Sad day

[ArtimusGordon]

The day I lost my Model A!

[wmws]

Sad day is right. Do you know what happened?

[ArtimusGordon]

Not sure but probably a short in the dash wiring. I had just parked, turned off the gas, and visited with a friend for a about 15 minutes and when I left him s house it was all ready in flames.

[wmws]

Sorry for your loss. I hope it is not a total loss. A good lesson for the rest of us to use an inline fuse. Some people don't like them but I sure use one.

[Big hammer]

Sad day for you for sure. At lease you weren't in the car.

[larrys40]

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Sorry as well for your loss . As said above it highlights the need for good electrical connections and an inline fuse at the starter. Otherwise wire becomes the fuse and gets hot and burns. A little weeping at the gas gauge and poor connections at the dash and electrical junction box are prime culprits. Hopefully it's repairable and recoverable for you
Larry

[Don S.]

So sorry about your coupe. It was a very nice looking car! They always say it could have been worse, and if you think about it, I guess it could have. I know I'm really attached to my little Ford. I would probably be beside myself if anything happened to it. I hope it all works out for you in the end.

[ArtimusGordon]

I'm 80 years old and don't think that I want to do another restoration. It's in Haggertys hands now and I think they might total the car. I have a replacement Lined up just waiting for the insurance company.

[Floats]

Hi Art,
So sad to hear about your loss.

[Tiny]

Ouch that's terrible. I'm glad you weren't in it though

[Tom Wesenberg]

Sorry to see that happened to you, and at 80 years old I wouldn't feel like doing another either. Glad you have one lined up, and this one looks very repairable for someone.

I'm still amazed at the number of antique cars that have been lost to fires in the past few years.

[160B]

Sad to see a nice car go up in flames.

I had a claim with Hagerty and was very pleased with how well they handled the claim and in a very short time.

[Jeff/Illinois]

That hurts. Good thing you have good insurance keep us posted how your claim gets handled. Hagerty is a good outfit.

On a similar note, we were hit by tornadoes Monday nite they were all around. Illinois alone had 28 twisters. Luckily they tracked north and south of me.

Not so lucky was a local guy that the news showed, that had restored a '69 Camaro for his grandson it was totalled. Same twister sped NE and hit a farmer's place that had an early 50's Dodge truck, antique firetruck, and what looked to be about a '38 Plymouth Coupe, all toast when a cement silo was blown over and mashed the garage he had them stored in.

Radio today spoke of an incident in Florida where some guy took his '59 Vette to WalMart, parked way out in the parking lot, and an elderly lady smashed the Vette with her Ford Taurus actually driving up over the Vette. She hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. Vette totaled Taurus was really not hurt bad.

[frank mcdaniels]

Be thankful it wasn't in the garage. Our club had a guy in it that restored a coupe just like yours that was totally burned in a fire. You could never tell it when he got it done. Frank

[quickchange]

Very sad to hear , too many fires lately when most can be avoided for $20, Put a master switch mounted in the floor boards easily , GET IN THE HABIT, FUEL OFF, IGNITION OFF , MAINS OFF , then exit the vehicle, simple , it won,t burn, unlikely to get stolen , How many of you run master switches & use them , I know I do, even with new wiring, ??

[Y-Blockhead]

Sorry for loss Art.

I agree with the installation of electrical protection. If you don't like the looks of the fuse on the starter, put it somewhere else.

I have a 30a circuit breaker on the main and a 20a circuit breaker on the lighting circuit.

I also have fuses on my turn signals, fog lights, spotlight and electrical socket (for charging my Garmin and cell phone). All are hidden.

Whatever you do, don't use a fusible link...

[jfreddie]

What's bad about a fusible link?

[WTSHNN]

I'm curious as to why your suspicions are pointing you towards the short behind the dash?

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by ArtimusGordon

Not sure but probably a short in the dash wiring. I had just parked, turned off the gas, and visited with a friend for a about 15 minutes and when I left him s house it was all ready in flames.

Hm, dramatic pic , indeed ! Car was hopefully insured ?

This is BOTH a depressing situation and a learning moment. A $25. master cut off switch may have saved heartache.

Some still looks to be salvageable to get another coupe ride, eh ?

Note:
One of the first things that I notice when having OLD original Model As, was that the decades old cloth covered wiring is dangerous and has been the cause of untold numbers of such disasters as yours....and much worse ! Lesson learned was to asap, put in new/modern wiring. Even I could accomplished this with the commonly available Model A wiring looms made with new wire tech.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by jfreddie

What's bad about a fusible link?

From Ron Francis catalog.