Darn!! Set my car on fire this morning.

[Tinster]

I shoulda left well alone. car running great, I live in a warm climate and need very little choke to start the engine. One, infact, since the front cable is broken.

Ordered a new cable from TRF and it arrived Sat. Dropped the ignition key/ choke panel ('69 TR6) to make the cable swap and forgot to unhook the battery.

Sparks and flames all over the place, dense black smoke filled the entire garage. Took me a few minutes to put out the fire. Burned up entire segments of the wire harness; pieces fell on the floor and in the engine compartment.

Not gonna be a quick fix, I'm thinking. Boo hoo hoo- sad.

Should have left well enought alone.
Had a blast driving yesterday.

Merry Christmas.

 

[Gliderman8]

Had a similar incident when I was wireing up my TR6... this is what saved me from a fire. I suggest you get one; makes it easy to disconnect from the batt.

 

[tomgt6]

I have the same thing on all my old cars. Makes it easy to do and you don't have to work hard. Found them at Fleet Farm for about $6.

Sorry to hear about the car.

 

[71MKIV]

I put fuses in all the hot lines too, as an additional layer of insurance.

 

[GBRandy]

Well that blows. Hope it isn't too bad and easily repairable.

I have never had those battery disconnects in a car. The Ferrari has them as a stock item and I am amazed at how much I have used it. I'll be putting one in on the TR8 this spring for sure.

We all have fire extinguishers in the car & in the garage right? :wink:

 

[71MKIV]

the car one is on the christmas list, and the garage on went on the wall the day we moved in.

 

[SkinnedKnuckles]

So I guess the wiring shorted out when you dropped the panel? Ugh - bad news!

 

[boeingpilot]

I did the exact same thing on a GT6 20 years ago. As a result both my cars have that battery quick disconnect. The good news is someone else on the forum is bound to do something else that will take the heat off you... : )

 

[LoneRanger]

Bummer! You were a big help with my Front end refurb. Sorry to hear it. Good luck getting it back on the road. Would've freaked me.

Have a good Holiday ..........in spite of it all.

 

[Number_6]

Maybe you can post some pictures of the car. if we see what the damage is, maybe can give you an idea of how to fix it.

 

[HerronScott]

Sorry to hear that since it seemed that you had things sorted out with the new exhaust manifold.

Scott

 

[Andrew Mace]

Dale, does there appear to be damage to anything other than the wire harness? If not, sounds like a new harness and a day or two in the garage with suitable tools, cold beverages and such! Wish I could get away to come down and help; it's been far too long since I've been to the Island (Feb. 1969 to be exact)!

 

[Britishautobody]

Wow, that is a bummer for sure. Better the harness then the whole car or garage for that matter, could have been allot worse!!

 

[Britishautobody]

Reminds me of way back in my youth. I was almost home driving in my Vega and my car stereo eq not bolted in, shorted out and it took only seconds for the toxic black smoke to cloud the interior of the car, scary stuff!! Was able to pull the red hot wire by hand from the fuse panel and save the day but talk about a good scare!!!