Recovery from engine fire?

[Sean73]

I'm looking at buying a 70 911E, that has had minor engine fire. I haven't assessed the damage thoroughly yet, but the fire barely fried the paint on the engine lid, as far as I can tell.

When I do get a chance to pop the engine lid, what specific items should I look for to assess the damage, other than blatantly obvious melted parts? I won't be able to have a mechanic look at it right now.

Does anyone have any stories of recovering after an engine fire? What was the damage, what caused it, and what was involved in the repair?

I'm going to make an offer on the car, budgeting for a new induction system. The variable in my mind is whether the top-end and other major components survived the fire.

[Jim Smolka]

Don't forget about the wiring for the Alternator, plugs wires, dizzy, and the sound insulation material.

Also, see if the engine needs to be dropped to repaint the motor compartment.

[john walker's workshop]

a lot of fire damage looks worse than it really is. other than the burnt stuff, the most damage is often caused by fire extinguisher powder allowed to sit on the aluminum parts for a long time. it eats the crap out of them. it probably didn't get down the intakes, but the throttles may be full of powder. the cold start system is often the cause of stack fires, which if ignored, (when the engine won't start, and you go back inside the house), become larger fires.

[Jim Sims]

New OEM engine wiring harnesses (there's likely two involved) will be $300 or more. Also, I've heard some of the MFI fuel plastic bits (fuel line barbs and tees) are NLA so if these are melted or burned you may have to look for expensive and rare used or NOS parts. Damage to MFI pump system: starting with belt, pulleys ($100 each) and seals. Melted air cleaner parts, fiberglass shroud, fried oil pressure and temperature senders, damaged valve covers and valve cover gaskets. If the engine had oil leaks and the residual oil ignited then one could have cylinder fin damage, melted o-rings in oil return tubes and oil cooler damage. Then there's all the breather hoses and oil lines with rubber sections. It could get expensive. Be wary! Jim

[Sean73]

I've had a chance to look at the car again. It's a 2.2T motor with Zenith's. It looks like the fire originated in one of the the velocity stacks. Looking down the carb, I can see melted parts. The carb body itself appears to be in tact. The air cleaner melted, and a few hoses were burned. It's a big mess, with all the soot, and fire extinguisher residue, but upon close examination, I don't see too many damaged items.