My truck caught fire.

[cliffsta]

I don't really know how else to describe it...



I have a video, it is uploading to Myspace, I dont' know how to play .3g2 videos otherwise. When we go back for it tomorrow I'll use the digi to take pictures.

This might have been it, folks.

Edit: Here's the video. Low quality phone video, sorry.

[Bishops Trucks]

Do you no what caused it? How bad did it burn?

[cliffsta]

They think it started down in electrical on pass. side near the firewall, but that's a guess. It might have been a failure of the fuel hose near the carb b/c it burned really bad up there, but that may have been post-spark. B/C of the loud pop it made, and the fact it still ran for 5 seconds b4 I cut it off leads me to think electrical failure.

The engine compartment looked pretty bad. It burned for a good 5 minutes from the first pop to the time the fire department got it out. I *think* it stayed outside the cab but it burned the firewall pretty good. I'll have better pics tomorrow. Its accross town so we'll probably have to have it towed.

Life was just getting pretty danged shweet, too.

[magnethead]

ouch. If it was electrical, you'd think a fuse or fusible link would have popped first.

[72armyswbtruck]

Ouch

[cliffsta]

Originally Posted by magnethead

ouch. If it was electrical, you'd think a fuse or fusible link would have popped first.

Only thing not fused that I know we've dealt with is the electric choke on the carburetor, which is one thing my father and I have thought about. I guess I'll know more in the morning. But still, there's not that much juice going to/from the choke, I dno't see how 1. it would spark or 2. spark ENOUGH to set my dang truck on fire!

p.s.: Yeah, I can't sleep. Star Trek movies are keeping me sane for the time being.

[68GMC454]

sorry to hear about your truck..maybe you will get lucky and it not be to bad...

[grinch4om]

being a fire marshal here in Kentucky I can't let this go. people, carry a small extinguisher and install a battery kill switch. I don't on the family truckster but the hot rod, well yer looking at the anguish! If it was on the passenger side, the battery wire to the starter is not fused. I've seen lots of them with melted insulation and the wire becomes a welder. The truck will even run while this happens. Also the fuel line is near there too, the rubber is vulnerable. I'm sorry for your loss dude, sucks but you are ok and you can fix the truck!

[grinch4om]

another way to avoid this is to put a ford starter solenoid on it. after running, this wire is not carrying current. also all the other wires are moved up off the starter to the ford solenoid, one of the other guys good ideas...

[boatpuller]

to bad man...hopefully it will turn out to be an easy fix. i don't know if this will help.but my old man used to tell me."never look up a dead dogs ass". i have no idea what that supposed to mean,but it always makes people smile.

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by grinch4om

being a fire marshal here in Kentucky I can't let this go. people, carry a small extinguisher and install a battery kill switch. I don't on the family truckster but the hot rod, well yer looking at the anguish! If it was on the passenger side, the battery wire to the starter is not fused. I've seen lots of them with melted insulation and the wire becomes a welder. The truck will even run while this happens. Also the fuel line is near there too, the rubber is vulnerable. I'm sorry for your loss dude, sucks but you are ok and you can fix the truck!

I've got a small bottle in my truck, never thought about a kill switch, but the only ones that can completely kill the truck mount straight to the battery post because of the starter drain. Or are there some that can withstand a 65 some amp draw through them so it kills EVERYTHING on the truck and can be mounted in the grille or something?

[cliffsta]

Well I had been carrying my sleeping bag with me, but I took it out a couple weeks ago, I could have smothered it right off the bat had I had it with me.

Tow truck is on the way to the house, should be here within the hour...

[killthewabbit]

Originally Posted by cliffsta

Well I had been carrying my sleeping bag with me, but I took it out a couple weeks ago, I could have smothered it right off the bat had I had it with me.

Tow truck is on the way to the house, should be here within the hour...

Dang, dude. Your truck is one on here that's closest to mine (78 stepside, same wheels/tire size as yours) and I hate to see it going up in smoke.

I'm glad you're OK and hope the truck is easily fixed.

[SanitysBane]

Bummer man. But you do have another truck to play with. Glad that you are ok.

[cliffsta]

I hated to see it on that flatbed. All the hell I've put it through and its never left me stranded or been stuck anywhere.

Looks like the distributor is DOA, all the wiring on the firewall is pretty much burnt from the A/C to the wiper motor, which is also cooked. Carburetor is gonna need a rebuild and a new choke assembly among other things. Cowl panel is toast, that rubber seal is toast, too. Air cleaner might be salvagable with a new air filter. Radiator and hoses look OK, A/C compressor doesn't look too bad. Those brand new plug wires are all gone, literally, gone.

I'll have higher quality digi camera pictures this evening.

[rage'nrat638]

sorry to see this brother..hope the insurance takes care of you and your trucks better than ever..your pal mark

[kevinr1970]

The only positive I can give you is that you were swapping the cabs anyways so this should just jumpstart that project.
I think the wire harness off your deisel donor should still work for your gas engine. Just a few thing that you won't be using.

Also, your new wheels look like they survived. If you had a stereo and it survived than you should be in pretty good shape. Sucks you lost your new carb.

If you were carrying insurance this might work out in your favor though. Just don't let them total it.

[68GMC454]

just a little baleig wire and some duct tape,,should start right up..one the good side of it,,it didnt burn to the ground....

[grinch4om]

magnethead, NHRA requires them for batteries in the trunk so the info can be found that way. I don't know how they are rated, I forget. Your best bet is probably the ford solenoid to get all the battery stuff up and away.

[cliffsta]

Some pics from the digi camera. The rest can be found at my photobucket in my sig.




We've pretty much determined the fire started from either the electric choke sparking out, or the wires running along the valve cover shorting. Either way, that's the pop I heard, and they smoldered until they caught the fuel line on fire, which was the POOF and shot of flames.




I've managed to get the dist. cap, plug wires, and other misc. burned stuff out but I'm leaving the burnt wires in so we know what needs to be replaced. Hosed it out and got most of the top soot out... what a great way to spend my last week before school starts Friday...

[Nolowrider]

Damn, that is terrible. I really feel for you. I know how I would feel. I am really curious as to what may have sparked. Please keep us posted.

[Eyegore]

Ouch, sorry to here what happened

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by grinch4om

magnethead, NHRA requires them for batteries in the trunk so the info can be found that way. I don't know how they are rated, I forget. Your best bet is probably the ford solenoid to get all the battery stuff up and away.

our roadster had one, but it was a panel mount flip switch. I'd like one you can stick in the grille so you dont have 0 gauge wire running everywhere, and you still don't have to open the hood to get to it. My friend got some for his boat, but a 2 stroke marine starter probably doesn't pull 65-70 amps like the one on my truck does.

[Russell]

The good news is that it didn't do any "serious" damage to your truck, you were planning on a cab swap, and a 350 swap anyways, so why not find a cheap DD, and get your plans put into action?

[cliffsta]

Originally Posted by Russell

The good news is that it didn't do any "serious" damage to your truck, you were planning on a cab swap, and a 350 swap anyways, so why not find a cheap DD, and get your plans put into action?

I am seriously considering doing just that. I'm gonna need a new distributor, which is $100 shipped from summit, and I need to rebuild the carburetor and buy replacement pieces for it which will run me somewhere between 25-50 bucks depending on what all melted inside the thing (I started a thread in the Engine/Drivetrain about repairing the carb, go chime in anybody that can), air filter, plug wires,... the list goes on.

Plus I don't like the thought of swiss cheesing the wiring from the brown truck onto this truck to turn around and reswiss cheese it all back together.

But I don't know if I can afford insurance on a car right now.

Its a time with many questions and few answers....