Car caught fire. Can i save the motor and tranny?

[brittken]

My 85 t type caught fire last week and the interior is a total loss. I was on my way back to Alabama when it caught fire in Port Allen Louisiana. I am going to try to pick it up this weekend if my Insurance lets me. I hope to get what I paid for it from the insurance company and then buy it back for a reasonable price. What do you think the insurance company would charge me to buy it back? I believe the motor and transmission are fine. The bumpers, headlamp bezels, filler panels and hood are also salvagable. Everything underneath the car looks ok. I am thinking another body,ecm, and engine harness will get me back on the road. Has anyone ever done this? What should I expect or look out for after a car fire? The motor and transmission only have about 1700 miles on the rebuild. Thats why I want to save it so badly. Not to mention i only had the car 24 hours. I am not really sure what started the fire. Somthing electrical under the steering column. Look at these pics and tell me what you guys think might be salvagable.

 

[brittken]

Some more pics. I do not think the firewall has been breached. It looks like the paint on the hood burned but nothing in the engine compartment. I was not able to get the hood up when i took these pics.

 

[BandAid]

Sorry for the loss,not to be insensitive but are you selling the bumpers ...
Dennis

 

[Grumpy]

maybe take the eng, trans and rear end ... find a roller ... eng def has some damage ..that got hot !! good luck in your search

 

[Dan Buick Man]

No offense but if you get what you paid for the car from the insurance co., I would take it and walk. Unless you can buy the vehicle for what the parts are worth and don't mind dealing with a burnt out shell. It appears you purchased a nice vehicle, walk away and purchase another one. They are still out there. Let someone else put a body and harness and everything else on it. Don't let your emotions about the vehicle make your decision. I have been in a similar situation as you and I wish I had walked.

 

[granny]

^^Dito^^

I did a similar thing with the granny(bought her out of a feild) thought it would be easy to restore.. LOL...yeah, still messing with electronics and what not inside and out. Trust me on this one, messing with the electronics on these cars is a hassle at best. especially if you plan on swapping the whole harnes. Just be warned.

P.S. very sorry for the loss man, she looked like a great car.

 

[bruce]

I am thinking another body,ecm, and engine harness will get me back on the road. .

Offer them a couple hundred bucks, and see what happens. You could make a career out of making a TR our of a non-TR. If you really like electrical work, it'd be one thing, but, IMO, there's a ALOT work that would be needed to save the just the engine and trans. (Don't forget the fuel system is unique to TRs).

Engine harness?, no, you'll probably be doing it all. As wires burn they melt into each other, and chasing these short down one by one, is a PITB, it'll be easier, to just rewire the entire car, IMO.

I hope anyone that doesn't carry a fire extingusher, now runs out and buys one.

 

[rhunt]

Fire

Dude:

Sorry for you're loss. These are great cars Hpoe you can do a transplant and

get back on the road by Spring!!!!

Roger

 

[72firebird]

Personally I wouldn't rebuild it because when you have a fire with the amount of heat that is concentrated inside the car the frame is going to warp a little and lose some of it's integrity. So I think that saving the car is out of the question. From the pictures it looks like it was a pretty big fire, glad you made it out alright.

 

[brittken]

Thanks for the reply guys. I was thinking of buying another hot air Turbo Regal body and going from there. I know where one is at. Yeah this was a great car. I used to laugh at a friend that had a fire extingusher in his car. I won't no more. If fire did not make it to the engine compartment what kind of damage could the motor have if it only got hot from the fire. I am not dure what I want to do yet. Here are some pics of it a few hours before the fire.

 

[GNeric]

I miss my old car.

 

[DrkBluT-TyPe]

Sorry for the loss man, your car catching on fire is horrible! Do you know if someone ran a wrong wire somewhere or have no clue? That looks like it was a HUGE fire. Either that or really hott!

 

[GNeric]

That was my 85 T and nothing under the dash was different than factory. I tried to make that car as dependable as possible when I built it. My wife was driving it around and if I never sold it, it could have happened to her. She gave me until the end of the year to sell it or she was going to keep it. Now it's gone forever.

I took my Dr Pepper car apart last weekend and found a wire on the ignition switch brittle and a dark spot on the switch itself. That fire scared the hell out of me and I didn't want it happening with the G-bodies we have left.