aarrgh!

[Michael Bruce Mcfarland <mbm2@acpub.duke.edu>]

Hello all, a belated delurk.  I would have spoken up sooner with some of 
the usual flotilla of T3 related problems but...on 30 March my beloved 
Beth [71 SQBK] caught on fire a little so the ongoing (15yrs now) 
restoration got a bit more complicated.  Not to dwell on my tale of woes, 
but I was wondering if anyone had any theories about how a fire could 
have gotten started under the backseat, left hand side.  The firemen 
theorized that it was due to an electrical short, but I didn't see any 
indications.  I'm a journeyman mechanic myself, and had my guru and 
another local professional VW mechanic of long years standing take a look 
at the ignition area, but they also didn't see anything which would 
indicate an electrical origin.  

Fortunately, I suppose, the fire was contained to the backseat/headliner 
and beyond the ancillary smoke/chemical extinguisher/water damage the 
resto objectives remain about the same, but I am torn as to whether to 
restore Beth herself, or find another body to put all my rebuilt 
mechanicals into.  Soo, any armchair hypothesizing would be welcome!

The short review:

point of origin: underneath the backseat, lefthand side; I had the seat 
folded down at the time to carry cargo.  

circumstances: after approximately 30-35 minutes of 70 mph highway 
driving; it was a warm day here in central NC, and I hadn't yet done the 
Spring disconnect of the heater tubes between the heat exchangers and the 
body, so the heat was still slightly "on", and Beth is one of those 
shoe-melting T3's....

Michael Bruce McFarland
Beth, '71 SQBK (second owner since 1981)