Well, not sure what i am gonna do now....
   Yesterday on my '74  Vette (the stock one, not the custom, thats a 75)  I noticed a small puddle of oil under the car.  That motor had never leaked before, so i knew something wasn't quite right.  I opened the hood, but couldn't find the problem.  I figured that rather than jack it up, i would run it up on ramps.
  Start it up, letting it idle before i go up the ramps.  As i am aligning the ramps correctly, and i noticed a bit of smoke from under the hood.  As quick as i could get the hood open, it was too late.  I had an engine fire!  Right now, the wiring, vacuum lines, even the radiator hoses are gone.  I shot a quite a bit of fire extinguisher on it, so i cant tell what all else is gone. 
   On the up side, the body is fine, the hood survived with only smoke damage.
    I am not sure what i am going to do from here.  I really don't.  I do know that i was having carb problems before hand.  I can only guess where to go now.  Any suggestions?

Holy Crap,  It's a wonder you didn't get burnt in the process of opening the hood.  Flash fires are nasty creatures, especially gasoline/oil fueled and head toward more air when available.

Glad you are OK.

Step back, take a breath.... and just assess the situation then plan your attack for redoing what damaged.... something was wrong, thats a fact, but now you need to sit down and look at what happened and make it all right again.... nothing is impossible, you'll figure it out... with the help from this forum and a good shop / serivce manual, you'll make it all right again..

make sure to get the shop vac  to vaccum the powder ,,,DO NOT USE WATER,,,,,it makes a PASTE,,,what a bitch to clean....

Bugger!

Sorry to hear about the fire, consider yourself lucky it could have been worse. This past Columbus Day I drove my car in the parade, all of a sudden my carb popped, the car stalled out and smoke started coming out my hood vent (Near the wipers) luckily we put out the carb fire with no damage. However, another person who drove his classic in the same parade, got home parked the car, and got ready for dinner. When he went to the kitchen he asked his wife what was burning, IT WAS HIS CAR IN THE GARAGE THAT WAS ON FIRE.

Warbird...........Have you forgotten about the time your battery cable & almost more went up in smoke?

I am grateful that it happen as it did.  I mean, IF it was going to happen, i thank God that its all that did happen.  I never once thought of flare up, i could have really been burnt quite bad.  As Ronda said: Thank God it didnt happen while you were driving!
   I got to looking at it more, it seems that the head gasket may have blown.  I have powder sticking to the block below the exhaust only on the drivers side. its actually a bit of paste there.  Thats the only place (other than the carb) that its sticking.  My wiring harness isnt that bad either, other than where it connects to the motor.  Now, to call the insurance.  And convince Ronda that its Ok to own/drive a car that can melt.  She was quite a bit shook up when she realized the body can melt/burn.

How could I forget

Wow, sorry to hear about the fire, at least your were prepared with a fire extinguisher.