. My Belair burned. It had a 302 GMC engine that I really like. It turns over free. Could it have survived?
I've used several Fire engines I would tear it down to the short block and clean it up. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good luck on your project!
I wouldn't trust any of the gaskets in this case, I agree a tear down will give you better insight. Very sorry to read about this happening.
Sorry to see that. I agree, take it all apart and clean and check things, the basic engine should be OK. Might have some warping on the intake or other alum parts like distributor. Inked Monkey, the carbs are zinc and melt at a lower temp than aluminum.
I think I'd still give that intake a real close inspection. Aluminum melts at 1300-1400F, but it could have gotten rather soft before the fire was doused. and yes, lead melts at about 630F, zinc about 680F. (It's easy to ruin a lead melt if one doesn't watch what they're putting into the pot.) Roger
My guess she will run again without a lot of money spent. Get a complete gasket set and use them all. Looks like the fire stayed pretty high on the engine.
I have used a burned SBC that got about that hot. I decided to bore it when I tore it down but I found nothing else wrong that I recall other than the carb and distributor melted. I think it will fly again.
My experience has been that they clean up well as a rule. I have had to replace pushrods, and rockers before on engines that got really hot.
It burned outside which is a good sign. If they burn in a garage they generate much more intense heat. Usually the engine survives if they burn outside. Chances are you can clean it up, replace gaskets, carburetor, plug wires etc and it will be fine. Pull it out and have a look, you will have to use your own judgement as to how far you need to tear it down and exactly what needs to be replaced.
Oh Gosh...sorry to see this...a part of you burned with it I am sure.. I have no direct experience to answer your question, but agree with others here.. Well worth the effort try to rebuild the engine.. Good luck
doesn't look like it got to hot plus the warm water in it probably helped it from cracking when they doused it with water , check the manifolds with a magnifying glass ( spotcheck dye ) and clean up rebearing and new gaskets and fuel system , and get some oil in the cylinders now to prevent any pitting from starting . from the looks it was a nice looking ride , can any of the metal be saved or is it too far warped from the heat/water spray ??
I agree. I lost a complete 425 nailhead in a building fire. All aluminum exterior parts were melted. Carbs were melted down into the intake. Removed the cylinder heads and the pistons were a grey powder form that disintegrated when touched. Cast 2-4bbl intake was warped beyond use, as was most everything else.
I really don't think it got that.... hot. Honestly I would remove the valve cover... take a look. Clean....change the oil. Change and the intake, replace what ruined on the dizzy......build a stand....crank it up and see how it does....it may do fine. The melted carbs.....liley from gasoline. Note that a lot of stuff is still intact so I would clean it up and crank it to see before I tore into it.
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