[ChevLoRay]

The old saying "Where there's smoke, there's fire" doesn't always mean what it says.

I fired my truck up one morning and it ran for about 5 seconds and died. It was strange. I popped the hood open, only to see smoke coming from the wiring harness on the radiator support. It was obvious that it was electrical and I didn't want it to become more involved. What to do, what to do....

The wire from the battery to the terminal on the right fender was glowing red. I knew it came from the battery, so it had to be a short. So, I started pulling on it by hand. Yeah, it was hot, but the scars healed and I saved my '69.

So, keep a good pair of pliers plus a fire extinguisher. In this case, an extinguisher would have been no help. As long as the electrical short continues to exist, wires keep smoking.

If I had seen that the battery wire from the alternator was grounding out on my header, I could have moved it and stopped the short. But my eyes were glued to the glowing wire and pondering how much wiring could be smoked.

A new harness for the lighting was all it took to fix that part. And a little touch-up paint. Oh, and the check from my insurance company was nice, too. They paid me to do my own work, minus the deductible of $50.