Fire in the z!!!

[Wade Nelson]

I had a "little" fire in my Z car sometime last week. A solar battery charger sitting on the dash with the wire run through the windowframe to the battery... Apparently the wires got pinched.

Ruined the windshield, damaged the seat, and the passenger door trim. Corner trim piece on the dash destroyed...

Took me a good three hours of scrubbing the inside of the car, windows, headliner, etc of all the soot. It'll probably have a faint air of charcoal forever...

I'm looking for replacement 280ZX passenger door trim, BLACK, if anyone has..... passenger seat's just gonna get some duct tape...

The amazing part is the entire car didn't burn. There was a can of starter fluid on the driver's floor that could have turned it into a bomb. I had a Tyvek car cover thrown over the seats; it got melted, but didn't ignite.

My bible was in the rear of the car; got some soot on the cover but that's it. I would have missed that, with 20 years of notes and highlighted passages more than losing the car itself.

Today I'm going to get a new windshield.

Pictures to follow.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Wade Nelson

[Wade Nelson]

[tlorber]

Sorry to hear about your fire. It sounds like your attempt to go green went about the same as Obama's have.

Hopefully you'll get everything back together in short order.

[FastWoman]

Holy moly! I was going to put one of those things on our boat! I may still do it, but I think I'll put fuses on both ends of the connecting wire. Thanks for the cautionary tale of your ill-fated solar adventure! Good luck with the repairs!

[Wade Nelson]

I think fusing it with a 1A or even .5A fuse is a great idea.

I still need a black replacement door trim, rocker panel cover, and A-pillar cover if you know of any salvage 280ZX's.

[hogie]

Ouch, that stinks. It sure could've turned out a lot worse though.

[ajmcforester]

Man your so lucky the battery didn't blow up and the whole car didn't burn. Well that is why I wish someone would make a new factory harness for the Z cars it only takes one crack in the wire coating to burn the whole car up. Glad your OK and the car can be repaired.