My question involves court procedures for the state of: California.

I recently took my car to a backyard mechanic to get my transmission replaced. I picked up the car today and while driving it around the block to make sure everything was working right it caught on fire. The fire was put out and the car does not have a lot of damage but it is currently is not in running condition. I believe that he did not repair the transmission correctly and fluid leaked out of it and caught the car on fire. I tried talking to him but he claims he did nothing wrong and will not take a look at it. He told me to talk a lawyer. I have text message conversations regarding the car but I have no signed contract or anything. Would it even be worth my time to find out what exactly caused the fire and if it is his fault to take him to small claims court? Its an older car I already spent over 600 trying to fix it and not sure if its really worth it for me to put more money into it. Just want some opinions on if small claims court is even worth my time.