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Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:58 am

That is such a bummer.

Am I crazy or is that bus salvageable? It seems to me that all the metal is still good. Like all it needs is a good cleaning and refinishing. Of course, all the interior parts would have to be sourced.

Or is that simply not worth doing?

Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:06 am

Which Led Zeppelin cd was it? If I have it I'll burn you a new one. :wink:

Sorry about your bus. Maybe the fog lights are salvageable.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:18 am

halfmoon_bay wrote: But I gotta tell ya man, when that thing lights it just goes, there's no stoppin it. Especially considering the 10 seconds or so I took once it turned off till I got out and noticed it on fire.

First off, sorry to hear about your Bus, that totally sucks. Second, I have to disagree with your above statement about not being able to stop the fire. I had a fire start in the engine compartment of my '74 and once I saw it I had to run to a nearby store, get a fire extinguisher and douse the flames with it. The fire was out, I had the Bus towed home, replaced the burnt wires, the melted fan screen and oil filler, and then I drove it 2.5 hours the same day to a Dead show in Albany. You can definitely put a fire out once it starts, you just have to keep a level head and do what it takes to get that thing out before it consumes your Bus. I actually had a fire extinguisher in the Bus that I totally forgot about in the heat of the moment, but the one I grabbed from a nearby store was much larger and probably helped save my Bus.

As far as rebuilding it, anything is possible given enough time and money, but that would be an ENORMOUS project. All of the wiring would need to be replaced, the entire interior, the engine, possibly the transmission, axles, all of the glass and seals, and anything else throughout the Bus that is made of something that would melt in the intense heat of the fire. The body is solid for sure, but you'll never get the smoke smell out of it and forget ever getting paint to stick to it again. The pictures are gutwrenching and I can't imagine sitting there and watching your Bus burn to the ground......simply terrible.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:19 am

My old body shop manager used to say that any wreck can be rebuilt.....if you are willing and have the money.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:23 am

Sorry for your loss. Sad :(

Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:31 am

halfmoon_bay wrote: borninabus wrote: glad you are OK.
at least the zeppelin is easily replaceable.

just out of curiosity:
prior to the fire, when was the last time you attempted to open the engine compartment?

Thanks man,

Ummm, like 5 days ago
just checking :wink:

i have been using the vanagon style fuel line with the internal braid.
it's much thicker. and i don't have to replace it every year.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:12 am

That really sucks. In the past year I have seen two vehicles on fire...fortunately neither were buses but one was a sweet 70s hearse. The bummer part about the hearse was that there was a restaurant like ten steps away...if I was that hearse owner I would have barged in there and stole their fire extinguisher. If I worked in that restaurant I would have ran out there with one to help. In both cases the fire department didn't even show up until it was too late.

Did you keep your engine compartment locked? I used to, then after all those fires I saw I stopped locking it.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:47 am

My bus isn't on the road yet, but I've been considering an auto fire extinguisher system. A friend was cleaning his boat and I asked him about fire suppression and he said he had a fire extinguisher on board. Since it was an inboard V8, I mentioned getting the hood off and the resulting flame up from so much air.

Seems the boat's engine cover has a small trap door to stick an extinguisher through and put out a fire.

Now, I'm wondering if this or some variation of it wouldn't be a better solution.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:53 am

skid wrote: That really sucks. In the past year I have seen two vehicles on fire...fortunately neither were buses but one was a sweet 70s hearse. The bummer part about the hearse was that there was a restaurant like ten steps away...if I was that hearse owner I would have barged in there and stole their fire extinguisher. If I worked in that restaurant I would have ran out there with one to help. In both cases the fire department didn't even show up until it was too late.

Did you keep your engine compartment locked? I used to, then after all those fires I saw I stopped locking it.

When I worked for Scherba's in South SF, a guy pulled up in an old Ford pickup. The owner was at the parts counter when one of my co-workers asked him it that was his truck in the parking lot dripping fire. Sure enough, the fuel pump was leaking and little balls of fire were dripping from the engine compartment. He grabbed the extinguisher at the front counter and had the fire out before we could get out there with the other one. The owner didn't have to raise the hood, he just shot the F/EX into the engine bay from underneath the truck.

The owner came back in, bought the fuel pump he originally came in for, and some fuel lines. He replaced the burned fuel lines in the parking lot (but not the pump) and then drove off.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:55 am

I'd love to hear more about why the hatch wouldn't open. Has it been opened since?

Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:22 pm

perhaps the high temperatures from the fire melted the metal of the hatch, making it impossible to open. I don't think that the fire would have been that hot to melt steel, but it's possible that something like that happened.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

But at least the last thing you got to hear in that bus was some led zep :D

Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:27 pm

VDubTech wrote: The body is solid for sure, but you'll never get the smoke smell out of it and forget ever getting paint to stick to it again.

I was thinking about hitting him up for some of the body parts because he said he's parting it out. So even if you take it down to bare metal paint won't stick after it's been burned?

Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:28 pm

I'm betting a fuel pump fitting came loose.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:55 pm

My '71 bus caught fire on me once. It was the bowl plug on the Solex 34PICT-3 that came loose and fell out. Fortunately, I was able to get an extinguisher and put it out before too much damage was done. Sorry for the loss. It's a very helpless feeling standing there watching your baby burn.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:17 pm

It looks like you had done a really nice job with the work you had done on the bus. Even though all that hard work went up in smoke, you have talent and that doesn't burn.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:18 pm

i am sooooo sorry for your loss. i too know the feeling of watching your baby burn to the ground. My first truck that me and my dad put 2years into building was a bagged 91 chevy. parked into the back of walmart. ( near the gas station evidently lol ) walked out and seen black smoke rolling out. ran up ( avoiding the people yelling at me to keep back ) its true you lose all common sense when you see your baby up in smoke. i opened the doors thinkin i could let the smoke out or sumthing. ran to the gas station for the fire extinguisher by time i came out the air bags (for suspension) were popping and people thought it was blowing up.. so i didnt go near it. i stood there. watching it burn. was honestly the worst thing in the world. 2 years of son/father building burnt down. in any case..the moral of my story is, i use the least amount of electrical as possible, carry a fire extinguisher , and am extremely more aware of smells or sounds.and dont hold the anger that you do towards it later. for the longest time i never wanted another. ha. here are the pics of before and after btw. ( i know its not everyones cup of tea ) but it was mine before i got my beautiful 79 westy named janis. =). never would go back. hah.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:26 pm

thats the worst bus fire i'v seen.... sorry about the bus.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:24 pm

i caught a phaeton carpet on fire at work once. a VoA tech support rep was telling me what wires where what on the phone and he told me to hook a wire to a specific spot and it shorted and practically blew up a relay and the hot wire hit the floor wooooof flames. put it out with a rag. i was pissed burned the crap outta my fingers.

Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:51 pm

Why is this (pic) only recommended for carbs? Seems logical either way

Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:58 pm

Daverham wrote: Why is this (pic) only recommended for carbs? Seems logical either way

I would think it has to do with the complexity of the fuel hoses on a fuel injected engine, not the least of which is the fact that a fuel injected Bus has both an outlet and a return line going to the tank. It would be a nightmare to make that type of system work on an FI Bus, especially given the location of the FPR.