Fire protection for GRP

[sanzomat]

http://envirograf.com/product/fire-protection-coating-for-glassfibre-and-pvc/

Seeing that video of the Lambo catching fire reminded me of this stuff I saw whilst researching some other stuff for work a couple of weeks ago.

Anyone used anything similar or have any ideas about whether this might be a good idea?

Having heard how easy GRP can burn I was thinking that applying an intumescent coating to the inside of the engine bay might be a good idea and from the description this might do the job.

[CC Cyclone]

Check the temperatures at which it starts to Intumes, I use envirograf a lot on buildings and if in direct sunlight it can get hot enough to foam, I expect on a grp engine bay it would have the same problem.

The other thing to note is that it is a surface spread of flame product, essentially it stops fire flashing across the surface of a material when it reaches flash point, generally designed to slow down fire spreading across flammable surfaces in buildings for example with the build up of heat.

GRP actually has to get very hot in my experience to catch fire. I once had a Ginetta that I was mapping on Emeralds rolling road. Neither Dave or I noticed that the cat was glowing cherry red and actually in contact with the bodywork for its full length due to a loose exhaust joint. The GRP glowed bright red for an area of around 400x200mm contact patch for a good minute and never caught. It was impressive, especially as i touched the area after it had stopped glowing only to blister my hand from the heat. I think the problem with GRP is that when it does go, it is then pretty much instant.

I would be interested to know what envirograf say about it though - I recall one of the manufacturers used to claim to make race cars form non-flammable GRP - I meant to ask them about it and now can't remember who it was.

[damouk]

The v-storm has what looks like exhaust wrap glued to it then aluminium tape on top of that works very well at keeping the heat away. My turbo is about 2 inches below, it does have a jacket on but the body panel isn't much warmer than any of the other parts

['The Gaffer']

It's hard to imagine that nobody has created a chemical additive when making GRP to make it inflammable - Especially considering how many cars are made of the stuff.