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I have an 84 that was completely flooded back in August. The only real cost to me before the flood was $1200 and a lot of my own labor. Pulled the plugs and wires and found the engine is still good. 3 oil changes to get the water out of the engine. Exhaust is full of mud so we disconnected it. New plugs. Got it started and drove it just 1 block to see if there were any major problems. Luckily, nothing major except the driver's side headlight.
Next steps
I got the fuel pump and sending unit.
Pull and clean with electronic cleaner every fuse.
Will flush the tranny twice.
Flush the diff, brakes, coolant.
Probably 2 more oil changes within the first 500 miles.
I siphoned out 13 gallons of gas/water from the fuel tank. Would adding new fuel at this point be ok or should i get more gas cans and get everything out? I've never restored a flooded car so any tips and suggestions will be appreciated and welcome.
I admire your optimism, but flood cars can be a nightmare. If it was salt water there is no way you are ever going to come out the other side unless you replace every single wire in the entire car. Even with fresh water many problems will not show up until later on. You are on the right track with draining and flushing all the fluids, but keep an eye on all of the electrical connections for any signs of corrosion.
I can say as a boat guy I do alot of 'floods'.....like previous reply said if its saltwater your never going to get it right. Might seem ok, but it will show its ugly face sooner or later.
If its fresh water your on track. Engine you dealt with and your list is on track to doing it right.. wash the living daylights out of every area you can then go get a case of wd40 and have at it to everything. And i mean everything.. remove as much carpet and any other 'soft' items like foam that will mold and mildew. Damp rid is your new best friend. Get alot of it. Also if you can get a bail of hay, and park the car on it, this will help believe it or not.
But clean everything to prevent mold. Flush everything out (even go and put kerosene in tank to clean it out) and you should be ok.. alot of work....good luck!
I can only imagine the number of possible electrical gremlins you may be tracing down for a long time. . Hope you can recover the patient to full health.
I agree with the salt water problems, but it wouldn't surprise me if all small motors needed to be replaced, Like the fan, window crank motors, wiper motor etc. Park the car in the sun and leave doors open and take out the carpet and soundproofing as soon as possible to keep the rust down on metal parts. Take off door panels and remove the seats. Once they dry and are cleaned out you can put that stuff back.
Good luck with this. I've done a salt-water boat sinking restoration, and had to replace EVERYTHING electrical. Even the engine motor harnesses were not immune from that.
My house was uphill some. First thing I did when we fished it out of the water was disconnect the battery. Freshwater flood. All of the irrigation gutters were clogged and flooded my neighborhood pretty badly.
The silver lining here is I was planning on redoing the whole interior and dropping an ls2 or ls3 in. This just expedited it a bit.
Flooded 84 Restore
. Hope you can recover the patient to full health.
