Thanks for the reply.

I put some pictures here to give you a better idea

http://picasaweb.google.com/fiestaman228/Fiesta#

I scraped all the crap off the inside of the roof. It's now just a sheet of metal.

My main concern is that to replace the car would cost an awful lot more than it's worth. It's only got 68k miles on the clock, and is a great little runner. March MOT, needs new exhaust.

Any more thoughts appreciated. Thanks

Thanks. I'll try to get some more pics tomorrow in the daylight. I've had an electric heater on all day and I think it's nice and dry. I'll brush out some of the crap, then get the hoover onto it, and then take some snappy snaps.

I don't know what the law is about seats in cars. Is it OK to drive around with the passenger seat missing? The passenger seat is fine, a bit smelly, it's currently airing on my balcony. I will probably just put some kind of sheet on it, and bolt it into the drivers side. The fittings are identical on each side so it should slot in just fine. I took the runners off the burnt seat just in case there's a problem.

IT will need a new seatbelt fitted, drivers side. Burned through. Not sure if passenger's side seatbelt will need redoing if there's no seat there. But I'd be keen to know the MOT rules because it would be easy to MOT it with no seat and then install a dodgy one, so perhaps they're wary of that.

The other problem is that dashboard perspex window has turned opaque, so I can't see the speedo and other dials. I guess that could just be ripped out, doesn't seem worth replacing.

Will I be able to talk frankly with the insurance company, or will they insist of writing off the vehicle regardless of my future intentions? I've never had to make a claim before, but I'm slightly concerned that if I decided to keep driving it they might say that the car should be off the road. Am I legally bound to report fire damage?

As for value of parts, that's an interesting question. There's a one year old Weber carb in there to replace the VV, the battery is one month old, the wheels/tyres are in pretty good nick. Exhaust is, well, rather short. I don't know what parts are valuable. Most of the panels have rust.

OK this sounds like a terrible car, but it was clean, well looked after, drove well, and, well, I loved it. I wish it hadn't been needlessly vandalised in this way. There's a chance that the next MOT (mid march) would reveal uneconomic repairs and that I'd have to get rid of it. That would be sad as well, but having a half burned out car is just sad.

The battery is trickle charging and hopefully it will turn over tomorrow. Either that or something stupendously wrong has taken out the starter motor. We'll see.

Sorry for all the questions. I hope topost some more pics tomorrow. Thanks

Personally, I wouldn't tell your insurer. I take it you are fairly young and any adverse claims history will cost you more than the car is worth.

More recent pics here: picasaweb.google.com/fiestaman228/FiestaStage2#

Should give you a good idea of where things are. Needs new seatbelt.

Thanks Robin, that's helpful of you.

I don't care in the least about how it looks. I'll happily take a wire scrubber to any part that needs scrubbing, it's not like I'm ever going to sell the motor is it!?!

I'm happy not to replace the passenger seat, from what I've read if it's not there the MOT man can't fail it. That probably means removing the passenger seatbelt too.

We'll see how important the roof insulation is. I don't do long distances so the sound issue isn't important. But condensation during winter/indeed any time of the year could be annoying.Especially if that condensation is infused with nasty dissolved bits of fire goo. I like the idea of a bit of white paint. I'll scrub it down first then give it a go.

A bit of duct tape on the small paint blisters should buy me another year.

Cheers