Hot Rods Flash flood! Saving an old car?

Best of luck to your son on the rebuild. '57 Dodges are a beautiful car, I understand his dedication to the car.

 

Gene, can ya put it in a baking paint booth to dry it out. Might be worth the money if ya have to pay.
Tony

 

Hey Gene,
I would thoroughly wash it out at home, take it to a pressure washer car wash and hose everything out. Then let it dry, via sun or fans. Once most of the water is out and the metal is dry, the Davis Air Dryers can be left in the car hulk and left overnight in the garage. It will take awhile, but these (no flame or hot, exposed, heating element) dryers will just soak up the air with heat and cause dryness. Just leave it in there and go watch a movie.

It will not dry the upholstery or other material, but in time you would want to replace those anyway. This dryer is a heating element and will get the hidden water or moisture out.

Jnaki
The closet area in our old house was bone dry when we left. The cause was fixed. The Davis Air Dryers have done a great job keeping the interior of boats pretty moisture free because of the low level heating. It is not a heater, but a long range drying element.

'Jnaki, will we want to use those Davis Air Dryers after we do the first hose down? Will they prevent the car from stinking down the road?"


Yes, wash thoroughly first. The Davis Air Dryers are not direct heat dryers like women's hair dryers. As far as the smell, inside of small fiberglass hull enclosed boats, if left over time, it will create a warm fiberglass smell. But, most people use their boats weekly, so the smell goes away fast. If left "on" inside of a closed up boat, it will make the fiberglass smell stronger. The moisture will be gone, but that is this dryer's function.

 

Gene, lots of good advice. I will add, get some Gibbs spray. Once the insides of the doors qtrs etc. are cleaned out of slit spray em down! Gibbs will not hurt any paint later on.We went through that flood in 07 right before the drags. Do not be afriad to use lots of water to clean out the nooks and crannies. Water deposited the silt and is the only thing that will get it out. After Bonneville we run low pressure sprinklers under our cars for days and stuff still will show up later on if not carefull

 

Do not be afraid to take seats and seat cushions to the car wash and power wash with soap and thoroughly rinse with pressure washer. Then, place the seats in the best position to drain and let them bake in the sun for a several days. I have done this on really filthy seats with very good results.

Ray

 

Gene,...sorry to hear this about your boy's wagon,...saw the thread this afternoon, then at 6PM on channel 17 saw pics of the car at the muffler shop along with some of the others...
they had a small interview with the shop owner...
good luck with the car.

 

Thanks guys. The car is out of the flood plain and on dry ground. They have given it the first outside, inside, and under hood wash job. Tomorrow they will pull the seats & the remaining interior, the dash, gauges and other parts, then wash everything again.

It appears as though the drive train may have survived fairly well, the oil level in the pan is not excessively high, and the trans dipstick shows good, but both will be pulled apart and checked.
All of the wiring harness is only about 3 years old, for what the wiring costs, he will probably just replace it rather then take a chance.
Things are looking better then they did a couple of hours ago. Gene

 

sad to hear....especially a rare Mopar wagon....all the best in the recovery !

 

tough experience to go through - just have to do what ya gotta do - got stuck in fast rising water while in Dallas, TX with a '64 Plymouth - had to wait for water to go down before towing home - did much of same stuff as stated above - changed oil and removed spark plugs and cranked motor to help get moisture out - with plugs back in had a friend push me down the street and motor started up - continued on with drying, cleaning - be sure to remove any drain plugs from bottom of doors, etc - might drill a few holes under areas that do not have plugs - anything to get moisture out - worst part is that alot of time, and some money, to get back to where you were before all of this first started

 

I sure wouldn't say nothing. Leave the insurance out of it. Not worth it. Sorry for this but just take your time right back into and re do some stuff and get The wd-40 and go all around the cab. The drive train stuff just flush and drain all the fluids.

 

Take it apart and pressure wash the inside and outside . Drain and change the fluids . If it was an automatic ,you will need to take the tranny apart. Water will strip away the clutches when you try and drive it. I helped save a brand new Javelin in 1969 that was caught in a flood. Have done several since .
If the insurance company will let you repair it and not total it then let them work with you on paying the bills. A guy I know just had them help him repair his GTO after a carb fire burned under the hood.
They were going to total it and he said no I will fix it.

 

Sounds like we are all on the same page , wash , wash , wash.

I went thru this with my daughters OT Mercedes after the Canterbury earthquakes , it had liquifaction up to the door handles . Nasty stuff.

NO insurance claim , just wash, wash , wash . It's been 6 yrs since that event and no issues developed.

 

So, we got a visit today from his insurance co. According to the adjuster, the State of IL requires cars with flood damage to be totaled at 33% of the value (or what the car is insured for). If it exceeds 33%, they are required to get the car, pay off the total value, and salvage the car. The then he has the option to buy it back at the salvage value, and he may do whatever he wants with it. For them to re-insure it, it will need to be inspected.

He has to give the insurance co an itemized list of the things that need repaired. The threshold for the total is just over $3,000.
He loves the car. It sounds like the "salvage value" will be run through an old car specialty company, and he is pretty concerned what value they may expect him to pay to buy it back. I believe they need to provide those numbers to him, correct?
I suggested he list the more costly things first and run right up to just under the 33%, the eat the rest of the repair (which I don't believe will be much more). My thoughts are: look, you love the car, you have the car, its paid for. Many of the special parts appear to have survived. The insurance company is giving you $3,000 + towards the repair. Take their money and get on with it.
When you get it fixed, get a real appraisal, and insure it properly. Don't take it to a flood plain again. My car only has liability on it, the whole bill would have been on me. Gene

 

I think you are on the right track, Gene. You will avoid surrendering the car, the title, and control over it's handling and storage if the insurance company insists on taking possession of the car under the 'total loss' scenario. It is possible they would not require physical surrender of the car, but only the paperwork. But, even at that, when all is said and done you end up with a 'Branded Title" marked "Flood".

Avoiding all that (and maybe more) red tape is worth something in itself, in my opinion.

Ray

 

I had a 55 chevy it spent 2 days with fresh water up to almost the top of the dash . Two things I did not do that I should have done all the cable heater controls and all the window regulators and door lock stuff .