Shop fire - car is toast

[Tom Bryant]

A total fire in the shop or house is my worst nightmare. It isn't so much the things that are lost that can be replaced but the things no amount of money can replace. Those may be tangible items or intangible like the many years spent building your business or restoring a car. I used to be a claims adjuster and I've worked many fires like this. Although it is terrible to have your own car damaged just think what your mechanic is going through. He lost his source of livelyhood on top of the loss of other's property that was intrusted to him.

The good news is that from every experience I have ever read about with Haggerty you will be taken care of in fine order. I just switched both Corvettes and my truck to Haggerty after researching these types of companies over the last couple of years.

As an aside, did you see the Hemi Coronet in Hot Rod last month? It was a clone but was under insured. The owner admits that he was lax in keeping the value of his car up tho date with Haggerty and it was no fault of Haggerty's. (Lesson to be learned here about reviewing your cars value annually.) Anyway, the building burnt and the fire departmant ended having a dozer push the smoldering debris up in a pile. The Coronet was in 3 pieces and was burnt to the ground. Things can always be worse.

Good luck on recovering your car safely. Don't take chances on any weak structure and be sure things are supported so nothing falls on anyone or the car.

Tom

 

[BarryK]

Barry,
I may take you up on the offer, but my first priority at this point is to get the car to safe haven. I have a few options up here that I need to check out as well. I know that you spoke very highly of the quality of your painter's work as well as his integrity throughout your epoch painting saga. If I hired him, however, I'm afraid I'd have to provide him with a supply of amphetamines to speed things along. :L :L BTW, my place is about an hour from the I-95/Rt. 896 interchange (without leaning on the pedal).
Cheers!
Jeff

yes, he is good but he IS slow............ and really not much you can do to speed him up either. that's always one thing to know if you ever take to car to him - he will do an excellent job, just be prepared to wait for it for a while.
If time is an issue for you than he isn't your man for the job. I was just trying to offer an option as it seemed a time you may have needed a few.

One of the members of the "other site" actually dropped his car off to my painter last month because he liked the pics and work this guy did on my car at the time.
Funny thing is his car is also a Milano Maroon like mine and so is yours. I know from the '65 and '66 specs that MM was a middle popular color but before I bought mine I had never seen it at all and lately it seems MM cars are everywhere.

 

[alps66]

If time is an issue for you than he isn't your man for the job. I was just trying to offer an option as it seemed a time you may have needed a few.

I know from the '65 and '66 specs that MM was a middle popular color but before I bought mine I had never seen it at all and lately it seems MM cars are everywhere.

Barry
On the first item, I sincerely appreciate the offer, and I may yet take you up on it (although the car has been hung up since January and I am a bit itchy (no B on that) to get it together and running. So, I know about folks who take their time...

Item two: I knew that at some point in my life, I wanted to have a Midyear and two years ago, I happened to pass a local upscale used car dealership and noticed a C2 in their showroom. Did a u-bee and the rest was history. At the time, MM may not have been at the top of the list, but it has become a part of me and I now love it.

Spent the afternoon at the shop helping my mechanic shovel out of the secure part of the building. He's still waiting for his contractor to shore up the roof so we can get the car out. In the meantime, things appear to be stable.

Thanks again!
Jeff

 

[henny496]

Hello Jeff
I am very sorry to hear about your car fire. I hope your insurance company is able to help you out shortly

Do you have any pics of the damaged fiberglass?? Is the dolly to be used only to get the car out of the garage, or for more use? If the car is only the body and frame, you can roll it out at the four rocker corners( on the frame) with casters
I rolled my car around like that this summer, but only in and out of my garage......nothing fancy
If insurance gives you a hard time, I think I may have a good wiring harness ( 65 I think)you can have. I went to a Painless system due to the extra stuff I have on my car
take care
Tom

 

[SSJShadow]

A tear came to my eye best of luck!

 

[bradfordsvettes]

I feel your pain :cry almost lost my 69 to a short in the car wiring and to boot the 61 was right beside it probably would have lost the barn and had house damage. it was a fluke that I came upon it before it was an uncontrollable mess . I was just very lucky :W all the cars have battery cuttoff switches now hard lesson learned steve

 

[alps66]

Hello Jeff
Do you have any pics of the damaged fiberglass?? Is the dolly to be used only to get the car out of the garage, or for more use? If the car is only the body and frame, you can roll it out at the four rocker corners( on the frame) with casters
If insurance gives you a hard time, I think I may have a good wiring harness ( 65 I think)you can have. I went to a Painless system due to the extra stuff I have on my car
take care
Tom

Tom,
Still can't cross the police line (condemned building) to get close enough to the car to take any detailed photos. Once I can, I'll post them.
Great idea about using casters on the corners. Since we may have a bit of a clearance problem getting the car over the lip of the garage entrance and onto the flatbed, I may just build a reinforced 2x6 frame and mount the casters on the corners to get the clearance I need. Found out this evening that I have access to a body lift, thanks to M.F. "Dob" Dobbins of Fact Book fame, who has become a good friend and tremendous asset throughout the restoration (met him by a stroke of fortunate acquaintances when my mechanic suggested that I hire him to inspect the car prior to buying it). Need to check that my mechanic's cherry picker can handle the weight. Between that and the fork lift, we'll move mountains!
Regarding the wiring harness, I really appreciate the offer, but I think I'm in good shape. I had ordered main and headlight harnesses from Lectric Limited. Both were in plastic in the protected corner of the shop and they appear to be undamaged (sometimes I get a break...).
Thanks for caring. What a great brother/sisterhood in this forum!
Cheers,
Jeff

 

[alps66]

I feel your pain :cry almost lost my 69 to a short in the car wiring and to boot the 61 was right beside it probably would have lost the barn and had house damage. it was a fluke that I came upon it before it was an uncontrollable mess . I was just very lucky :W all the cars have battery cuttoff switches now hard lesson learned steve

Steve,
Glad you were able to intervene before any serious damage occurred. Wish I had been so lucky. If my mechanic had been anywhere near the shop when it went up, I know he would have foolishly risked his life trying to rescue the cars in jeopardy.

The car wasn't going to (and won't!) leave the shop without a battery cuttoff. I've read too many horror stories. And based on their scoring sheets, it looks like NCRS offers extra points for having a cuttoff, as well as a fire extinguisher. However, they'll ding me for having installed a dual master cylinder. Go figure...
Thanks for your support!
Jeff

 

[IH2LOSE]

Jeff

Been thinking about you and your car, what the latest with you and it,

Larry

 

[alps66]

Jeff

Been thinking about you and your car, what the latest with you and it,

Larry

Larry,
Thanks for your concern. I was going to say that not a whole lot has transpired, but in fact, we've made some progress. After several weeks, there was no progress on shoring up or removing the damaged roof that was hanging over my car (due mostly to crossed communications between my mechanic, his landlord and the borough). After a couple of storms with winds up to 50 mph, and no further damage to the structure, my mechanic finally got fed up with the system and we went in and retrieved my car. I designed a low dolly that we were able to slide under the car. It was resting about 10 inches off the ground on the lift (recall that the suspension had been removed). Once we cleared a path in the debris, it only took three of us 15 minutes to drop the car on the dolly and wheel it out of the shop. The car is now safely at a local body shop with a guy who has been working on Vettes for 40 years. He's worked on worse and thinks that as far as the body goes, I may only need to replace the passenger side door skin. I'm next in line after he finishes with a SWC. Despite all of the body-on work that I did on the frame, the current plan is to lift the body, have the frame blasted and refinished, then give the frame to my mechanic so that he (and I) can work on the mechanicals while the body is being done. It may save us a few months. I'm scheduled to meet with both of them tomorrow morning to review what else we need to do to for the apraiser. Once we dig into this further, I'm sure I'll be posting more frequently asking for advice.
I really appreciate your thoughts. It's a great brotherhood we have here!
Jeff

 

[67HEAVEN]

Jeff,

That is good news, and very encouraging. You must be relieved to have some control back.

Takes lots of photos of the rebuild. Looks like you will have a Merry Christmas after all.

 

[80VetteL82]

:cry Thats just awful man. I could only imagine how that would feel if it were my Vette. Keep us up to date with your restoration, and good luck.

 

[Hotwing]

I stood with tears in my eyes and watched my 2000 Black Coupe drown in a freak flash flood and could do nothing it was totaled by the insurance company and hauled away. I know how you feel to lose something you love.

Ive had a C2 66 coupe, a 69 vert, a 00 coupe, and now a cherry 04 coupe which I love. However, to me the C2 coupe will always be the best looking Vette HANDS DOWN.

PS if I ever win a lotto...I will hunt down and buy a restored cherry 66 coupe

 

[alps66]

Ive had a C2 66 coupe, a 69 vert, a 00 coupe, and now a cherry 04 coupe which I love. However, to me the C2 coupe will always be the best looking Vette HANDS DOWN.

Magnetic Red Metallic on the '04? My favorite (along with Medium Spiral Grey)! Since it looks like the "Phoenix" (thanks again for the name VNV) is going to be tied up for a while, I think I've convinced my wife that in order to maintain my sanity, I need an interim toy. I'm getting educated on C5's. I'd love a 'vert but I called Hagarty and they indicated that they wouldn't insure a newer Vette unless it was something special. "Like a Z06?", I said. And they said "Yeah, that's the ticket." Twist my arm... I'm looking to Hagarty since I still have a 20 year old on the family policy and the rates would be silly. The big problem is that the Z's don't come in either of my favorite colors :ugh . Guess I'll just have to suffer, and deal with a hardtop and a mere 405 HP... Winter is upon us and prices on the old Z's are plumeting. The time may be ripe.
Regarding my REAL Corvette (apologies to the non C1-C2 owners out there...), I met with the body guy and my mechanic this AM. In a week or two, we should have a list of parts that we need (or which need refurbishing) for the apraiser, then take it from there. I'm also getting the sense that the body man takes his sweet old time to get things done right. That works for me. Looks like I'm in your boat Barry!
BTW, we're also having the rebuilt motor and trans torn down again to make sure that there wasn't any water damage.
Regards to all and thanks for your concern.
Jeff

 

[jims427400]

Jeff,
A C2 coupe and a C5 Z06 are a winning combination.I'm partial to the 04 Z16 Commemoratives. Good look with your search..and good luck with the "Phoenix"
Hmmm..I've never thought about naming my 67 tripower..

 

[alps66]

Jeff,
A C2 coupe and a C5 Z06 are a winning combination.I'm partial to the 04 Z16 Commemoratives. Good look with your search..and good luck with the "Phoenix"
Hmmm..I've never thought about naming my 67 tripower..

Jim
Great taste! IMHO, the C5s are far more pleasing to the eye than the C6s. But perhaps with time the more angular lines will grow on me. The increased HP would be nice, but is totally unnecessary for my needs.
VNV seems to have a knack for names. Any unique characteristics or circumstances we should consider in helping you identify your baby?
Cheers!
Jeff

 

[IH2LOSE]

Jeff

I am glad you have your car out of the burned building and into a safe place now.

As for a C5 for a quick fix GO FOR IT

The cars are a pleasure to drive,

Best of luck with getting this misfortune behind you. Ther are tons of low milage C5 Z06'S in the market since the new one came out

 

[00fxd]

Jeff, If I was you I'd be in a home after that [did I say that already?] But way to get around the pain. Buy another cool car. That's gotta help!

:cool P.S. Thanks for getting this thread going again Larry.

 

[alps66]

Jeff, If I was you I'd be in a home after that [did I say that already?] But wasy to get around the pain. Buy another cool car. That's gotta help!

Believe me, I'm just one small crisis away from uncontrolled babbling/drooling and the home. Not to burden (and no feeling sorry, please!), but here's the list since August:

1. Mom (a widow) in and out of hospital four times. My only brother lives out-of-town so most of it's on me.
2. The car fire.
3. Rental car broken into in Hawaii after cheering on my son at the World Ironman Championships in Oct. Left the car briefly to take in the scenery at a remote state park. Wife's handbag (credit cards, cell phone) and laptop stolen. Lots of hassle there. Fortunately, no identity loss issues.
4. My beater car ('91 Accord) stolen from in front of the house two weeks ago. Not worth much to anyone but me. It got much better mileage than my truck, so I used it for knocking around town. Just State inspected and topped off the day before, wouldn't you know. Recovered in a seedy part of Philadelphia. Trashed. The only good thing to come out of it is a '96 Miata that fell in my lap as a replacement. At least I'll have some fun running my errands.
With all the bad "Carma" (but more significantly, my Mom's health issues), I've gotten pretty paraniod and keep waiting for another shoe to drop... If this is a test, I can't wait for finals week to be over!
Cheers (and beers )to all.
Jeff

 

[bluestripe67]

Jeff,
Just getting back on this forum and getting up to speed. So sorry to read of the bumps in the road. You have a good outlook on things, the health of your mother is paramount, all else can be fixed. Continue to take slow and deep breaths for clear thinking....you'll be OK! Dennis