gstreev

I was driving when I smelt smoke coming from under the dash on the drivers side. I quickly pulled over, by the time I got a pliers and battery cable off the damage was done. I had just installed a 3 bar FPR and brought a fire extinguisher with me and was able to put the fire out.
It looks like the fuse for the factory alarm was melted but did not blow.
The following is a list of parts that are wasted.
Windsheild W/Antenna- cracked from heat
Dash
Drivers door panel
Headliner
Drivers side carpet
Gauge cluster
All switches left of ignition switch
Many burnt wires
Everything in the engine compartment looks good.
no wires from the radio area are burnt or to the right of it.
do you think my insurance will total it, I have it insured for $11,500?
what kind of wiring job am I looking at?
Should I consider some kind of aftermarket dash & gauges?
Maybe some of you that have any of these parts for sale can PM me.
The car is an 89 Turbo.
The last picture was taken a month ago.

Rock

Thats gonna be a huge batch to fix. Poor guy

Did you have like a 30 amp fuse where a 7.5 should have been or something?

gstreev

It was a clear fuse, I can't tell how many amps.

ibkevin

Damn that sucks!

I'd be real tempted to repair it out of pocket, parts are pretty cheap. Biggest is going to be labor on the harness.

I have to admit this is the first dash fire I've herd of in a 944/951, elcluding crap stereo installs. I leave a 10x13 wrench in the map pocket and a 2.2 Halon behind the seat just for this type of stuff.

ibkevin

BTW, you have a car to repair. It's amazing how quickly this could have just turned into a ball of flame on the side of the road!

SD Porsche Fan

Glad you didn't get hurt.

Options:
Replace interior.
New custom interior
Gut the interior and sell it as a track car.
Buy it back from the insurance co. and part it out.

Tough spot for you to be in. Hope it all works out.

gstreev

At least the Leather sports seats are still nice.

fast951

Sorry to hear about the mishap, at least you reacted quickly and saved it.
Replacing the harness & dash will be a PITA job, the only way to figure out the extent of the damage is to take it apart.

Bri Bro

Don't do anything until you contact your insurance company. The insurance adjuster will not like it if you start working on it before he estimates the damage.

gstreev

Yes this is true, the only thing I did was remove the drivers door panel so
I could get the window up. I used a motorcycle battery and powered the
motor directly. Just trying to keep the rain out, better than the tarp I had on it.

Techno Duck

Ah man Gary, that sucks big time. I would defenetley wait until you have an insurance adjuster come to look at it if you want to take this route. Alternativley you can try to fix this on your own as the damage is pretty much just isolated to the drivers area. Its hard to say what the damage will be.. the dash defenetley needs to come off to see the extent of the damage to the wiring, climate control..etc. Rewiring everything will be very time consuming, though not impossible to do.

Good luck with everything. If you need any help when you start to take the dash out drop me a line, you have my email. Seriously, dont hesistate to ask me if you need help. I have some exeperience monkeying around and redoing a early dash and have a late model car with no dash in it right now we could reference at my friends place if need be. Let me know what you decide to do with the car either way.

How does everything by the fuse box look?

Ski

Tough call on that. If it was me, if the insurance totalled it, I would try to buy it back, part what I wanted to sell, keep what was good and start over. Sorry to see that but as others have said, glad you're ok.

Dave951

Firstly I'd like to say that I'm glad you're O.K. and you'll live to see another day. Regarding your sitiutation I'd be hard pressed for an answer. If you had/have any emotional attachment to that car (As I know I do with mine) I would think highly about starting from sqaure one and re-doing the interior. It might not be the easiest route, but it will be personally rewarding (Can't really put a price on that). A tough call indeed. Uhh... I cant even look that thoose pictures anymore they make me want to wheep like a little boy.

Best of luck to you.

gstreev

Yes, I'm suffering from a hangover today

ibkevin

While waiting for the ins man, minimize your dry chem corrosion.

I'm guessing the majority of this happened yhile you were under the hood? Wow, close call.