Well, yesterday was a sad day for Scuffles. I was backing her up when I heard what sounded like a backfire, and the engine stalled. Hopped out of the car and saw some flames behind the radiator. I only had a little fire extinguisher on me, and didn't want to open up the hood in fear of pouring in more oxygen, so it smoldered for a little while before a fire truck came and put her out for good. In hindsight, it probably would have been fine if I had opened the hood immediately and unloaded the the extinguisher, but it's probably a good sign that I still care a bit more about my safety than my beloved car' s
So now the question is, what do I do with the car? I rebuilt the engine last spring, and just yesterday I was doing some highway cruising and she had plenty of power. Is it worth trying to salvage the engine? Should I try to sell it? As far as engine fires go, I don't think it was actually that bad---there was only one time that flames were visible out of the hood vents, and it seems like the only things that were really damaged were plastics and wiring. The distributor is pretty well melted, the hoses are gone, brake fluid reservoir is melted, etc. But then again, I may be a little too attached and in need of someone to set me straight.
What a bummer so sorry your baby got burned.
How comfortable are you with wiring?
Not a very complicated wiring job under the engine bay!
You will certainly appreciate your car more if you tackle the job yourself.
Gottolovem wrote: What a bummer so sorry your baby got burned.
How comfortable are you with wiring?
Not a very complicated wiring job under the engine bay!
You will certainly appreciate your car more if you tackle the job yourself.
Love the optimism around here! Haven't done too much wiring, but I could probably use the practice.
marlinh wrote:Sad to hear. If you could score a wiring harness from a wrecker, it may not be so daunting. Do you know what caused it? Fuel leak?
Yep, I'm thinking fuel leak. I'm sure it was entirely my fault, but I don't want to rack myself with too much guilt, so I haven't spent that much time trying to track down a cause.
I'm leaning towards parting her out and moving on. I've only got a few months of school left, and then I'll be back in Bristol Bay fishing, and then hopefully travelling for an extended period of time, so I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to start another project. What does a fire of this temp do to the engine? I'm wondering if someone might want it as a backup or if it will be unusable. There was a bunch of water poured in the engine compartment before the fire went out, so I'm guessing that will be the biggest issue.
The engine itself should be fine, just would need anything rubber/plastic/electrical replaced. How's your tires? BRakes? CV axles?
Here's something to consider, I have an 81 as well, 220k miles in pretty good shape (spent the last two years bringing it back from the dead). The outside needs a little paint work and the inside is not too pretty (never been able to find good seats, but we did manage to replace most of the trim). Been considering selling her as our fleet is too big and we're kinda biased towards the wagons for practicality.
Front seals have been replaced, carb replaced (with a good stock carb), CV axles were replaced, brakes have been redone, new tires... we have spare tail lights, spare grill, spare other things.
Starts up cold every time, runs great...
Option A: you buy my 81, and swap over the interior and eventually your long block engine/transmission, I'd be interested in whichever engine you did not use as a spare
Option B: We'd probably be interested in your interior and possibly the engine and transmission!
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)
Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!
sorry to hear about it, I would lean toward part-out and salvage. Even in perfect shape these little econo-boxes from the early 80's do not have much value, either as a collector or for nostalgia. It would be a lot of work to restore it, and likely there will be electrical gremlins that will be difficult and time consuming to track down, even if you did a complete rewireing of it (not recommended). IOW, time to give this car a decent burial, it has served you and previous owners well, it is long past is "use by" date. It has lasted much longer than I think most would have ever expected.
The long block on the engine should be good, as is the trans, find another one and use this one for parts, or see if you can work something out with Irowiki, that will at least make good use of your good parts. that engine long block will also work in the 2nd gen Tercel, including a 4wd wagon. You might consider finding one with a blown or very worn out engine and do an engine swap.
Thanks for the words of wisdom, everyone. Part out and salvage it is. I've been looking for a 2nd Gen in the area, but haven't come up with much less than $1k.
irowiki wrote:
Option A: you buy my 81, and swap over the interior and eventually your long block engine/transmission, I'd be interested in whichever engine you did not use as a spare
Option B: We'd probably be interested in your interior and possibly the engine and transmission!
Wow, pretty tempting, although I'm not sure my interior will be much better than yours. I'll send a PM.
