Went from cloud 9 to worst day ever.

[CodyL]

Just purchased a 88 C350. 122,000 miles, Banks turbo. Here are some pictures. Bought it Saturday Oct 24. Drove it around town (where I work) maybe put 65 miles on. Decided to drive it from work to home for the first time, bout a 40 mile drive. This is on Friday by the way.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Got home around 7:30pm. Went inside for about 10 min, and forgot I left my cellphone in the truck so I went out to get it. Unlocked the door grabbed my phone and headed inside, nothing out of the ordinary. Then I took a shower, ate, and laid down in bed. About 9:30 I heard the doorbell ring. Went to answer the door and saw flashing lights, and a fireman standing there. Went outside and saw my truck on fire. I was in complete shock, mind you I just bought the thing, only had about 110 miles on it, didn't even get to check the fuel millage. Thank God I got full coverage on it. Although somehow I think I will get screwed somehow. Anyway this is kind of my dream truck, I am thinking about buying it back. Just wanting to know your guys opinion on if its worth it. I was planning on painting the thing anyway, and redoing the interior. It looked like the fire started on the left side of the engine. My main questions are do you think the engine is still good, what about the turbo? Is the wiring pretty simple? Do I just need to get a doner truck and start replacing parts? I have the means to do all the work myself, just will take time. What do you guys think? Here are some pictures of the damage, I will try and take some better ones with the real camera these were just quick ones I took with my phone.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Fishin76]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I was just showing my kids your first post, and telling them that I would love to buy one in that condition.

I lost a car in my driveway once, fuel filter change, I didn't disconnect the battery..... ..

Again, I feel for you brother.....

 

[janos1]

OMG!!!!!

Dude, I feel your pain. I have been there.

 

[icanfixall]

Thats really sad... It can be repaired but getting the burned smell out of the interior may just be a tuff job. I dought the motor was hurt. The fire burns up and not down. The wireing is easy to find in wrecking yards. Get it cleaned off and see what needs to be replaced. There is a know ignition switch problem with these trucks. Maybe this truck never got the recall work done. I had mine done about 2 years after I bought it. It was in the dealership for something and they did the extra work because it was money in there pockets. Seeing your truck makes me glad they did this. There is no way you can find out where the fire started by the look of things.... It can be saved...

 

[FordGuy100]

That really, really sucks. I'm sorry to hear this happened, makes you wonder what went wrong?

And yes, insurance will try to low ball you big time. Try to find your own comps from around the country if you can.

I would buy it back too. The engine as a core is still good, as is the turbo setup. Back half is still good. Really truly just need a cab, and front end, and all new wiring and you should be set to go.

 

[CodyL]

I planned on gutting the interior anyway, not a big fan of the bright red interior. Thought about getting some newer ford leather bucket seats for the front and middle, then a leather bench seat for the very back. Bad part is all the nice custom wood paneling is burnt and gone. Before the firemen left the ripped it all out to make sure the fire was out. That was really hard to watch. Will the 92 and up dash fit in this? I like the way they look.

 

[sle2115]

Darn, that was a nice truck too!

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

WOW that really sucks. I thought my blown motor with less than 100 miles on it was about as bad as it could get. You proved me wrong.
To answer a few questions, yes you can convert the interior to the newer style dash, you will need to replace all the wiring anyway. so I'd suggest buying a 92-94 IDI parts truck and gut and convert everything that you want to change over to your C350. You can even change the front clip to the newer style if you want.
I wouldn't let that one go, they are rare and that one was a very nice example.

 

[CodyL]

That's good news on the dash. I think I will go to the newer style by replacing the front clip too. Since I will have the engine out of the truck I thought about getting new injectors, new glow plugs, and a new IP. Should I go ahead and spring for the moose pump? Also is there anything else I should do when I have the engine out of it?

 

[JesterPgh]

Oh my gawd. I don't even know what to say, but at least you should be able to salvage her and make things better than they were, and nobody was harmed.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Rebuild the oil cooler if you have the engine out. The Mel's pumps are by far the best around, and I have not had any issues with my moose pump. Just other aspects of my engine that decided they would fail me. Overall I am very pleased with my moose pump.

 

[Diesel Max]

Well......... Your title is right. That had to be one if the worst days ever. At least no one was hurt. Sorry that happened to you. The good news is that it can be rebuilt if you have the time and $$$ to do it.

 

[friendly towin]

If you have full coverage on that truck I would just take the check and buy another one. That truck and motor are pretty much going to be junk you maybe could save some parts but im sure that fire got pretty hot. If you did fix it back to normal you would still have a totaled title and im not sure about your state but your probably going to have to jump through hoops to get a reconditioned title. When you go to resale your always going have to explain what happened and that will probably scare a lot of people away. I'm not trying to be negative just trying to give you adifferent perspective.

 

[CodyL]

I was pretty lucky it didn't catch any of the other vehicles in the driveway on fire. My brother has a early 90's explorer that was in front of it, bout a foot away, didn't do anything to it. The fire did get hot enough to melt his tail light on his 04 F250.

I hear what your saying friendly towin. I keep going back on fourth on whether I should buy it back. I guess it all depends on how much they want for it. And if I do end up fixing it up I won't be looking to sell it anytime soon.

 

[funnyman06]

I am very sorry to hear that about that truck, i had been watching it on craigslist for a long time and kept dreaming about it. That sucks man. It really depends on how bad the truck is. Fires like that are pretty devastating. I hope the best of luck on figuring out what to do with it...