1720 fire

[dv528]

Hello all,
I'm new here today but browsed the forum a decade ago when I researching the purchase of a 1997 Ford 1720 4x4. Well, the 1720 is no more. The barn caught on fire and now the Ford is sitting on charred rims on the floor. I think I remember a thread back when that said you can't get crankshafts for them anymore - might be wrong. Anyway if someone needs a crankshaft do you think it might be salvageable buried in the engine or is it a goner too?

 

[shovelmike]

I doubt that the crankshaft got hot enough to damage it.

 

[radios1]

you are lucky that only the rims got charred, just put new tires on it for a start, then check for other damage..

 

[dv528]

Sorry, didn't type enough words. No blue paint except under the differential. No tires, no instrument panel, no seat, no electrical, radiator fell apart, even the air filter came out as ash and 2 bare screens. An extra set of tires (turf) are empty charred wheels with loops of wire where the beads were. The loader was dismounted and I had a small oil barrel (30 gal?) under the boom to hold it up and the barrel got so hot the weight of the loader collapsed it to the floor like a beer can.

 

[fried1765]

you are lucky that only the rims got charred, just put new tires on it for a start, then check for other damage..

Huh ????
"the 1720 is no more"
Rather obvious!
Most would interpret that to mean: "the 1720 is no more"?

 

[Dataway]

I would say that if any aluminum bits on the engine are still intact that it probably didn't get hot enough to totally destroy the engine ... the block anyway could be considered "seasoned" some slight re machining and it would probably be fine ... although I realize you probably have no plans to resurrect the beast. Tough call on the crank, depends on what kind of steel it's made of, a machinist could probably answer that question. Crank and rods were probably fairly well protected from direct contact with the smoldering ashes of the barn.

When it comes to cars in fires ... I usually go by things like if the carb and distributor housing, alternator are melted away.

All exterior steel will be annealed and so soft it can no longer be used. Put some pliers on a fender ... I bet you can bend them very easily. It's not really the heat that kills the exterior steel ... it's the very slow cool down surrounded by insulating ash ... a perfect annealing situation. I once made the mistake of using some car ramps that came out of a fire .... put the vehicle up on them, went in the shop to get some tools, came back out and the ramps had slowly mushroomed out like stepping on a beer can.

Cast iron is usually fine ... and often BETTER after a fire as the heat gets rid of all the internal stresses. They usually warp a bit, but are VERY stable after machining.

Hopefully someone answers your question about the crank ... I'm curious about that.