[nytrainer]

Hey all,
Figured I'd pass on my fortunate/unfortunate incident that happened today.
Had both verts out today for various events with my son, daughter and wife today. Been driving the white vert alot so I thought I'd also take out the red one as I didn't want any jealousy in the stable.
Anyway after a long day I put the white one in the garage, left the garage doors open and had the red one parked in the driveway as I wanted to vac the interior.
I was sitting poolside catching up on the Sunday paper, and a beer (was so nice I stayed outside) before I was going to vac the red car. In my peripheral vision I see puffs of smoke. I'm thinking it was coming from the pool pump. Directly in line with the pool pump is the open garage door. Guess where the smoke was coming from?
I had put the white car away about 2 hours ago!!
I hobble into the garage, notice more smoke, open the hood.. FLAMES!!!
Had a battery disconnect on the battery as I was recently changing out the dash. Isolated battery and was able to blow out flames. The positive cable's insulation had rubbed through enough where it shorted in the tube that leads the cable to the starter. That insulation as well as the 5 & 7 spark plug wire were burning.
Not too much damage thankfully, need new cable, SP wires and redo wires coming off the solonoid.
If I had put the red car in the garage, closed the doors and gone inside it would have been real bad!!
For those of you that skipped down to this paragraph PLEASE CHECK YOUR BATTERY CABLES FREQUENTLY.
Dave

[dmorg1]

Dave,

Wow that sure was close to being terrible disaster. I'm glad to hear that the damage was only slight. Good thing you were nearby.


Dave

[68lemansman]

Glad you got to it in time before even more damage was done or both cars were effected!

[nytrainer]

Yeah it could have been bad on many levels. I do feel bad calling it a near disaster though as I had read where someone died drag racing today. That was truly a disaster/tragedy for all involved. Prayers for all those folks touched.

[salem1912]

It always amazes me how they decided to send that cable down that tube between the exhaust manifold. Glad you were there.

[nytrainer]

Hey all,
I went to the PY show and then to Maple Grove with my 14 year old son. Great weather & lots of fun. While there I dropped around 1k on various parts, yikes!
Anyway, I ordered the battery cable set from PY rather than go with Rockauto and it cost around $80. I am not concerned with having original spring type terminals but rather good quality and good fit. Is this the best choice?
My others questions are, is the red wire to starter (from/to alternator) 10 gauge? The purple wire to the s terminal on the solonoid 12 gauge? I have to solder a few feet of each as the insulation had melted.
The batt. cable kit comes with the asphalt type cloth sleeve. Do all three cables/wire (batt. cable, red and purple wires) go through this? How far above the metal tube does this sleeve extend?
Waiting for the cables as they were not in stock. Anxious to get the car back up and running.
Thanks,
Dave

[Pepi]

Wow Dave, you sure were lucky with that!!

[The Boss]

Glad you were there Dave - good seeing you this weekend!

[2002Z4CSS]

Glad you caught that.

[johnta1]

I would use 10 gauge for both wires.
The most power runs through both of those wires.
(next to the battery cable)

I would also use new full length wires.
(no soldering/splicing)

I wonder why it rubbed there?
Wires too short?
Loose bracket?

[nytrainer]

I can easily run a full length 10 ga. from starter to alternator but the purple wire emerges from a harness. Does this purple wire run straight to the key switch or the bulkhead?
The battery cable probably was a comination of being original and short. Someone may have put on a new batt. terminal at some point.
I forgot to look at other 68's while at Hatfield but is the positive terminal towards the firewall or the radiator support? This car has it nearest the rad. support which also would cause the pos. cable to be strained.