Is a car that was in a fire ruined? Found a model a that was in a garage fire..apparently the ceiling caught fire. Doesnt look too bad, the metal isnt warped or anything just cooked the paint off it in some spots and cracked the windows. It still runs and drives, would this car be best to stay away from? Anyone have any experience with this?
I would think that if it still runs and drives it could probably be saved. Pictures would help a lot.
31 murray bodied fordor.. Was a restored car before the fire still runs, drives and has a title. I have the hots for a slant windshield model a
Heat changes the molecule structure of metal, or at least that what I was told when my car burned. I guess it would matter how hot the fire got. I would have a pint/bodyguy look at it first. You might have trouble getting primer/paint to adhere.
Thats my concern. If it got hot enough to crack and peel paint in some spots, that it may never be the same.
I didn't mean to scare you away from the purchase, I just want you to be careful and perhaps get someone to look at it that mihgt have dealt with a burned car in the past.
I can recall one guy when I was younger who used a burnt out coupe body for a stock car. It looked fine as far as I could tell. He won a national championship with it.
Pictures would be a BIG help. If the paint is blistered and burned off in spots, I doubt that it got hot enough to take the temper out of the metal. I do know that for some reason, new paint will have problems sticking to the burned metal a year or two or five down the road. If the fire got hot enough to gut the interior, melt the tires down, and melt the glass...then its a good bet the temper is gone from the metal.
Will get some tomorrow.. It doesnt look too bad to me just worried about the metal not being the same.. Thanks for everyone's thoughts
i wouldn't be worried at all about the metal. my main concern would be the wiring and getting it for a good price. "a good price" means that you can flip it for more than you paid should you decide not to keep it...... but you aren't giving us enough info on this car.
The wiring and such is fine. It still has an interior in it. Like I said, it still runs and drives but just looking at it you can tell it got real close to a fire Hopefully i can get some pictures tomorrow. I was just trying to figure out if it was worth persuing
One thing we all seem to be overlooking is the fact that cars are welded, leaded and subjected to a variety of heat during the manufacturing and customizing process and never worry about paint adhesion.
It doesn't sound like it got hot enough to take the temper out of the metal. Check the hot spots for warping and see if the spring has gone out of the metal. Should be fine.
This idea (old wive's tale??) about metal not holding paint or losing it's temper after being hot puzzles me. Who among us has not welded metal, both gas welding and mig/tig and then went on to paint the parts with no problems? It doesn't make sense, to me at least, that exposure to fire is the automatic end of the line. I have dealt with a few 'crispy critters' for salvage and I understand how badly a car CAN be damaged in a severe fire, similar to Denise's pics. That is an extreme fire. What I have noticed on 'burners' is that the metal is often badly warped. Now, THAT is problem...........and usually rusted to boot, since the paint is gone and it is often exposed to the elements.....However, I would suggest that metal on which the paint has been seriously damaged, but which is not warped, or is warped minimally, and is cleaned properly should hold paint no different than welded parts. Welding takes metal to it's melting point, obviously, and if the dire predictions were true, how did all the old and current customs (chopped tops, sectioning, patch panel replacements etc.) manage to hold paint? Ray
If the car itself didn't catch fire , and the fire only got hot enough to cook and scorch the paint , and not burn it off, and you don't see any warping of the metal, you should be OK. As a general rule....the metal wouldn't be damaged unless the fire got hot enough to burn the paint off both sides of the metal, at which point the uph. would have burnt out. Then it would only be a parts car
Buy the car,you know you want and doesn"t sound like a problem anyway,tops can be replaced,got a title,cheap,you want it so just get the thing and go to work on it.
That sounds logical. How does the steal mill put temper into steal after its been through the extremely damn hot furnace?
Me and my Dad did a '52 Buick Roadmaster that was burnt in a fire. The fire didn't hurt the drivetrain or the interior, just burnt off some of the paint and cracked the windshield. The car was covered up with blankets, the car next to it burnt to the ground and the blankets on the Buick burnt off, ruining the paint and getting hot enough to break the windshield. It fixed just fine. You'll have to strip the paint off clean, but other than that it wasn't a big deal. Finding a replacement windshield for it was harder than fixing the burn damage. I would assume your Model A would be the same way. I'm guessing you'll have to replace the roof insert if it's stock and not filled, but other than that I'd say no big deal. Way easier than fixing a non-running, never restored barn car.
I think when it comes to vehicles and fire it matters how long the vehicle was subjected to the heat, how intense the heat got, and if the fire heated the car up to an intense level and then "how" it was cooled either naturally or by water. I'm pretty sure we all know that if you weld something and then quench it, it is more likely to fail than if you allow it to cool naturally.
The issue with a totally burnt car is that all coatings have burnt off the metal inside and out. The paint will adhere fine with metal prep. These cars tend to rust quickly from the inside out, as most people can't get between the panels to clean out and coat the insides. The oil canning can be shrunk back into shape, but a total burn would probably need to be dipped, then dip coated to get into all the little crevices which are already flash rusted from the fire, and oxidizing rapidly.
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