Fire Damaged 1937 Morris Eight Tourer
Discussion
This afternoon I helped move this recently refurbished Morris 8 Tourer from its fire damaged garage.
The poor thing was caught up in a fire which spread along a row of outbuildings in our village, after a garden bonfire got out of hand.
It wasnt the only car caught up in the conflagration......
The car has great sentimental value to its owner - an elderly lady whose late father bought the car from new.
The car almost survived unscathed. However, our neighbour had covered it in layers of bubble wrap, which has meltied onto all of the upper, exposed surfaces.
Our neighbour wishes to renovate to car once again. Has anyone had experience of cleaning melted plastic from bodywork? I assume a full respray and interior refurbishment is what's in store for the poor thing?
.
Safely in its new home.
The poor thing was caught up in a fire which spread along a row of outbuildings in our village, after a garden bonfire got out of hand.
It wasnt the only car caught up in the conflagration......
The car has great sentimental value to its owner - an elderly lady whose late father bought the car from new.
The car almost survived unscathed. However, our neighbour had covered it in layers of bubble wrap, which has meltied onto all of the upper, exposed surfaces.
Our neighbour wishes to renovate to car once again. Has anyone had experience of cleaning melted plastic from bodywork? I assume a full respray and interior refurbishment is what's in store for the poor thing?
Safely in its new home.
Ouch! Both lucky and unlucky in equal measure.
No words of wisdom to share for the interior, but I was doing a little PDR the other day and the way isopropyl alcohol releases the "plastic" from a glue gun from paint made me wonder if it might be worth a try on a small area?
Likely different plastic so might do nothing, and there is probably some paint damage from the heat even if the plastic comes off, but not much to lose at this point?
No words of wisdom to share for the interior, but I was doing a little PDR the other day and the way isopropyl alcohol releases the "plastic" from a glue gun from paint made me wonder if it might be worth a try on a small area?
Likely different plastic so might do nothing, and there is probably some paint damage from the heat even if the plastic comes off, but not much to lose at this point?
Blib said:
Thank you. I shall pass that on.
I wouldn't bother.The heat has melted the plastic into the paint, and (it seems) into the leather. Worst case, bare-metal repaint plus full interior retrim.
You might get away with attempting to remove the plastic from the leather and then refinish, but the labour involved (unless you do it yourself), would be more expensive than the retrim.
Plus, is there further heat damage to additional rubber/soft components throughout the car? Engine internals? Wiring?
Presumably all this is going to be covered by the wayward neighbour's insurance, but they'll pay for a "market value" for the car and not for the full restoration that it now requires.
Sad situation.
RustyMX5 said:
I have no idea if this is even still available but I remember my father using Carbon Tertachloride to clean stuff. Even the most stubbornly stuck stuff seemed to just rub away after an application. I think I still have a jar of the stuff knocking around somewhere.
Get rid. VERY carefully. Wikipedia page on this extremely dangerous stuff has a section "Famous deaths from carbon tetrachloride poisoning".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride
silentbrown said:
Get rid. VERY carefully. Wikipedia page on this extremely dangerous stuff has a section "Famous deaths from carbon tetrachloride poisoning".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride
But... they're not very famous are they?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride
Sorry to see the car Blib. Hope the owner can get it sorted.
Which wally has a garden bonfire after the hottest/driest period of weather we've had for ages?!
silentbrown said:
RustyMX5 said:
I have no idea if this is even still available but I remember my father using Carbon Tertachloride to clean stuff. Even the most stubbornly stuck stuff seemed to just rub away after an application. I think I still have a jar of the stuff knocking around somewhere.
Get rid. VERY carefully. Wikipedia page on this extremely dangerous stuff has a section "Famous deaths from carbon tetrachloride poisoning".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride
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