Trip to Shaver Lake was great. Good people, good weather, great fishing, great trails. Broke a passenger side motor mount on the last day, and with the help of Rock Ranger, got it chained in place. Bowed the tie rod in the same place as last time. Lots of scrapes and dings to underside and wheels.
On the way home, not so much. I had a "small" electrical fire in the Explorer. I was driving southbound 5 in Burbank area, gauges started flipping out, lost power pulled over, smelled smoke. It started in the wiring above the fuel filter. Somehow, the short used the park brake cable like a lightning rod, it got red hot all the way into the cab. I could see the rubber seal melting from the heat, so I disconnected both batteries, burning my fingers and arm in the process. Used up my fire extinguisher on the flames under the cab, then smoke started pouring out of the dash vents. I dumped the water I had left on the dash with no effect. A passing fire engine on its way to refuel from fighting the fires in Glendale stopped and put it out (thanks to Pasadena FD). They had to pull a hose and douse the dash, then we tore the dash apart to make sure it was out. Its bad, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be, expecting to lose the entire rig. If that engine hadn't shown up, I would have lost it. If I had brought my dog on the trip, I would have lost the Explorer from the time it took to get the dog out and to a safe place. I have seen hundreds of car fires and know it only takes a few minutes for them to be fully engulfed.
Had it towed home for free through AAA. The adjuster is coming out tomorrow to look at it. I'm fairly sure it will be a total loss and I can buy it back as a salvage. After they decide, I will tear into it to see where it started, and how much damage there really is. I think the best course of action will be to find a donor Explorer and pull the dash, parts, wiring, etc. The dash damage appears limited to the dash and everything that was in it, so I could replace the dash, and the dash wiring harness to the firewall. The underside wiring I have no idea about. I will post pictures later, but I am sick of looking at it for now.
I will soon be looking for a donor Explorer, don't care if it runs, needs to have a tan interior and hopefully white so I can pull some body panels for later. Won't matter if its 2wd, 4wd, auto or manual because I am not using the stock trans/transfer cases anyway. At first, I was thinking of parting it out and being done with that. Maybe get an extended wheel base LJ. After spending a little time thinking, there is no way I am letting it die. Too many memories of my family and my father wrapped up in the rig. Its going to be a long process, so I don't think we will be doing any runs this season.
Don't do that! 
. I successfully negotiated for a higher amount than they first offered, then bought it back for the amount that they would get from the junkyard. 
