fire sale

rollingsculpture

rollingsculpture

Senior Member
if a vehicle has been in a garage fire and the wood has been burned out and the carb melted as the man told me , what would be considered the usability of the sheet metal which all looks fine ?? would there be any metal streeses or brittleness?
 
rollingsculpture said:
if a vehicle has been in a garage fire and the wood has been burned out and the carb melted as the man told me , what would be considered the usability of the sheet metal which all looks fine ?? would there be any metal streeses or brittleness?
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Yep, ...warpage abounds. Sheetmetal that has had enough heat to char the wood is likely been hot enough to create warpage issues with the sheetmetal. I am also assuming the carb was a Tillotsen zinc (surely didn't melt a cast-iron Zenith) which means it was plenty hot. Sadly, I think the true value of what is left is the current price of scrap metal. :(

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This T has most of the wood burnt from a fire inside the car.
 

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Our Club's famous (if you followed the old Barn) "Fire Truck" (a wide bed, steel top before the fire) was purchased by two members. The engine is now in a Roadster and doing quite nicely, thank you. The body might be resurrected, as well. No way any of it -- other than wood, rubber, and glass -- was "scrapped." What kind of old Ford guy would do that?
 
Ford used special metals that were heat treated in many areas. You can have troubles with heat treating on some metal once you get a little above the point where grease will burn off or start smoking.

Sheet metal will have warp problem once it gets above 600 to 800 degrees.

The carb melts in the mid 420*F and wood chars black in the 650*F.

Gut instinct says the metal for the drive line may have been exposed to temps that weaken the metal.
 
I think you should look at it, IF they put the fire out with water/fire department I
mite pass. No water, the metal/tin could be OK.
 
Bruce said:
Our Club's famous (if you followed the old Barn) "Fire Truck" (a wide bed, steel top before the fire) was purchased by two members. The engine is now in a Roadster and doing quite nicely, thank you. The body might be resurrected, as well. No way any of it -- other than wood, rubber, and glass -- was "scrapped." What kind of old Ford guy would do that?
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Well, we take a load of junk Model A parts to the scrap yard several times a year. There is plenty to be scrapped, --or maybe I should say probably needs to be scrapped during a restoration. ;)

Maybe I should rephrase mypost from the top and say that if someone wants to restore/repair fire-damaged sheetmetal, then by all means give it a try. The experience will be priceless.
 
Wick said:
This T has most of the wood burnt from a fire inside the car.
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Wick, one thing that it appears on your 'T' is that it did not get that hot based on what appears like the wood wheels are still intact, and the rubber hoses are still there on the engine and not burned off. Did it even get hot enough to melt the solder around the gas tank?? To me, when someone says the fire was hot enough to melt the carburetor, it just paints a visual picture that there was some excessive heat there. :confused:
 
well its a 1932 chevy heres a pic , hard to say what the reality is as i just spoke to the car brokerage guy , to my untrained eye it seems to be not so bad .
 

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That car's inner structure is entirely wood. It is body panels nailed to a wooden structure. Sounds like a great woodworking project if that is what you love to do.

It's taken me a while to learn that sometimes the "low price deal" up front winds up costing you more money and headache down the line than if you had just waited an saved up a few more dollars (that would be inevitably be spent on the project car anyway) and buy something in better shape right from the get go. You get to enjoy the vehicle sooner and the memories that come with it are happy ones, not frustrated ones!
 
I have just one question. Where are you going to find ALL the replacement parts? Their not as easy to come by a Model A.

Definately Ratrod material.
 
I think a lot of cars that survived fires in years past have been restored. There was a collection of pre 1912 Mercedes in Ohio that have all been RErestored after a fire. Value of the vehicle it the main reason.
 
Brent,I think it was just on the inside of the tub. Motor turns over and steering wheel is ok. Drivers side is what got hot. Car was then put in a shed in 1955.
Car on right in photo.
 

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thank you all for the insight as far as i can see the rubber is not burned off so it couldnt have been too distressing to the metal , i will go take a visit but since its another brand i will have to get up to speed on a chevy site , as for resto most likely a long hual and lots of bucks they are sure beautiful when put together though thats for sure.
 
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