Anyone have any first hand experience trying to rebuild a car after it has been under water for a few days? My wife has been wanting an old T-bird and saw one sitting in a yard this past weekend not too far from where I live. It is complete and was a driving car before the flood and actually in pretty decent condition. Now, it is full of mud, gr***, etc. under the hood and other places, but still appears to be in pretty decent shape. The interior somehow managed to at least not get full of mud although I am sure it was real wet....I am pretty sure I can buy it right (or what seems appropriate), but wonder if it is even worth dealing with. I know there are several obvious things that will need to be done, but was just looking for any info I could get from someone with experience. I appreciate the feedback.
The car is a 65... And, thanks for the input on the wiring. I was debating on whether any of it would be salvagable.
plan on re-wiring the entire thing, replacing all of the interior(mold growth has already started I am sure), and changing out ALL of EVERY fluid in the vehicle before you do anything with it!
You need to check the engine, trans, rear end for contamination. All need stripping and rebuilding. All the seat foams and carpet will need either washing or replacing. As said all the wiring will need to be replaced. The guages will also be suspect. Good luck if you choose to take it on
I think IF you take on that project,you completely strip it down to a bare shell and start over. You say it was under water "for a few days". What ELSE was in that water??? Raw sewage? Hazardous waste? Cleaning it with a spray bottle of bleach is NOT going to work. My opinion,buy a clean '65 that isn't a "flood car" and use that one for parts(suspension,trim and sheetmetal). You'll be much happier in the long run.
Thanks for all the good input. At the price I would be willing to pay for it, it would at minimum be a real good parts car. And, I might decide that is the best thing to do with it.
Be aware that even re-wiring the car may not be enough. All electrical components (not sure how much would be on this vehicle) like power window and lock switches, headlight, fan switches, fuel pumps, sending units, etc. may need to be replaced. Cables are also prone to go to **** shortly (throttle, choke, ebrake, vents, etc.) also. I did this to an OT 80's car that was free. I replaced the wiring but had gremlins the whole two months I owned it and sold it for less than I had in it just to get rid of it. Flood cars can be made to run again but can also nickel and dime a guy to death unless it is completely redone. I think 61T-bird is right on with using it as a parts donor. My .02
From a bargaining point of view, I'd start with how much they're offering YOU to haul it away. I've seen flood cars stuffed off on unknowing buyers before and they're no walk in the park to bring back to life. Bob
Skip it. You can buy running decent 64-66 T-birds for $1,500 all day long. There are so many electrical items in a T-bird that you will be chasing problems forever. OR, if you replace and repair and rebuild everything, you would have as much $$ into it as if you had just bought a mint convertible. Expensive cars to restore do not need to be bought as flood cars. Also, there are not that many saleable parts on a 64 Bird. Now if it were a 67 Bird, they have many high dollar parts on them and I'd say go for it.
I had a friend that bought a 64 Ford that had been flooded but was only under water up to the mid point of the windows and only for about 24 hours and it was NOT SALT WATER. We removed the seats, door panels, carpet and padding, drained all the fluids except the water. Replaced the carb..Installed a new battery removed the plugs and spun it over a few times reinstalled them and it actually started and after a while ran fine. Replaced the carpet and pad and after they were good and dry installed the old seats and door panels. After two years it is still going fine and the only problems he has had is that both the clock and radio stopped working. Sometimes they can be saved. Scott...
as one37tudor said , sometimes they can be saved . a friend of mine bought a `62 chevy that had been in the Iowa flood last summer. it was under water for about a week. he got it right after the flood and had no problem with the motor/******/rear end after he drained them and put in new oil and all the other stuff mentioned . however , he can't get all the stink out of the interior it may depend on how soon you get to it after the flood.....if the motor has been sitting for months with water in the cylinders you may have a problem
Fresh water should not be an issue with the wire itself. Every piece of wire that is in your car now was submerged in water during the manufacturing process. The problem is with electrical and electronic components that will hold water for extended pieriods of time and contribute to the corrosion of the electrical components. The bigger problem than fresh water is the sand and silt that was stirred up in the flood. That **** went everywhere the water did. Everything mechanical that caught water needs to be completely torn down and cleaned. Engines, transmissions, and differentials don't like sand/silt. I have seen flooded trucks that were completely worn out in just a couple hundred miles. Recently replaced brake shoes were completely worn down within 50 miles from sand that was trapped in the brake drums.
Personally I'd consider it more of a parts car than a restoration candidate. The endless list of nickles and dimes that will continue to pop up would not make it cost effective for me. I did help a guy with a fresh water flooded Ford truck many years ago. It had no where near the electrical components and connections that your bird has. He was constantly fighting bad connections. I just think you would save money in the long run on a nicer more expensive bird.
i'm sure the asking price for the car is fair for what it is, or else you would have walked. explain to the owner that, after asking around, the car is not worth fixing, and you'll give him x amount of dollars. grab the car and resell it, but make sure you advertise it as it is, a parts car only , and see if you can make a couple of bucks.
putting a 1963 impala together it was under to the roof for about a week wow what a mess wiring ,interior,motor trans rear ect.
Unless you take it completely apart and thoroughly clean everything you are going to constantly get strange odors.
we bought a '72 chev pickup years ago that had been stored in a barn--great we thought--until the wiring was found to be all corroded from the moisture in the barn from the animals and **** etc--we never really did rid of all the "moisture" problems
Over thirty years ago, a friend of mine bought a '63 Corvette flood car in Tulsa (from Thornton Ford at the flood-prone "traffic circle" in east Tulsa). He completely dis***embled the car to clean and dry everything out, then re***embled it. The car ran great, no problems, very fast. Wheel bearings, rear end, ******, engine, gauges, etc all got the treatment. He got a 'Vette for little green and a lot of elbow grease. It just depends on how much your labor is worth to you compared to what a nicer, drier '65 would cost.
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