New Here - Engine Bay Fire

[bigbabyblue]

Howdy, new to the forums - would be lying if I said I hadn't been on here when identifying some issues with my truck, but never posted. This place has been awesome and a lifesaver, so thought i'd come back here for some guidance.

Unfortunately posting with some sad news as I had an engine bay fire on my 1977 C20 Camper Special with a winnebago shell. No shame on my end - got the truck to learn more about cars and fixing things - just an unfortunate accident. I put the play by play down below. The truck is basically stock, with the exception of a newer carb - which i regret swapping from the old quadrajet (still have the og one!)
Where it's at now is a smoked engine bay. All rubber, plastic, harness, distributor, electrical is toast(ha) - although topend visually looks good and the carb even looks perfect. Haven't gotten into any of it yet to decipher much. Firewall took most the heat and the insides of the dash started to just melt a bit down onto the floor of the cab, but the face of the entire dash is great and untouched.

I suppose I'm fielding opinions from yall about how best to move forward, understanding that it is obviously a biased question - but still worth considering. I don't really have the time and definitely don't have the space (at least where I live currently) to get into bringing this back to life , at least not entirely on my own. My options now are selling it as is, or considering some piecemealed way to bring her back to running spec.

Any suggestions for me? Thoughts? Parting words? Anybody looking for a new project in the southern california area?!

THank you guys for your time and everyone's experience.


My fire story:
I had some flooding issues on my new-ish carb (Holley 600), so i pulled the bowl off and inspected. All looked fine, put it back and started it up (after about ~25 mins from removal). Ran for ~20 seconds then it seemed it backfired out the carb, something caught fire just behind it/in front of the distributor. My tiny extinguisher didn't help much... Fire stayed on the wiring harness/distributor/firewall, about 50 years of build up there didn't help. Ended up having fire dept come out and use water to put it out. Whole ordeal lasted maybe ~7 minutes.

Tears from the fire,

BigBabyBlue

 

[Smtty58]

One option is to shop for another cab and swap anything that's damaged. You can sell the cab when your done. Be aware,everything behind the dash, wiring, speedo cable, seals, ducting will all have to be inspected. That's a real clean truck, worth saving.

 

[bigbabyblue]

Thanks a lot smtty! Yeah she’s been good to me. And yes, agreed. I’ve done a bit of digging and there’s likely no saving anything behind the dash itself.

Trying to look at my options financially and realistically - and seeing what this will cost to get it back to running order

 

[Ricko1966]

I'd get the engine started and up to operating temp immediately. To boil off any water that got in. Disconnect all wires from the engine including all wires going to the starter. Run 12 v to the batt terminal on the distributor cap,hook only the battery positive cable to the starter and battery ground to the block,that's it. Short the starter solenoid with a screwdriver and it will start and run until you Disconnect the 12v wire from the distributor cap. I would first pull the spark plugs and crank the engine with no power to the cap to blow any water out of the cylinders. Now the way I told you to wire it to start it. You can use that to drive the truck in and out of the garage. Into the back yard over to the neighbors etc.but the battery will not charge so you will have to charge the battery periodically. If you sell it you can it least show it runs and drives.

 

[Cipriano]

Beautiful light blue color! Mine is '76 Skyline Blue which is very similar. I'm prepping it for a rustoleum paintjob and the closest match I've found is 2X Satin French Blue.

Sorry about the fire, but at least nobody was hurt and it sounds rescuable. I'd hang onto it, because prices are probably going to continue increasing. If you ever want another Squarebody down the road, it could be real pricey getting back into one.

 

[bigbabyblue]

@Ricko1966 thanks a lot that is really helpful!

 

[bigbabyblue]

@Cipriano i appreciate it and yes, feeling very thankful - could've been much much worse! Thanks for the paint note. and yeah, i hear that, just need to see what it takes to get it running again or at least what its worth so i can base it off that

 

[ali_c20]

Welcome from Austria. Sorry bout the fire, luckily the damage doesn't look too bad and is fixable.

 

[Ricko1966]

@Ricko1966 thanks a lot that is really helpful!

I can help you with some more ghetto wiring to make the battery charge if you like.I can even modify what I wrote before with an on off toggle and push button for starter if you like. All simple and temporary.