Hey all, my car is gone... Totally gone
Im going to post this here and not on NASIOC or I-Club because of insurance concerns, but I feel I need to post this somewhere... Please dont link it in the other clubs, thanks.
Anyway, the car burned to a crisp. Its totaled for sure, but I have yet to be contacted by my Insurance Claims Adjuster for the claim. I hope I get something back from it, anything at all...
I just finished my engine install on tuesday, took the car on two test drives that night. One just around the block to make sure it ran and everything was fine, didnt even get up to 25mph, and the next was a longer way around the block and got up to 45mph. I had a funky flap flap flap noise at that point, I was pretty sure it was the EGR crossover pipe, and it was, so wednesday I went down to the recycler and got the proper one along with a couple other things while I was there. That night I installed the EGR pipe, tested it, it sounded much better so I took it for a drive.
I was just going around the block, but the car was running so unbelievably well and I was stuck in traffic on Kirby so I decided to go up rocky ridge some to see how it was running. I finally got away from traffic at rocky-ridge/eureka and ran the car through the gears in the 50mph zone. OMG, I was so amazed at the car, it was just what I wanted it to be like... Torque all over, the tach needle swinging up so nice and fast... I was actually smiling I was so happy.
I get to the corner of rocky ridge/roseville parkway and stop at the light to wait. Only one other car was in the vacinity, and was going across the intersection so I went since I was clear to go... Thats when it happened, as soon as I started accelerating I hear a loud POP followed by FLAMES exploding out of my hoodscoop and passanger side vent! :shock: :shock: :shock:
I immediatly pulled the car over (more like automatically), got the keys out and was out the door with my belt off faster than I could even think... My first instinct was "Put out the fire!" but I looked and realized it was pointless. So I went over to the sidewalk with my phone already in my hand dialing 911...
Meanwhile, I had to sit and watch my car burn to the ground while I waited only a couple minutes for the roseville fire department to arrive (they have a firestation like less than a mile from where I was, on roseville parkway).
Im still in shock it actually happened, it was one of those experiences where you dont believe its actually happening when its happening, and I still have to walk myself out to the garage to lookat my melted grill to remind me its actually gone...
As for the cause, I have no idea. When I looked at the wreckage, the engine was intact. The fire department said it was a fuel fire so it was probably one of the fuel lines... which one, I dont know.
The part that hurts me the most is I just spent all that effort and put everything I had into that car, and more specifically into the swap only to have it all go horribly wrong right when I was celebrating how amazingly well it went
I worried constantly about the car not starting, or the engine timing going bad during the swap, or just not getting it to run at all. It was seriously running better than the 1.8 was, even at idle. With all the swaps ive read about, never once has one gone down in flames, that never even crossed my mind... To see it actually happen before my eyes, I still cant get over it...
I dont even need to mention the costs invovled, all that money being put into it just totally gone, and I dont even know if ill be able to recover anything in terms of parts costs... I dont even know how much ill get back for the cars value, but it wont be much, not enough for me to replace it with much of anything...
Well, im glad im still here to talk about it at least. But for me, I guess it was bound to happen as nothing ever ends up working out...