First start in 14 years, it fired right up no problem and started smoking like i was told it would...but then it happened...after about a min of smoke every car owners worst nightmare came knocking on my door...FIRE...It caught fire right before me eyes...i didnt want to throw water on it because i figured that would make it worse, so i scrambled to try to find something, anything, cat litter, sand, anything to put this out...i tried beating it out, that didnt work, all i got from that was burns on my arm from melting rubber sticking to the moving blanket i used and hitting me in the arm...finally something clicked, im not sure how, im not sure why, but something told me to grab that hose, i grabbed the hose, and instead of making it worse it put it out, and that much i am thankful for. So much work, so much effort to get this car running again after 14 years and it literaly went up in flames right before my eyes.

 

jeez that sucks. sorry to hear the bad news. it couldve been a lot worse though you arent seriously injured and the car can always be fixed. howd this fire happen?

 

This is why I just added a fire extinguisher to my garage. Never know what might happen. I think I'm gonna get one for the car too. Ive seen something as simple as an oil leak burn up an entire truck.

 

Im not sure exactly how it happened, the only guess i have is that somehow oil got on the manifold and burnt, i was told to leave the valve covers off when i started it so the top end lube i used could smoke out, and im thinking that led to Oil on the manifolds and fire from there, that or it was the lube, but i dont know, he didnt say anything bout watchin for fire, he said it would just smoke off to leave it go and smoke till it was all done smokin. Anybody know anything bout cleanin up after a fire like this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Oh man, that really sucks, but like others said it could have been worse. I'm not saying this with the tone of a lecture in my voice, but when you initially start an engine after a rebuild always have a fire extinguisher on hand. You never know if there will be an oil or fuel leak that can start a fire. Keep a close eye out for leaks and shut the engine down immediately if you discover one. I don't know who told you to leave the valve covers off so the break in lube could 'smoke off' but that is nonsense. The lube is not going to 'smoke' unless it comes in contact with something hot - like an exhaust manifold. Besides, if you allow the oil to escape from the engine it will eventually run itself dry and you will destroy it. The only time you would need to run the engine without the valve covers would be to do a valve lifter adjustment, and then oil deflector clips (or a modified valve cover with holes in the top) should be used on the rockers to prevent oil from squirting everywhere. Good luck with the rebuild...

 

Yeah, im not claming ignorance as an excuse but i didnt know much about it, most everything working on this car has been a learning experiance for me, and i was just going by what i was told by a guy that works on racing engines for the local dirt track. Im not listening to this Jacka$$ anymore, it seems to be his fault my car got roasted because i was just going by what he told me.

 

not really sure what you have to clean up or how bad the fire was, but im going to assume the plug wires are destroyed and any other rubber wire or hose near by also took a beating. id inspect everything and anything that was burned, and change anything that cant be salvaged. cover up the alternator and distributor, buy yourself a couple of cans of degreaser and go to town. hose it off and refire the car to dry it off(with the valve covers on!). i also would not listen to this dirt track guy if this is the advice hes giving you, or if you are going to listen make sure you research his advice before following it.

 

yeah ok, sounds like a plan, its dark out now but ill take some pics of the mess tomorrow to give you guys an idea, Most everything over the block thats not metal is melted. Deff gonna need a new wiring harness thats gone, and all new hoses, spark plug wires, it melted the distibutor cap so i might need a whole new distrubutor if not just the cap, its just one hell of a mess. Im just glad it wasnt any worse than it was, it coulda burnt the whole car down or even caught my house on fire its in the driveway right next to it, and yeah im not listening to this guy anymore, as far as im concerned he can go sit on a stone rake.

 

Thank god you, your family and your home are alright... That really sucks!!!... I'm sure you will get it back into fighting form... Lessen learned, and always remember, we alone own our actions, no one else can make us do anything, all advise we receive needs to be checked out, no matter how much credibility the advisor has... Good luck and keep us posted...

 

^^ This ^^

When I read what he told you to do I was like
All of the break in lubes on the market that I'm aware of are 100% compatible with dino and synthetic oil, so there would be no need to 'smoke off' anything. After your intitial break-in change the oil around 500 miles and you should be good to go.