My car caught on fire today!

[Garcia]

The blaze was kept to the engine bay but it's all pretty much destroyed. The "engine" remains, covered in black silt and melted rubber / plastic. Everything else is gone. From the fire wall back all looks good. The firewall did it's job and the fire department was mindful of the rest of the car, trying not to make it much worse than it was. (But, this was bad) I had three choices presented to me. Tow it to the
Police impound lot, the junk yard or somewhere of my choosing (at cost). I had it towed home to the drive way. I figure either way I've got tons of great parts left and a really clean interior.

So, what's one to do?
Should I part it out for what I can sell and then send it off to the junk yard? Or it it worth fixing? Put in another engine, wiring harness etc...? Or..?

What should I do? I just couldn't stand to send it to the junk yard, they thought I was kinda crazy but hell the wheels, seats etc all is worth $$, and maybe it could be rebuilt? I don't know...

What do you all think? And what under the hood is salvageable? Any of the engine metal reusable etc? Please advise!

Thanks

[mikepellegrini]

My condolences.

It may look a lot worse than it is. Unless it was an awful, awful hot fire that burned a long time, the main components of the engine may be okay. Just charred.

Unless you actually melted the aluminum, all you may need are an engine wiring harness and some rubber tubes (coolant, vacuum, fuel). Maybe some new injectors and stuff. But the basic engine oughta be okay.

If the rest of the car is cherry and the engine is relatively intact, I'd look at rebuilding it. The hood can be repainted; the charred crap can be cleaned off the intake and so on...

What was the source of the fire?

[Rasta Monsta]

I hate electrical work. . .I'd be tempted to part it and start over, or find a good runner with bad interior and do some swapping.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by mikepellegrini

What was the source of the fire?

Fuel injector seal?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/627030-my-944-will-not-start-please-help.html

John

[88Silver924S]

Condolances also. What caused the fire? Maybe it will help someone else avoid the same fate. As for what to do, take inventory of what is "toast" and price out parts. A picture is worth a thousand words. Approximately where are you located?

[VirginiaF1]

Originally Posted by Garcia

The blaze was kept to the engine bay but it's all pretty much destroyed.

Garcia, so sorry for the damage...
As John's search of your 8/28 post showed, you had resealed the leaky injectors? But still a fire erupted, ya?

Was the orig factory HP fuel hose (over the rail) ever changed out as part of the recall? (NHTSA Campaign ID# 90V061000)

I called 1-800-PORSCHE ( or whatever the #), gave them my VIN and they confirmed my car was updated in 1989.

Just causal thoughts...

Looking for any pics or parts when/if you get time & inclination..
( iirc, must first have a Pelican Membership to post For Sale postings)

Best Luck mate..
mikey

[johnkoawood]

It CAN be restored to runing condition, last one I know of with a totally engulfed engine bay that is now on the road again took about $5K and just over a year... I spent a fair ammount of time working on it..

The engine harness, engine bay suplimental harness, cooling fan harness, battery cables, injectors, seals, fuel lines, vacuum lines, and any other damaged components will need changed out.. this is NOT a task to be undertaken by the faint of heart! however a little bit of elbow grease and some mechanical know how it can be brought back!

[Guest765]

I'm interested I'm some parts if you end up deciding to part it out as I'm sure others are. Pm me if so.

[Garcia]

Hey all, busy day trying to sort everything out. Thanks for the replies. I'm not going to have time to give it a good look over until the weekend but I'll post some pictures of it and the damage then. To answer your other questions: I'm in Atlanta and according to the Fire Marshall the official cause (source/origination) was a faulty fuel supply line (yes, the one feeding the fuel rail) it apparently broke loose and sent a nice little flame thrower across the engine bay to the drivers side ad the fire worked it's was back over to the passenger side. It was still snaking around when they crowbarred the hood open.

[mikesride]

Let insurance sort it out.

[Garcia]

Unfortunately my friend, I didn't have full comprehensive coverage. That's the only thing that covers theft/vandalism/flood/fire/hail.

There's no check coming and no repairs or new car to be had here. Just tears and beers.

[Cocacolakidd]

Sad Time -

Work ahead -

She will be up and running in a short time...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Been there, done that. Sorry to hear. Do you have any theories as to what caused it? Was it ethanol eating the rubber fuel hoses (as I suspect was the case with my 951 that went "up in smoke" a few years ago)?

I'd say part it out. It's not going to be worth the trouble to save and there will undoubtedly be something you miss. Undercoating/seam sealer will have melted, hoses, electrics, you-name-it, it adds up quickly. Salvage what you can, take the money and go buy yourself another. It'll be far less hassle. In my case, I took the insurance money (I had comprehensive, but had to put up a fight as they did try to screw me on the value) and bought my 911. And a t-handle fire suppression system (available on Paragon) for it. Once bitten twice shy. Been lucky since.

Check those rubber fuel hoses - the crap that's sold as gasoline today is NOT friendly to them!

Best of luck to you, glad you're okay and best of luck finding a replacement.

[Guest765]

This is why I have an extinguisher mounted in the passenger footwell but lets be honest if you don't get it within SECONDS then all you're doing is saving the fire crew work you aren't saving the car

[Guest765]

We should all mock up a steel chute to direct the fuel away from the hot exhaust in the event of a break but Idk if even that will work

[fiat22turbo]

Its the fumes that catch fire, to create the fumes you need heat. A heat shield would likely still be warm enough to generate the dangerous fumes.

I think just re-bending the lines to fix the problem once and for all is the best solution.

[Guest765]

Uh how? There's only really one way to route them?

[Cocacolakidd]

what about, instead of a shield, a pipe/conduit that would direct all gas and fumes down and away from the exhaust. It could even be made of a large braided type fuel line large enough to pass both lines, and anchored at the bottom side and top side...???

[Porsche-O-Phile]

On the later cars I strongly recommend using hard-piped lines over the exhaust headers. I recently picked up an '89 to add to my fleet and that's one of the first upgrades I'm doing. No flex lines until right over the engine and even then, a fireproof shroud running over the whole thing back to the fenderwell so any gas that gets sprayed out a failed connection or ruptured hose will drain on the inside of the shroud and dump harmlessly on the ground near the front pass. side wheel.

Fool me once...

[GreenWater]

Called 1-800 Porsche to check on the recalled hose. My car has been done already. One less thing to worry about. I have full coverage insurance so I think I will just take my chances. If she catches fire, I will probably just enjoy the show and have insurance pay me. Doesn't sound like it is worth putting out the fire and trying to rebuild. Just let her burn.