Last week my black 2001 Z06 caught fire after and injector 0-ring sprayed a LOT of fuel all over the engine bay. I'm really glad it wasn't a total loss and didn’t burn to the ground, but it still really sucks

So, here are a bunch of pictures, sorry the quality isnt that great cause i pulled a muscle in my back and had trouble crawling around under the car. What do you all think of the damage?? Functional, structural, and cosmetic

It won’t take much to get it running and driving again, but because I frequently work on it and an the only one, and I had plans for future major mods, every time I look at the car and the damage it really frustrates me. I wanted to make it a show car and a prime example of a c5 Z06, planned on keeping it for life.

Would this chassis need to completely stripped front and rear and repainted for it to be fixed properly and correctly IE "Like it never happened"? What should I do about components that arent easily removable like the firewall and floorboard and fender wells? I guess those are removable as well, and replacing them might be something I can do down the road. But is there anything that is not so easily removed or that I should check for while I have the engine out and the car on a lift. Is repainting the frame the most difficult thing I will want to fix to make it like it never happened?

I am not worried about anything that can be removed and replaced. I will continue to use most of the removable parts that are only cosmetically damaged until I save up enough to replace anything and everything that is even slightly singed or smoked.

I really don't want to leave any part of the car like this.

Such a shame









URL=http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/buddyboy904/media/7138A257-0B7F-43B3-90CD-B2AEF6C5B4ED.jpg.html][/URL]

 

 

 

if it was me and I wanted to keep the car I would find a doner car for parts ???

 

Yeah. I thought the same thing, I think I'll wait until I drop the drivetrain and wipe everything off too see exactly what needs to be replaced and if that would save money. On the other hand it might be better to use brand new parts in some areas if I'm replacing them anyway. Not sure yet, I guess it depends on how much damage there is and how much the donor car would cost me, thank you for replying

 

I think the electrical will be the hardest to get right. The mechanicals can be cleaned up and/or replaced. Tracking down all of the burnt wiring and sensors could be a real beech.

 

Yeah. The sensors probably need to be replaced but thankfully the wiring tape and shrouds saved most of the wires from serious damage, there are only a few places where insulation melted through and those places are only a few wires thick. From what I can see, I'm willing to bet I could rig the harness with electrical tape in 15 min so it won't short out and the harness would be turn key again. However I do plan to remove the harness and replace any cosmetically burnt insulation and connectors as well.

 

Insurance company would salvage it. Might be better to have the insurance company take it and give you cash and then you go out a buy another one.

If you REALLY want to keep this particular car,then I wish you good luck. There was some guy at Benzworld who rebuilt the wiring harnesses for a great price and rebuilt them much much better than factory. You might just send him your harness and have him do the work. The guy is perfect. This may save you time while you are disassembling your car, So if you want, go to benzworld.org and the go to the W124 section and search or ask around. His work is second to none and price is very fair.

 

That is a sad sight to see. Good luck getting it all figured out and rebuilt.

 

Did your insurance company total it?

 

ouch that sucks. glad your safe !! if it were my car , that wire harness is done i would not trust any part of it at all, so that is where a donor car would come in to play

 

Dude I FEEL your pain... a couple of months ago I got a great deal on a 1985 SWB 4x4 Silverado Truck... about a week after getting it and starting to detail it out and fix things...I was adjusting the float on the Holley 600 carb .... it burped and caught on fire in my shop...Mine looked more localized to the firewall than yours, but it toasted ALL the wiring and melted the distributor....
I got a donor truck and have it back up and running and it looks better than it did before the fire.... just takes some time, money, and patience good luck

 

you guys are making me feel bad lol i guess i asked for opinions and i got them, no it isn't totaled
It was only on fire a couple minutes and i put it out with a fire extinguisher, immediately with a spray can extinguisher that couldn't duff out the flames completely then with a real extinguisher 90 seconds later when the flames were inches high and only coming from the manifold and a belt.
The leaking injector was on the left side of the bay, there is little to no damage on the right side, but its all covered in extinguisher powder.
The damage is more cosmetic than anything, I'll be driving it again in a few weeks.

You know i kinda thought the consensus here would be "its not that bad, definitely fixable", but i guess you guys are just as particular about your vettes as i am haha.


Yeah I think my best course of action is to take the time to find the correct OEM harness used and replace it.
I don't have comprehensive coverage so insurance isn't an option.

I think the pictures make it look worse than it is, what you see there is a mix of the powder from a fire extinguisher, the liquid from a can fire extinguisher, soot, gasoline, and some plastic. I knocked the fire down with the fire extinguisher spray pretty quick. in one of the pictures you can see where i wiped down the frame side by side with where i didn't.

To run and drive again, it will need a new wiring harness, both belts, injectors+o-rings, and brake booster reservoir. However to be able inspect the engine bay and find no evidence there was ever a fire will take much more elbow grease.

Thanks momo, of course safety comes first

 

I appreciate the kindness, it still stings.
That also sucks about what happened to your Silverado, glad to hear you got it all fixed up. Gives me a some inspiration

Well i may not have much but i do have all the time and patience in the world, and just enough money. So, like your truck, i want it to look better than it did before the fire.

Everything that's plastic or rubber will get replaced, everything that is aluminum will get brass wire polished, and every thing painted will get repainted.


anyone ever repainted a c5 chassis? Did they do just the front frame rails?

 

The powder definitely makes it look worse than I'm sure it is.
In regards to cleaning the bay, use some type of cleaner, such as simple green, spray it down, wait a few minutes and then hose the whole thing down. Use a brush where you can. Rinse and repeat as needed. If you have an air compressor, use the air to dry out any questionable areas.
If the wheel well liners are not damaged/melted, I highly recommend you keep them on and don't remove them. They are not screwed on - they are attached using blobs of special 3m glue/epoxy. I had to remove them both on one of my projects - removing them has difficult, but realigning the new pieces was even worse. If you do go that route, PM me and I can give you some tips and advice on that.
Once you take off the wiring harness, remove the wire loom and check every inch of it. If it's just two or three spots that need to be fixed, then why not just do that, rather than buy a new one.
I see that you have a small lift and you said that you will be dropping the driveline. It's not a bad idea to drop the motor along with the cradle at the same time from the bottom. Then you'll have room to pretty up the engine bay as you like.

 

You're is spot on thanks for replying. For now I'll probably do like you said and keep the wiring harness and wheel wheel liners, but I want to replace them both in the future. More for peace of mind and cosmetic appearance than anything else, I'll pm you about aligning the wheel well liners. Yep with the motor out I'll have much more room to work, and the lift makes it so easy

 

Sounds like a good plan. Also, just something to consider... If you want to remove the liners just because they have been discolored, but not damaged, I'd recommend you buy some John Deere flat black paint and respray them instead. Same goes for the frame rails. It's super durable. Once you have the motor out, that should make the job cake and will look great.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I'll spray these first, then decide if I want new liners or not. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll pick up a can of John Deere Flat blk today to test out.

 

would you be happier if u didn't have a fire extinguisher, and let the insurance total it?

I used to be in the insurance business and this would be a total,
fixing fire damage is the same as flood damage

 

No. I do not have comprehensive insurance.

As far as I know, a car is totaled if the cost of the repairs exceeds the value of the car. The cost of the repairs is no where near the value of the car.