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Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

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Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#41

Post by grues-dinner »

prmoustache wrote: post #4
tucnak wrote: post #2

Is it just me or does this read a little boring and a lot longer than it should..? So much of the email is just him calling random people... whole paragraphs of it

That is what happened when you get used to modern tv shoes, doom-scrolling on social media, and immediate gratification in general: anything older than 2010 feels super slow.

Alien is my official brainrot-ometer. If you start fidgeting and going "ohhh my gawwwwwd these old films are so slooooow" before the chestburster, you may be cooked.

Also a good example of how hyper-optimised physiques are in films and media in general and the standards that produces. While I'm sure Ripley's underwear scene caused a fuzzy section on a million VHS tapes at the time, my (female, borderline zoomer) cousin, who failed the boredom test before almost falling off the sofa when the chestburster appeared, said "oh wow, actresses then had such ordinary, girl-next-door bodies!". Mind-boggling.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#42

Post by alnwlsn »

incanus77 wrote: post #38
sevensor wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the more memorable experiences of my youth was watching a VW microbus burn. It had been stored over the winter and evidently the fuel line had either deteriorated or been chewed on by an animal. After idling for a few minutes it went spectacularly up in flames. The firefighters weren’t expecting magnesium and were quite surprised by the intensity of the fire and the bright white flames from the puddles of molt…

This is a common problem with rear-engine VWs if the fuel lines aren’t maintained. Fuel pumping through rubber hoses directly over hot exhaust is a recipe for disaster. It’s generally recommended now to replace the lines at least every ten years. You don’t see them wearing as they do so from the inside. Things can even start up after sitting for a while after driving since the exhaust is still hot and there is pressu…

On the '65 beetle we have, I always heard that the main culprit wasn't the fuel lines themselves, but the brass flange for the fuel hose being a (not great) press-fit into the zinc carburetor. And that's after the fuel pump, so if that flange comes out the loose end of the hose sprays gasoline all over the engine. It's not uncommon to tie that end of the hose on with some safety wire, just in case.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#43

Post by sevensor »

incanus77 wrote: post #38
sevensor wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the more memorable experiences of my youth was watching a VW microbus burn. It had been stored over the winter and evidently the fuel line had either deteriorated or been chewed on by an animal. After idling for a few minutes it went spectacularly up in flames. The firefighters weren’t expecting magnesium and were quite surprised by the intensity of the fire and the bright white flames from the puddles of molt…

This is a common problem with rear-engine VWs if the fuel lines aren’t maintained. Fuel pumping through rubber hoses directly over hot exhaust is a recipe for disaster. It’s generally recommended now to replace the lines at least every ten years. You don’t see them wearing as they do so from the inside. Things can even start up after sitting for a while after driving since the exhaust is still hot and there is pressu…

If only we'd known! This was decades ago, before the internet, and perhaps the word had not yet got around. I loved that Microbus.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#44

Post by MadnessASAP »

ido wrote: post #27
alnwlsn wrote: post #26

This reminds me of burning scrap VW engine blocks or transmission cases. It can be done on an ordinary wood camp fire. You'll probably want to cut up the scrap into more manageable chunks rather than go for the whole thing at once. Then, toss a few into the hottest part of the fire. For about a half hour, nothing will happen. Then, the chunks will begin to melt, forming puddles onto the bed of coals, where they will…

Wouldn’t a sufficient amount of sand (eventually) put out the fire?

Presumably, but I would assume that the sort of people prepared for intense metal fires are not the same sort of people who go starting intense metal fires.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#45

Post by prmoustache »

grues-dinner wrote: post #41
prmoustache wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is what happened when you get used to modern tv shoes, doom-scrolling on social media, and immediate gratification in general: anything older than 2010 feels super slow.

Alien is my official brainrot-ometer. If you start fidgeting and going "ohhh my gawwwwwd these old films are so slooooow" before the chestburster, you may be cooked. Also a good example of how hyper-optimised physiques are in films and media in general and the standards that produces. While I'm sure Ripley's underwear scene caused a fuzzy section on a million VHS tapes at the time, my (female, borderline zoomer) cous…

I guess the opening title of Twin Peaks would be a great boredom test as well.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#46

Post by incanus77 »

alnwlsn wrote: post #42
incanus77 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a common problem with rear-engine VWs if the fuel lines aren’t maintained. Fuel pumping through rubber hoses directly over hot exhaust is a recipe for disaster. It’s generally recommended now to replace the lines at least every ten years. You don’t see them wearing as they do so from the inside. Things can even start up after sitting for a while after driving since the exhaust is still hot and there is pressu…

On the '65 beetle we have, I always heard that the main culprit wasn't the fuel lines themselves, but the brass flange for the fuel hose being a (not great) press-fit into the zinc carburetor. And that's after the fuel pump, so if that flange comes out the loose end of the hose sprays gasoline all over the engine. It's not uncommon to tie that end of the hose on with some safety wire, just in case.

Makes sense. I'm talking mostly from the perspective of fuel injected Vanagons. Connections generally seem good; it's usually the hoses.

Re: Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

#47

Post by standardly »

runjake wrote: post #33
alnwlsn wrote: post #26

This reminds me of burning scrap VW engine blocks or transmission cases. It can be done on an ordinary wood camp fire. You'll probably want to cut up the scrap into more manageable chunks rather than go for the whole thing at once. Then, toss a few into the hottest part of the fire. For about a half hour, nothing will happen. Then, the chunks will begin to melt, forming puddles onto the bed of coals, where they will…

+1! This was a relatively common thing to do at the Glamis[1] sand dunes in the 1970s-1980s. Glamis is a massive sets of sand dunes in California where bunches of people go to camp and ride offroad vehicles. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamis,_California

Wow, that seems like some absolute Mad Max shit... very cool
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