smoke and fire damage

[LTL4life]

Guys, any help would be appreciated. wed. night i suffered a complete garage fire. the fire marshall belives the fire started i nthe engine comp, of mt 2001 ford excursion 7.3 powerstroke which is a total loss. my 71 bronco sport which i completed the interior painting is covered in black soot. the exterior is also covered in soot and some of the primed areas have minor heat damage. any ideas on how to remove the soot from my white interior? thanks for any help. its not yet insured so i wont be reimbursed for the bronco

 

[grant_71]

First off...DO NOT DRY WIPE IT!!!! it will smear and become disgusting, and quite permanent, pull it outside, start soaking it with the hose, then hit it with some simple green, then scrub away with LOTS of water. I don't know how complete the interior is but if you can get a nice sunny day everything will dry. As for the primed areas, you will need to wash them, then before paint be sure and wipe it down well with lacquer thinner to remove any other greasy soot that may not be visible. Then prep for paint as normal.

Good Luck
Grant

 

[PsYcHoBrOnCo]

Guys, any help would be appreciated. wed. night i suffered a complete garage fire. the fire marshall belives the fire started i nthe engine comp, of mt 2001 ford excursion 7.3 powerstroke which is a total loss. my 71 bronco sport which i completed the interior painting is covered in black soot. the exterior is also covered in soot and some of the primed areas have minor heat damage. any ideas on how to remove the soot from my white interior? thanks for any help. its not yet insured so i wont be reimbursed for the bronco

The fire probably started by the Cruz control Mod. this has been a problem with Ford, and I believe they are in major Lawsuits over this failure.

 

[Broncobowsher]

The fire probably started by the Cruz control Mod. this has been a problem with Ford, and I believe they are in major Lawsuits over this failure.

That was the first thing I thought when I read it as well. Very common in later fords.

 

[PsYcHoBrOnCo]

Ya, I can't wait until my 05 f150 does the same thing.

 

[ugly74]

simple green does work well for smoke damage, but fabrics and other soft, porous materials a lot of times won't come clean no matter what ya do.

 

[brian72]

would it be as easy as hosing it down....vinyl correct?

 

[OsideDave]

I have no experience in this matter but what about using compressed air to blow out the heavy residue before wiping/hosing?

 

[73stallion]

compressed air may embed it in the fabric more, i wouldn't try it.

 

[LTL4life]

unfortunally in wisconsin because the bronco is not insured, motor vehicles(bikes, atvs etc.) are not considered in the contents of the dwelling. im trying to fight for compensation to store the bronco until the garage is redone. I am leaning towards what you guys are saying about the cruise switch being the culprit. the fire inspector is leaning towards the glow plug warmer circuit. the excursion was plugged in at the time of fire. i dont wish this on any other member or anyone at all.

 

[firemanbuttsy]

There are alot of professional cleaning and restoration companies out there that specialize in this type of thing. You might have seen them circling like vultures around the fire scene. They can offer up some good tips just give them acall and dont let them con you into anything you dont want, but a mild degreaser like Simple Green or Spray Nine with alot of water is a good place to start. The soot is filled with the particulate of every noxious thing that was burned in the fire so be careful and use gloves it can make you sick especially in an auto fire type incident.

 

[PsYcHoBrOnCo]

unfortunally in wisconsin because the bronco is not insured, motor vehicles(bikes, atvs etc.) are not considered in the contents of the dwelling. im trying to fight for compensation to store the bronco until the garage is redone. I am leaning towards what you guys are saying about the cruise switch being the culprit. the fire inspector is leaning towards the glow plug warmer circuit. the excursion was plugged in at the time of fire. i dont wish this on any other member or anyone at all.

I'm sorry i deleted the post in which I was asking about the insurance because I reread your post. This is the clarification I was inquiring.

 

[ransil]

I don't think the 2001 trucks were recalled for the cruise control plug, My F250 wasn't. The block heater could be the problem the contacts corrode and the wires get moved a lot plugging and unplugging them.

you shouldn't need to keep them plugged in all the time, its a 1500 watt heater cost to much to heat it 24/7 I only use my heater a few hours when the temp is below zero.

 

[grant_71]

If i remember the recall for the cruise control was on gas powered vehicles only, because our 02 Powerstroke didn't have the recall on it, but now i am going to take a look at that block heater on it....

 

[Pa PITT]

I was going to say use Spray-a-way glass cleaner on it ........

 

[79driver]

I was going to say use Spray-a-way glass cleaner on it ........

X2 this stuff works great.

 

[LTL4life]

What kind of damage do you think i would do if i sprayed simple green on the painted dash and hosed it of with the instrument cluster still in the dash?

 

[Revelation]

unfortunally in wisconsin because the bronco is not insured, motor vehicles(bikes, atvs etc.) are not considered in the contents of the dwelling. im trying to fight for compensation to store the bronco until the garage is redone. I am leaning towards what you guys are saying about the cruise switch being the culprit. the fire inspector is leaning towards the glow plug warmer circuit. the excursion was plugged in at the time of fire. i dont wish this on any other member or anyone at all.

What about the insurance on the Excursion? Will they pay for the storage? Or will they use that to raise your rates?

 

[LTL4life]

As for the excursion, its a total. i threw them some reciepts for new tires, smittybuilt grille guard and the westin side bars i put on. waiting for them to tow it out of my garage for salvage. as for my bronco, they almost put it in a polite manner (too bad, so sad) im just begging for some money from them for sorage until the weather warms up so i can see if pressure washing will remove the soot . because of the great ordanances in appleton, i cant even park and tarp it on my own lawn.

 

[dnewman9]

I would call one of the disaster recovery firms. There are companies who specialize in cleaning water, fire smoke damage out of both furniture and clothing. If they can't help you you are probably going to have to start over.
Dennis