Burnt GQ rolling chassis - worth buying?

[Mark2]

I've got the opportunity to buy a GQ (Maverick) wagon chassis which has been in a fire. Basically the wagon was parked under a house which burnt down. The seller has removed the body and is selling the rolling chassis with engine (4.2 petrol), gearbox, diffs etc. I dont know how hot it got, (the paint on the chassis is peeled). Think I can get if for about $500. How much damage are the bits likely to have sustained? Would the price be worth it? I have a 4.2 diesel GQ, was thinking about buying it for spares and selling bits off eg gearbox, engine block. diffs etc?

[CRUSHU]

i would take it, what ratio diffs? where is it?

[Mark2]

It is (was?) a wagon with the 4.2 petrol motor, so I think they'd be 4.11's. But I've heard the Mavericks (which is what this was) had 3.9's. If so, I couldn't see these being real popular if I wanted to sell them......?

I guess all the oil seals woudl be stuffed, could the steel in the gears etc have lost any temper or hardness? or warped? Dont know how the bearings would be either. I guess if everything still rotates it cant be too bad?

[Mark2]

where is it?

Its in Gympie, QLD

[J Top]

To damage the gears would require the oil to vapourize,you woulod see moulten bush's and seals hanging out of everything.
Burnt rubber is cancer forming,wear gloves when working with it.
I would be more concerned about water damage,does the engine turn over?
It sounds like a bargin to me,you would pay that for the front diff.
J Top

[SimplyPV]

now hold on guys... keep in mind here a house fire can get to upwards of 2500 degrees F...... i know, i used to be a vol. fire fighter... so that shit gets pretty hot..... also depends on how long the rig was exposed to that kind of heat. its possible the head cover or even the head itself became warped... not to mention other things.... its a pretty risky gamble i would say but if you think you can get ur money's worth just by pulling a couple of parts off.. then do it because then whatever you scrap will give you a bit of change in your pocket. but you gotta ask yourself, is it worth the hassle to go through in order to scrap what you dont need or what isnt usable?

[BundyRumandCoke]

Heat rises, if this was parked under the house that burnt, then the vehicle wasnt subjected to the extremes of the fire itself, assuming the house didnt collapse around it. You say the paint has burnt on the chassis, radiant heat can do real damage to paint, yet not real underlying damage. You say the owner has removed the body. I assume from this that the basic structural integrity is still intact. First place i would check is any alloy parts of the motor, gearbox, on the chassis. I would be wary if any has been melted or started to deform. If all is still intact, then I would then check for external oil seal damage, such as pinion seals, and gearbox. If this is ok, then I would assume that the internals are ok. For $500, I dont think you could go wrong, if you have a need for some of these parts.
Just my opinion.

[SimplyPV]

bundy you are partially correct in your statement, heat DOES rises... as a general rule of thumb.. but heat that is radiated can and WILL go anywhere..... if it was parked undernieth.. i can promise you it was subjected to alot of heat. checking the alloy is a good call.... i would look very carefully for any discolorations in the alloy and generally any where.... if theres any kind of discoloring (blue, purple, dullness, etc etc) you know its been warped.... but dude you could get super lucky. $500 is a pretty cheap price.... wonder why the guy wont part it out himself?.....

[Spartacus]

500 buck an uve got yourself the chassis for a fake hummer!!!

but thats all i can think of apart from any heat damage

Lucas