Help! Sog216y Fire damaged R series.

[Guest]

Hi all, Had a disaster last night. My 1983 HLS caught fire due to a fuel leak. Damge includes bonnet, expansion tank air filter box, carb, oil filler cap, bulkhead plastic including scuttle vents. Fortunatley the interior is still mint.
Anyone who has anything that might help, please let me know. thanks.

[Captain Slow]

Bigrct was telling me about a 1.3 Maestro being broken near Leek. That SHOULD have most of the bits you need. PM him.

[Guest]

A very sad sight indeed.

[Guest]

Thanks for that cpt Slow, have Pm'd him

[E_T_V]

If you want to keep it then don't let your insurance company anywhere near it as it'll be a non-salvagable write-off.

Otherwise there is a LOT of work there to replace everything that has been damaged.

Essentially everything that is in the engine bay that is plastic, rubber or wiring is likely to need replacement.

Use gloves when removing everything as there are some pretty nasty chemicals created when rubber and plastic burns.

[Guest]

Ouch

[matthewsemple]

As Dan says, don't think you can claim on your insurance and buy it back. They will class that as Class A or B write-off so it won't be possible to return it to the road once they've assessed it.

That looks like the fuel lines perished and leaked all over the exhaust manifold causing a fire. I replaced the fuel lines in my R-Series recently when I smelt a bit of fuel under the bonnet and so caught it in time.

Looks like its a nice car, though. Definitely worth fixing up with donor parts.

[The Express Valeter]

As Dan says, don't think you can claim on your insurance and buy it back. They will class that as Class A or B write-off so it won't be possible to return it to the road once they've assessed it.

That looks like the fuel lines perished and leaked all over the exhaust manifold causing a fire. I replaced the fuel lines in my R-Series recently when I smelt a bit of fuel under the bonnet and so caught it in time.

Looks like its a nice car, though. Definitely worth fixing up with donor parts.

+1. Bad as it is sadly but at least it is still whole & can be sorted.

[BIGDAVE]

re-fire damaged maestro

sorry to see you had a fire in the engine bay of your maestro
i hope you will restore it to its former glory
and not scrap the vehicle.
maestros for ever regards dave

[Simon]

Use gloves when removing everything as there are some pretty nasty chemicals created when rubber and plastic burns.

WEAR GLOVES AND TAKE EXTREME CARE.

Hydroflouric acid can be formed in under bonnet fires, contact with it can be extremely hazardous to skin and also general health.

Sorry to hear about the car fire and hope it gets sorted without too much trouble and back on the road soon

[countrydude]

That looks worrying! Too long driving and not long enough checking everything is 100% On old cars like ours this can be moments away.

[Guest]

Thanks for advice guys. Let me clarify a few points. Firstly, i am not contacting my insurance. Secondly, this car WILL go back on the road. Also, i hope to keep as original as i possibly can.

She is now in the workshop at work, ready to be sorted. And a plan has be formed to put her right.

FURTHERMORE, LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNED.

as one of you said too much driving, not enough checking. So true.

IT MUST BE REMEMBERED, THIS CAR IS NEARLY 30 YEARS OLD.

You should not expect a 30 year old car to just come out of retirement and behave like a brand new car. Not only does rubber perish, fuel by it very nature takes its toll on rubber. And its been there for nearly 30 years. I could of lost the car, or worse still someones life.
I only hope that any readers can learn from my mistakes, then sogy's pain wont be in vein.

I will keep you posted on future developements.

Cheers guys!

[The Express Valeter]

I remember when I got my "R" Series MG. One of the first things I did was to change the fuel pipes after what I had heard & I remember one day just before I changed them I was showing someone the car with the bonnet up, I revved the engine & we had a jet of fuel. Needless to say likely as much had I not had the bonnet open on that occasion there may have been one less MG1600 alive presently.

[Guest]

Scarey thoughts. What is sad is that this car only has 19000 miles on the clock and was near mint. This could have been prevented.

[Piggy Bank]

Not only does rubber perish, fuel by it very nature takes its toll on rubber.

I have met several of those fire cases on new cars in the 70ties and early 80ties when the oil companies started to mix alcohol with petrol. In particular the plasticy type fuel hoses are vulnerable for alcohol. We preventive changed them for the "real" rubbery type fuel hose.