lightning strikes my '85 vette!

[Craig M.]

On the way home to Texas from the CorvetteForum.com cruise-in in Bowling
Green, my '85 Corvette was struck by lightning! My father and I were
travelling just outside a small town called New Boston on I30 in
NorthEast Texas Sunday morning when a sudden storm popped out of
nowhere. The rain was pouring down and I slowed to about 55mph. Then,
all within a fraction of a second, a bright flash appears on the
passenger side, a huge BANG and the car shook terribly, all the lights
on my 'Star Wars' dash light up then go blank.... smoke is pouring out
of the dash near the ECM.... the engine quit
running.... we coasted to the side of the road. It was so sudden and
violent. It appears that the lightning struck just under the passenger
seat,
and also damaged the windshield slightly. My ears were ringing the rest
of
the day. Pictures can be seen here:

http://www3.ewebcity.com/marcho/strike.htm

I'm waiting for the insurance to come look at it. We had to tow the car
home, as all the electronics are fried on the car. I had just had the
car
painted a couple weeks ago. Looking at the damage under the passenger
seat,
I still can't figure out how my dad didn't get harmed by the lightning.
It
was right under him!

I had my Diacom laptop in the car and I hooked it up right away.
Wouldn't connect! Duh! Seems the ECM is at the very least DEAD! I'm
wondering how many other components that were designed for 5 or 12 volts
are wasted after the huge surge of electricity. How many volts is
lightning, anyway?!?!?

Craig M.
http://welcome.to/corvette/


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