Moby
GOLD Star
My FJ-62 burned to the ground (mostly) this evening. Fortunately it was parked and no one was hurt. No idea what happened. I had just tightened the belts and looked everything over after replacing my oil pan gasket. Drove it 30 minutes, parked it in a garage and came back to find it burned. There were no indications of any problems when I drove it or walked away. Security said it smoldered a bit and then went up.
Although I doubt I'll ever know exactly how it started it's either electrical or fuel. I had a lot of electrical work - dual yellow top batteries, 175 amp alternater, dual SPAL fans, on board PC, seat heaters, amplifier, washer fluid heater (don't laugh, it rules in the snow/skiing and cold mornings
), wideband O2, ARB compressor... This was always my biggest worry.
However because electrical was my biggest concern I tried to treat it with a lot of respect. All of my electrical connections where either crimped with uninsulated tinned connectors and covered with marine grade adhesive lined heat shrink, were AMP PIDG connectors or were Deutsch connectors (all crimped with terminal specific crimp tooling). All non stock connections from the battery either went from a fusible link to a distribution point and then fused (with an aux fuse block under the dash) or were short runs to heavy fuses (amp, fluid heater...). All wiring pre-fuse was armored as was most wiring post fuse.
If I had to guess I'd say it was the wiring from the alternater to the dual battery controller. I had just tighten the belt on the alternater and I always worried a bit that there wasn't a fuse between the alt and the batteries (1/0 cables). I couldn't figure out a place to put one that wouldn't take all the exhaust heat and still be close enough to do any good.
Most, if not all, of the truck is a loss. I might be able to salvage my Wagon Gear side and tailgate panels. The axles have 4.56 gears with an ARB in the rear. Longfield 30 splines in the front. Tor recently (last year) did an H55 swap for me. The transmission might be salvagable. 5 custom Stockton 16x8 with 3.25 backspacing wheels are OK.
The 2FE block (balanced, bored over, custom cam and head porting) might be as well, but I doubt it's worth it. The Split Second MAF and J&S Safeguard were in the glovebox so they're toast. The PC was under the passenger seat so it's toast too.
This was the first car I bought, way back in '97. Before I got it I had never even changed the oil in a car. Now I've done most everything except build or swap an engine or transmission or regear axles (I did have a 5.3 e-rod swap planned for the near future).
One pic of the damage and one pic of happier times with my dog Hunter (also RIP) who loved this truck more than I did:
Although I doubt I'll ever know exactly how it started it's either electrical or fuel. I had a lot of electrical work - dual yellow top batteries, 175 amp alternater, dual SPAL fans, on board PC, seat heaters, amplifier, washer fluid heater (don't laugh, it rules in the snow/skiing and cold mornings
), wideband O2, ARB compressor... This was always my biggest worry. However because electrical was my biggest concern I tried to treat it with a lot of respect. All of my electrical connections where either crimped with uninsulated tinned connectors and covered with marine grade adhesive lined heat shrink, were AMP PIDG connectors or were Deutsch connectors (all crimped with terminal specific crimp tooling). All non stock connections from the battery either went from a fusible link to a distribution point and then fused (with an aux fuse block under the dash) or were short runs to heavy fuses (amp, fluid heater...). All wiring pre-fuse was armored as was most wiring post fuse.
If I had to guess I'd say it was the wiring from the alternater to the dual battery controller. I had just tighten the belt on the alternater and I always worried a bit that there wasn't a fuse between the alt and the batteries (1/0 cables). I couldn't figure out a place to put one that wouldn't take all the exhaust heat and still be close enough to do any good.
Most, if not all, of the truck is a loss. I might be able to salvage my Wagon Gear side and tailgate panels. The axles have 4.56 gears with an ARB in the rear. Longfield 30 splines in the front. Tor recently (last year) did an H55 swap for me. The transmission might be salvagable. 5 custom Stockton 16x8 with 3.25 backspacing wheels are OK.
The 2FE block (balanced, bored over, custom cam and head porting) might be as well, but I doubt it's worth it. The Split Second MAF and J&S Safeguard were in the glovebox so they're toast. The PC was under the passenger seat so it's toast too.
This was the first car I bought, way back in '97. Before I got it I had never even changed the oil in a car. Now I've done most everything except build or swap an engine or transmission or regear axles (I did have a 5.3 e-rod swap planned for the near future).
One pic of the damage and one pic of happier times with my dog Hunter (also RIP) who loved this truck more than I did:
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