguishers are cost-effective and effective chemicals that unfortunately can be difficult to clean up and may cause long-term damage to electronics and other metal components. Halotron I, replacing the much less environmentally-friendly Halon, is a “clean-agent,” which means it extinguishes fires without leaving significant clean-up residue. This means it can safely be used on sensitive electronic components without causing corrosion.

I don’t have cheap or easy access to Hal Guard (or similar Halotron gas) extinguishers. While you can buy a typical small HG100 bottle in the states for around $165, in Japan it is much more at 27000￥... or roughly $250 USD. Sorry, I love my little Alto, but that is more than half the price I paid for the actual car.

Unfortunately, while there is potential for mess and damage, it is much better to have something that could save a life than not have an extinguisher at all. It was difficult to decide which brand to buy, but I eventually settled on purchasing an ABC dry chemical extinguisher made by Japan Dry Chemical. The PAN-3AG is a compact size designed for cars and includes a fairly secure metal mount for about 5000￥($47 USD). It is made in Japan by a major company. With the ABC rating, it is good for all typical car fires that may occur in my car.

The installation will come next time!