Recall that this fire occurred in 1985. While localized under the dash, smoke damage would have permeated all the "soft" parts of the interior. In 1985 there were no cheap "used" parts available, and the cost of replacing an **entire** interior including the radio panel, A/C, and wiring harness with new parts (which at that time were thought unavailable) was prohibitive enough to write the car off. (Remember the other economics of the time - this was an orphan car from a recently defunct company. Most shops would not even touch them.) This was also a period of time where the parts were much harder to obtain than they are now. At this point you'd be hard pressed to find any evidence of this damage on the car. Regarding the clutch, as the car had not been driven in 20 years the clutch disk had frozen to the flywheel, the bearing to the trans shaft, and all the clutch and brake hydraulics were completely jammed. The clutch was by no means worn out. This was the first car I've ever seen where, when I got in, all three pedals would not move (had to replace the throttle cable too!). It drives fine now, although about what you'd expect (stiff) for a car with 25-year-old Girling shocks. Dave S --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, mike.griese@xxxx wrote: > It doesn't take much of a fire to write off a car. I have seen > cars with minor under-dash "fires" totalled because of the > cost of replacing the wiring harness, accessories, and any > piece of fabric in the interior because of smoke damage. > No scorched paint, no damage to the dash itself. > > -- > Mike > > > -------------- Original message from "alex morgan" <mauibarber@xxxx>: -------------- > > > It must have been some kind of fire to salvage the car. To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/