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My Blazer is gone... Fire BAAAD!!! - ***UPDATED*** with parts info

PhoenixZorn said:
Thankfully my son, wife and dog were not with me... I would hate to think how I would have reacted if they were along...
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Thats a great way of looking at it, Your blazer is important but you and your family didn't get injured which is way more important.
 
4by4bygod said:
Hi!

Yes I am. are you?

Tom
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I studied an eclectic style that incorporated a lot of Kali for weapons use, but I haven't studied it traditionally. What I did learn I really enjoyed. I've studied primarily Chinese arts, but Kali is at the top of my list of what I would consider a practical art. How are you liking it?
 
Something for next time. If you engine backfires and dies, and you even think it might have a flame, start cranking. It will suck the flame back into the engine, and put itself out, or start the truck up. Down at the track, alot of people have nitrous backfires, or if you sit at the line too long, the car will load up and backfire when you launch. I have seen a few cars catch on fire, but luckly at the track the saftey crew can put the fire out. But what I mentioned before has keep my car from being on fire many times.

Dan
 
wy4tt said:
I studied an eclectic style that incorporated a lot of Kali for weapons use, but I haven't studied it traditionally. What I did learn I really enjoyed. I've studied primarily Chinese arts, but Kali is at the top of my list of what I would consider a practical art. How are you liking it?
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Hi!

I like it a lot. I had a longer and more involved answer typed, but you don't have PM's or email enabled. Don't want to get off topic here, so pm me with a good email, or enable PMs on your CK5 account.

Tom
 
Oh, man, that's really really stinks. I hate to look for blame, but didn't you just get your 350 installed by a local shop. Sure they did everything right? Don't know if there'd be enough left of the truck to figure it out for sure, but it's worth a shot, huh. Man, I can't tell you enough how bad I feel for ya. But you're right, just count your blessings that your loved ones were safe and sound, and you got out OK. As much as we love them trucks are still just beautifully shaped pieces of steel and can be replaced.
 
Its the timing that caused it, or a rich mixture.... Ask me how i know.

So what are you going to do with the motor? I heard you say somethin about a diesel replacement. I would take a 300 hp 380 ft lb 350 that is freshly built over a 6.2 or 6.5 diesel anyday...

Anything worth salvaging? what all did you lose?

Something like that should make us all respect and appreciate our rigs more... you never know when your going to roll it or wreck it or have it blow up.

again sorry to hear about your loss bro...
 
Well... I'm going to have my insurance company look at it to see what caused the fire... I would really not like to place blame on the mechanics, but rather the engine manufacturer... Oddly enough, the thing ran fine for a month before it blew up... and I have no idea what could have caused it, though just before I jumped out, I smelled gas, and happened to look in the rearview mirror and saw a line of spilled liquid, likely the gas I was smelling...

What are the chances that my engine, transmission, and transfer case survived the blaze? I know engines are iron, and I should expect to see all my gaskets completely toasted, but I'm considering a salvage operation to remove the body, and keep the frame, drivetrain, and powertrain, since it's all pretty much new. I can get a new body, but my wife is worried about me spending another $8000 on this truck... I think I can keep it under $2000 if I have friends help me with the rebuild, but I need to know what you guys think...

dirtwarrior, since you said "ask me how I know" again, I'll just put this out there... was your rig salvageable after the fire?

NOTE: I'll put up some pictures tomorrow... I need to get Photoshop installed and I'm too tired to do the stuff tonight.
 
That sucks, and I know the feeling. My '78 K5 burned in college back in 1988, and I felt like I lost everything. Well, I guess at the time, that's not too far from it.

BurningK5.sized.jpg
 
Bummer!!

Sorry about your truck!--Fire sucks!--I've been lucky not to have burned any of mine to the ground yet--I've had a few close calls...my 69 GTO decided to pop the rubber fuel line to the carb once,I smelled gas and pulled over as soon as it was safe to--opened the hood,and the fiberglass insulation under it was soaking wet with about 2 gallons of gas,and it make a scary HISSSS when it dripped onto the exhaust manifolds-- :yikes: :yikes:

I was waiting for the WHOOOFF sound!--I slammed the hood,shut it off(yes,I left it running! :blush: )and I ran as far away as I could!--after about 10 minites when it hadn't burst into flames,I went back and took another look--then I found the split fuel line and had to walk home 2 miles to get my K5 and tools to fix it--I still wonder if someone sliced it!--it didn't look like your average split rubber hose... :thinking:

I only keep fire and theft on what I consider my "best" vehicles,insurance costs a lot even for "compulsory" here,even a windsheild or other glass has a 100 dollar deductable now!..no more "free" windows...

On the bright side,we pulled many motors,tranny's and other drivtrain parts from burnt wrecks at the junkyard,none had any problems--a few even had the intake manifold and carb melted into a puddle!--but after swapping another one on,they fired right up again!..takes a LOT of heat to hurt a cast iron block---an automatic tranny might be damaged,but I've never seen one melt or get hot enough to hurt one internally (yet!)...you should be able to salvage the frame and all the running gear...hope you have better luck in the future!.. :crazy:
 
From the looks of it, the engine tranny and frame should all be good to go except for minor repairs due to the carb melting on top of the intake... It didn't get hot enough to turn it into a puddle, but it did some damage. I'm getting the shop working on an inspection right now, and soon I should know what is damaged.

Hopefully, it is just cosmetic and I can replace anything that's burned out... the ****ty part is, I'm still paying for the engine install, and I'll end up having to do most if not all of the restoration myself...

21395fire1.jpg

21395fire2.jpg

21395fire3.jpg
 
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Those pics still look like the body is in decent shape on the outside is any of it salvagable? When my 83 burnt the sheet metal was warped like one of those old wash boards. Yours doesnt look like it burned nearly as hot as mine did and my eng, trans, transfercase, and running gears were all fine. I took the body to salvage and the frame and tires are sitting in my barn still.

I had the opposite luck that you did though, id meant to go into the ins agent the week before and cancel the fire part of my ins but id gotten tied up and didnt make it in.
 
Ok, here we go... the list of parts I will definitely need to replace if all else goes well...

Seats - Would like to have a matching set, but if you only have one, oh well..
Steering Wheel - Chevy one if you have it, GMC one otherwise...
Steering column - Tilt if possible, as that's what it originally had
Steering box - Its baked... crispy style.
Complete dash cover - Nothing left of that for sure...
CB radio - you can see it in front of the console...
Console - stock or tuffy... either way..
Shift sticks and boots - tranny and transfer case with knobs...
Triple pedals and e-brake pedal
E-brake and hook pulls
vent pulls
grille
82+front fenders and hood
radiator
alternator
water pump
intake manifold
carb or TBI system with computer components


If you have something off the list, please reply with a price for that item with shipping to 53594, and if all goes well with the inspection and the Wife's permission to get the new body, I'll get back to everyone who volunteered a part.
 
tdcombs said:
Those pics still look like the body is in decent shape on the outside is any of it salvagable? When my 83 burnt the sheet metal was warped like one of those old wash boards. Yours doesnt look like it burned nearly as hot as mine did and my eng, trans, transfercase, and running gears were all fine. I took the body to salvage and the frame and tires are sitting in my barn still.

I had the opposite luck that you did though, id meant to go into the ins agent the week before and cancel the fire part of my ins but id gotten tied up and didnt make it in.
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The body is scrap metal.... the front of it is the worst... and the floor in the back was already rotted before the fire... I should have a new body lined up, so the bunred out one will hit the scrap yard...
 
Well, it's not much, but I have a light blue back seat that's in good shape. I was gonna sell it but your situation sucks, so if you want it it's free. Let me know if you do and next time I run through WI I'll bring it along, that way shipping doesn't cost anything either.
 
Not to wander off topic but someone mentioned a "auto-extinguish" set up and I have a thought on that.

I've always thought it would be good to put one (or more) of the extinguisher ports they use on boats on my truck to access the engine compartment in case of fire. You drill a 1 1/2" or 2" hole in the sheet metal and these things are like a rubber cap that keeps out water but you just stick the nozzle through into the engine and blast away. Just a thought.



Just looked all over for a pic and can't find.
 
I started a new thread about fire supression. Check it out and put in your .02.
 
mikey_d05 said:
Well, it's not much, but I have a light blue back seat that's in good shape. I was gonna sell it but your situation sucks, so if you want it it's free. Let me know if you do and next time I run through WI I'll bring it along, that way shipping doesn't cost anything either.
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Mikey, you rock... if you knew the significance of your name in my life, you'd understand how "angelic" you are being... Maybe one day I'll explain it to everyone...



By the way, where is the post about fire suppression? I searched the site and can't find it...
 
Any vehicle I've ever monkeyed with I have carried a fire extinguisher.... current daily driver has two. Almost had to use it once but the battery cable melted the side post off the battery before it caught anything else on fire... had the pin pulled on the fire extinguisher and everything when I popped the hood. I was terrified that it was going to burst into flames as soon as I opened the hood... you could smell the gases coming out of the battery. There was no way I was going to let it go without a fight though, way too much money tied up in it.

I can't afford appraised or full coverage on my truck so I know where you're coming from.
 
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