Hurricane Ian's Automotive Flood Victims...

My son has a 57 Dodge wagon with what was a rust free body from CA. It was a very solid car, but got caught in a flash fresh water flood, up to the top of the roof.
As soon as the fresh water went down enough we could get the car out (a total of 4 days), we dissembled it, trashed the interior, pulled the front sheet metal and began flushing all he inner body panels. We flushed those panels for 4 or 5 days until we got clear water. We pulled the motor apart, had the trans rebuilt, and the rear axle flushed. We replaced all the wiring (in those 4 days under fresh water, all the wiring was green 15" in from each end, and all the "waterproof" electrical connecters were solid chunks of nasty plastic.
5 years later, there are small rust bubbles forming along the pinch welds along the bottom door lips. All of this was 4 days in fresh water. Can't imagine what a month of sitting after being submerged in salt water has already done to those cars. I predict there is very little that can be salvaged out of any of them at this point.

 

I’m no meteorologist but many fresh water rivers ran out of their banks and caused a lot of flooding. So they all might not have had salt water, but how would you tell?

 

sucks to see this-
One of my classic insurances says you can add another 10-15 bucks onto your insurance be able to buy back the total loss. I forget the details. Not all payed out total loss cna be bought back as salvage apparently.

BTW- they prob still want like 25K for this T-Bird at the salvage yard.???? haha

 

Not sure how to tell unless you found out where it came from. Basically everything south of Charlotte Harbor was salt water storm surge. North was mostly flooding

 

This may very well be a valuable tool.
I’m sure the cushioned seats and carpets are still dripping wet.
https://sensorex.com/2021/03/08/how-to-test-the-salinity-of-water/
I’d love to be down there to check out that Tbird.

 

It cost my son around $800 to buy back his wagon from the total loss cost. After we got it put back together, the same company issued a new agreed value insurance policy on it. The car's value was not reduced, and the title was never branded as a total, rebuilt, or scrapped. The title never left his hands. He did provide pictures of the rebuild process, and they wanted pictures of the finished car.

 

Besides the water (salt or fresh) you also have sanitary issues - wastewater treatment plants, animal stockyards, and all kinds of other places get flooded too so you end up with a witches' brew of contaminants.

 

I live down here, lost a roof and pool cage, cars ok. Many friends lost their cars. My friend Rich lost four. 9 guys from the Cool Cruisers went over to help with clean up. Took ten quarts our of one oil pan. Tool boxes with water in each drawer, boxes of early Ford parts ruined. He had a trunk with probably 15 Stromberg 97 Carbs full of salt water. His 32 roadster, 40 Ford P.U., SS Chevrolet P.U., 33 Ford 3W coupe were all under water and he lives 6 miles from beach.
Brad lost his 33 Ford sedan and Harley. His are trash. Riches can be saved with a lot of work and disassembly. There will be many stories.

 

Yikes. I’m sorry for what you all are going through. Here in St. Petersburg, the forecasts were showing our area would get destroyed, and all I ended up with was a big mess in my yard.

 

Yes, you have a family, house is gone, clothes are gone,you need to find a place to live....a hobby vehicle is not on that list of what you need right now

 

@Jim Wood I am sorry to here that. What area? I'm in Cape Coral and it was bad but my street avoided any surge or flooding. Not that far away wasn't so lucky.

@Driver50x I was worried for your area when I fell asleep the night before the storm. Then I woke up the next morning to find it was coming straight at me. I missed being in the eye by about a mile, instead the eye crept by at a snails pace just nw of me and I was stuck in the wall the whole time

 

The eye passed right over our house. We just moved here 2 years ago into a brand new build, all the huricane stuff they did to this place saved our asses. No damage at all. The house is built 9' above sea level, and with that little turn the storm made, it dropped the surge from an estimated 15-18' down to about 3-4'. Minor tree damage is all we had, thank God. We took our camping trailer to Georgia and sat for 2 weeks till the power was restored. The worst part was not knowing if we had a place left to come home to! What a welcome to Florida!!

 

There is a story around here of a Olds W30 getting flooded with saltwater. Later it was backed into a freshwater lake at a boat landing and left overnight. Then pulled out and all disassembled and restored. Sounds like a good idea for the car, but I would like to see what the DNR would say about deliberately backing a car into a lake!!! Makes a good story.....

 

When Irma hit in 2017 we drove north because we expected a direct hit. The not knowing what you are coming home to is terrible. Staying through that storm as long as you didn't flood was not fun but it was doable. Glad you and your place are ok. We lost a lot of roof shingles, my shed and some tree damage followed by 4 days of no running water and 8 days of no power. But compared to many we were lucky

 

I'm there too. Not to be a hypocrite or heretic I was impressed by the 1st few to come out. Then mass produced billet removed genuine imagination and it all went south in a hurry. It was behind or during the era of the fairgrounds cruiser. Some of us never left and didn't need a renaissance. Maybe my restoration antics and a genuine old world hot rodder for a Dad gave me a leg up.

There was 1 car at an event though, O/T Mopar, and while essentially a fairgrounds car it could not only talk the talk but walk the walk. Blown alky Hemi and a pickup following behind with a drum for refuel needs. Story around the campfire said he went to jail that night clocked at 145 in a drag race. Won't say what it was but the name was "Jumpin Black Flash" and it left a lot of impressions in Indy that year. Maybe some who were also there remember too. I guess it wasn't all bad, right?

 

one of my friends lost three cars. they took all the interiors out, seats, carpets, door panels etc. washed everything out best possible. The mechanicals will all have to removed and gone through. The frames somehow cleaned and make sure salt is all gone. One engine we drained ten quarts from. Pulled spark plugs and put Mystery oil down cylinders for now. All his toolboxes were standing in water in the drawers. It is really overwhelming the damage done. One friend had a 33 Ford high boy sedan. By the time he was allowed on Estero Island (FT. Meyers Beach) the car was too bad to save. Even the leather wrapped steering weel was moldy and split the leather. The carpets and seats were trash, the chrome was already gone. Who knows what the engine, transmission and mechanicals are like. How much can you spend to rebuild becomes the question?

 

It's incredible how fast the mold starts to form. The modern cars brought in to work were already moldy and rust was forming in as little as a few days

 

One of my good friends in Northern California lost several nice Mopars in the Dixie fire in '21. No question there as to how to repair the damage. There was a '36 3-window sitting in a large barn owned by another friend that ended up about 18" high. Fire has no mercy !! The Mopar friend also lost 4 nice vintage Harleys. As I sit here writing this, it has occurred to me that I'm the typical car guy. I think about the cars, not the houses, barns, outbuildings, and it my friends case, an old wood drying mill. They can all be replaced.... The cars, not so much.

 

If these cars were left behind I wonder what the owners escaped in?

 

Look at the rear bars......

 

The thing with new cars is that even salvaged, there is the chance of the air bags not working in a crash. This is why they are a write off. With Sandy in 2012, there was a '58 Vette owner that laughed at the projected tidal surge. That one was a total loss and a nice car. I worked with a guy who lived on the bay. He had a couple of friends park lemon cars in front of his house to collect on the insurance. He lost an OT project car when his garage had 4' of water in it.

 

Storms seem to be getting stronger and more folks moving in.... Seems like a recipe for disaster...Even the desert area I live in is starting to have big time water issues...Some things are just not that easy to replace either...Like old family photos...

 

You live in a state that's basically at sea level surrounded by ocean, what possibly could go wrong ?