My car burned up

[Roger Zimmermann]

Like the others, I'm sorry for you.

[Steve Passmore]

It was a shock to wake up to that news this morning Joe especially since you were looking to sell the car. My sympathies.    Fire is about the worst thing that can happen to a car.
I am not familiar with this converter you talk of. Is it something that allows you to run a 12 volt item off a 6 volt supply? I've heard of transforming down in the voltage but never up?

[JoeCeretti]

That's the real kicker here. I was really out of things to do on the car. Mechanically it could not have been better. It drove like a new car. Other than some chroming and a bit more work on the paint I was done!!

That was my reason for thinking about moving along to another car. Passing this one forward to someone who would enjoy driving and protecting it or working on the chrome at their leisure. Not that the chroming needed to be done in my opinion. I had already changed out every bad looking pot metal part for better than driver condition parts. The car I was told was a 39 Caddy turned out to be a nice old Buick. Not something that I am really interested in working on so I removed my thinking about selling post.

The converter is one that is readily available. There are 2 models, one that changes a 6 volt negative ground to dual 6v/12v negative ground. The other changes a 6 volt positive car to a dual 6 volt positive and 12 volt negative. It worked just fine on my stereo. Now, I DO NOT know it was this that caused the fire so I hesitate to name the manufacturer. It is nothing more than assumption due to what appears to be the origin of the fire. I hope I will eventually find out.

[JoeCeretti]

I forgot to mention how upset I was to find blobs of solder all over the driveway. All the finish work they did in the factory melted out. It has to have considerably weakened that area around the door. 

[Steve Passmore]

I forgot to mention how upset I was to find blobs of solder all over the driveway. All the finish work they did in the factory melted out. It has to have considerably weakened that area around the door. 

Probably not Joe as the lead was used instead of filler back then and is not a structural thing. You will find all leaded seams are welded first. Not that this could make you feel any better right now.  My guess is your insurance will Total the car basing it on what you were asking and the cost of putting it in a restoration shop to do the work.  Its almost a full restoration again.  Still restorable by you of coarse but that depends whether you heart would be in it?  I don't think mine would if it were one of mine

[JoeCeretti]

I have been thinking about that. Restoring. The engine and drive train are all still intact. The wiring... well that's easy. I would have to gut the interior. I have an entire, intact instrument panel. The glove box liner was messed before anyway. The switches. I have an intact spare light switch The buttons, I made those myself. I can do it again.

I spoke with the appraiser today. He is coming Monday and understands that the likelihood of the restoration costing less than the agreed value is slim at best. I am just wondering what they will set the salvage value at.

Yes, I am feeling better about it all. I want to save it. I hope I have the opportunity.

Just to add. The 1989 Buick Riviera I just bought is wonderful car!

[76eldo]

Your best tactic is to let them total it and buy the car back as salvage for hopefully for a low price.
You get to keep the title so it doesn't have to show as reconstructed. That is if you want to rebuild it.
So far, they have had no expense for towing or storage do you have some points there.

They will send out a field adjuster to take photos and assess the extent of the damage. They are usually freelance adjusters. Some are more in tune with antique cars than others. You will ultimately be dealing with an actual Haggerty employee working at their headquarters so don't get frustrated if the guy that comes out doesn't seem too helpful. He or she will have no authority in settling the claim and will just be providing Haggerty with photos and a description of the damage.

If it's totaled your settlement will be faster than if you try to figure out what it would cost to do the repair.

The car I was involved with ended up costing $15,000 to repair a damaged quarter panel and refinish the area that was hit.  There was a first check but three supplemental payments once the repairs were started.  On a fire there is so much to consider they may just want to pay the agreed amount and move on.

Good luck.


Brian.

[savemy67]

Hello Joe,

Your emojis say it all.  I couldn't believe this happened after your struggles with the transmission!  Hopefully the insurance process will go smoothly and not add insult to injury.  As sad, disappointing, and frustrating as this event must be, I hope you have the good fortune in the near future to move forward in whichever direction you choose.  Good luck.

Christopher Winter

[Bob Schuman]

Joe,
I can really feel your pain, having a similar but different loss last January. My 41, which I had restored, driven, and maintained for 42 years was totaled when an oncoming driver made an illegal left turn directly in front of me.

First, Hagerty Insurance Claim Agent Danielle Jacobs, who I dealt with via many phone conversations, was excellent to deal with. I think she and Hagerty were great. I would expect your experience with them to also be good.

Second, I learned that even if I kept my car by buying it back from Hagerty, it would have a salvage title, according to the Illinois title laws. I said that I had the title in my possesion, to which the response was that in the computer-based title system it would be branded "salvage", accessible to any possible future buyer. With that information, I decided to take the buyout value.

My car had been underinsured with Hagerty, my own stupidity, but since the other driver was deemed 100% at fault, his insurance company, USAA, appraised and paid me for the car, much closer to its actual value before the crash.

The remains of my car, which was perfect from the cowl back except for a bent steering wheel, was sold at auction on 3/15/15 by CoPart, a national company handling some insurance wrecks. It sold for $6200, and so far I have no idea where it went.

Bob Schuman

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

First to Joe, sorry for your loss.
Bob, As we discussed in the past, you are correct. The insurance companies closed that loop hole some years ago. I'm not sure about the Canadian laws, but I assume they're the same. I would have no problem driving a vintage car with a salvage title, as long as I  knew what the damage was & that is was repaired correctly.
Bob

[JoeCeretti]

It's similar but different here. There is total loss and there is salvage. I would buy it back if it was as a total loss, not if they say salvage. It will not be salvage because there is no frame damage. Total loss just means that it will cost them more to repair it than the agreed value. The other issue, I am not actually dealing with Hagerty. Hagerty does not physically exist here, Hagerty here appears to me to be an American firm with a Canadian address. After calling Hagerty I was sent over to an insurance company with actual employees in this country. It also appears that the appraiser is a freelancer one step further away from Hagerty. I still have nothing bad to say about any of it. A bit slower than I would have hoped but I am sure that is due to documentation needed and then transfer and acceptance of the documentation and then assignment to the local employee. Nobody has been rude to me. I have a good friend who lives close to me who at one time had an electrical fire in his car and the adjuster accused him of starting the fire himself. I'll lose my mind if they try that on me... I'm already of the mindset of losing one of my children. Not sure why I would start a fire on and under-insured car, but I think I am getting ahead of myself.

[Bill Young]

This is a heartbreaking thread at best. I am so sorry for all the losses mentioned. Many of these Cars are hot rodded and modified it is tragic to see the loss of ones that were so faithfully restored and kept.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Jesus I looked at that picture for over 5 minutes with my jaw on the ground.  I'm very sorry about your loss.  I hope you can find another 38

[JoeCeretti]

Here are two more 

[Roger Zimmermann]

It's not good looking, but nothing structural seems to be damaged. Fortunately, it seems that you have replacement parts. I'm sure you would like to know what is the reason for the fire. I assume there was a short in a circuit not protected by a fuse.

[rismt]

Morning Joe ... really shocked and sorry to hear about your loss. Hope you get some comfort knowing a lot of us are with you as we have watched all of your postings on the wonderful restoration and mechanical updates. You are one tough cookie (as demonstrated by your recent pilot bearing adventure) and we have all the confidence in the world that you will bounce back stronger than ever !!! Please keep us updated.
Bob Schwartz
CLC#25646

[TJ Hopland]

If it was the converter I wonder if it was maybe a TVS diode.  A TVS diode is a Transient Voltage Suppressor, basically a spike protector.  Devices like a converter will often have them and they can fail in a spectacular fashion under certain conditions.   Its a fairly quick flash but if there was something around it to catch?    What was the glove box liner made of on this?    Any other 'fuel' in there?   Something like connecting and disconnecting a charger could have caused the spikes so then its just a matter of a series of things that on their own are not an issue but when they line up.......

[Jeff Wilk]

Thats horrible Joe. Parts and sweat can be replaced though. Thank God nobody got hurt and it didnt happen while driving. Curious as to how you put it out so quickly?

[CaddyShackPA]

So sorry for your troubles; hang in there. When I was a little kid a neighbor's suicide-door Thunderbird burned in front of their house. I will never forget that sad smell.

From the photos, if the finances work out I think I'd be tempted to fix that. I'm working on a '76 Jag that had a small engine fire in '86 before being shunted aside by the owner; it's going fairly well if slowly.

Best of luck; glad it wasn't any worse.

[JoeCeretti]

Thank you to everyone for the nice sentiments. The fire station is about 1km from my house. I heard the sirens about 20 seconds after I dialed 911, while I was still on the phone with the dispatcher. The day after, while I was at work, the mailman rang the door bell and talked to my wife. She said he was VERY upset. He has been watching me just about every day working on the car. I say car, but it's more than a car.


I fairly regularly would wake up at 4 or 5 am and go out to work on something or the other. Him and the flyer delivery guy always came to check out what I was doing. Just the thought of that also makes me feel very sad.