68 Dart GT 340 Fire

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DevilDogSTL

DevilDogSTL

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Location
St Louis,Mo / Quantico,VA
I'm a Marine stationed on Quantico VA, well i got a call on thursday that my 68 dodge dart gt 340 back in St. Louis caught fire somewhere in the dash and caught my uncles garage and living room on fire where its kept while im gone. Thankfully no one was home and the nosey neighbors that always complained about that "noisy car" saw smoke and got the fire department there before any real major damage was done the house, but not for the Dart. Sad, sad day to see my mopar go that ive had since i was 17, ive put over 20,000 in it since i bought it 3 years ago ( never touched the dash) and still fighting tate farm to give me the 15K it was insured for but well see how it goes until then here are the pics.

I'm trying to locate another mopar as this is an undying passion of mine as i know i cant afford to pick up a 68 340 dart for the price and condition i did this one
im hoping to find a 71-72 Demon 340 or any Dart or cool a body if anyone knows of any within 200 miles Of Washington D.C. area that arent out of drivable condition, i dont have time to do a complete restoration. thanks and have a great day and keep the mopars alive.
Respectfully-Nate Thompson
 

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So sorry to see your beautiful car like this. Hopefully you can get the insurance to pay you and maybe find another one.
 
:-([QUOTE= Sad, sad day to see my mopar go that ive had since i was 17

sick feelings.....seems like ya can't catch a break..... i couldn't fathom my car burning after all the work we put into them....
 
Yes luckily ididnt go through the fire wall just the rest of the car so the new 360, alum rad, tti headers and the rest of the engine bay was untouched other that the heat from the fire so well see if buying back from insurance is worth it depending on how much tey want
 
Wow, that suck's brother, I don't even know what to say! Hopefully you can settle with the insurance company and get another car. Nothing will replace all the labor, and time, but at least no one got hurt, good luck, and thank's for your service!
 
buy it back.....find you another shell to put your goodies into...maybe a battery disconnect switch to be on the safe side. so sorry for your loss glad everyone is ok
 
Man that sucks....sorry for your loss. Did you have your car appraised? I was involved in an accident with my swinger and state farm totaled the car out. Their first offer was $1500, until I showed them the appraisal I had gotten just weeks before the accident and they gave me what it was appraised for. I was then able to buy it back for $500. I really hope the don't screw you over man.
 
Man you should ALWAYS pull the battery cable off any car in storage--well any car that is over 40 years old.

Yes thankfully nobody was hurt or even killed, that is how people die--forget the car.

I used to pull my battery cable off every night but I have gotten lazy--gee I have to open the hood to put it back on

I'm getting worry now, its sitting in my garage. Batteries have lots of power now of days, need to respect that, old wiring it will short out but a fusible link or fuse saves the day--but not always
 
I sure hate that....:sad3:

I installed a knife switch on the neg. cable on the '71 and will do the same on the '73 when it's running.
 
dodge freak said:
Man you should ALWAYS pull the battery cable off any car in storage--well any car that is over 40 years old.

Yes thankfully nobody was hurt or even killed, that is how people die--forget the car.

I used to pull my battery cable off every night but I have gotten lazy--gee I have to open the hood to put it back on

I'm getting worry now, its sitting in my garage. Batteries have lots of power now of days, need to respect that, old wiring it will short out but a fusible link or fuse saves the day--but not always
Click to expand...

Well My uncle drove the car once every two weeks or so as i made the dart to be somehwat of a driver, so we never even thought to unhook the battery until this as everything electrical had individual on off switches when i bought the car. And yes the important thing is none of my family got hurt although my little cousin is putting pictures of my car and the house all over her facebook :banghead:
 
Sorry for the loss, that sucks. Good luck with the Insurance company. When cashed out, take your time and find something nice, there out there, just keep looking for what you want.
 
Thanks for the good wishes gentlemen i appreciate all the support on the boards hopefully i can find a nice dart or demon soon and get back into it and dare i say it if i cant find the right A-body i may have to go to a B-Body Coronet (betn some of you thought i was going to say chevy/ford[-X) as i always liked the coronets looks.
 
Sorry for your loss. A wake up call for others too.
REMOVE THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE.
I've always been afraid something like that might happen in my basement. Therefore everything gets disconnected, riding mower, Mattel Power Wheels, battery chargers, compressor, you name it.
 
Yes ive learned just bought another 68 Dart GT with a 340 from another FABO member and first thing im doing when it gets here in a few days is installing a battery kill switch to cut out risk of the runaway current that caused the previous fire.
 
I just discovered this thread, sorry to hear your Dart burned but luckily no one was hurt and you found another one through FABO. Thank you for the wake-up call, my negative cable will be disconnected from now on. Thank you for serving the citizens of the USA.
 
sorry to hear about your loss,,i need to ask why disconnect the negative cable..seems like the power cable is the one to cut...j
 
Good excuse to put in a battery disconnect like they make track guy have. So sorry that you had this happen.
 
big time bummer
that almost happened to my 66 charger once
neighbor yelled at me but luckily the feed wire that was starting the problem burned thru before anything major happened
 
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