Time to pull the motor after Sandy put it under the ocean!

[atamagashock]

Well finally my dad and i will be pulling my motor this weekend. since i dont have a garage at my house, my 87 GN sleeps next to his 86 GN in Ocean City,NJ. When Sandy hit she decided that she would introduce the ocean and the bay in my parents garage. They took on about 3 ft of water in the garage. the streets had about 5 ft, so luckily the garage sat 2 ft higher and the house about 6 ft,which saved it from getting any water inside. anyway back to the cars. both of them took about 3 feet of water on. ive had my 87 for 13 years and my dad bought his 86 brand new. needless to say we both have some work ahead of us, but my car has a bit more. before the storm hit, the intake was off the car which made it much easier for the water to get into the motor. the carpet has been out of the car and will be replaced, while the seats are ok and just needed to be cleaned.the tough part is since my car had been sitting for a couple years i had no insurance on it, so everything i need to fix, is out of pocket! would have been nice if i had insurance to build her all up again. i havent raced the car in about 6 years and just built the motor to run 10s after running 11.30s virtually every pass for a few years. so now its time to get the motor cleaned up and get the car all back together. my goal is to have it all done before the fall, so i can take it to one of the bigger races and get back in the game. Now at 33 years old im about 10 years removed from racing on a regular basis. ive since been married for 5 years and have a 3 year old son, so im looking get back out there again, and hopefully spark a love in my son for these cars like my dad did back in 1986!

 

[Instro84]

good luck with the repairs

 

[asto-t]

That salt water can be nasty stuff. Hows the body, and Wiring! I was in Ocean City after Sandy and look like most of the flooding was in the center of OC

 

[turbodave231]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I have some experience with cars flooded with salt water. When I was a GM rep, I lived in FL for 6 years and lived through hurricane Andrew and a couple of no name tropical storms that created a lot of flooding. I observed that insurance companies routinely scrapped cars that were flooded with salt water. They repaired car flooded in fresh water. The long term effects of the salt on wiring and electronics are brutal!

The electrical issues won't always show up right away, but they will happen nonetheless. I saw this happen over and over!! Replacing the wiring harnesses would be a very good idea. Definitely alot of work, but for a rare desirable car.......worth your time and investment. If you shop around, you can find somebody parting out an entire car. Make a deal and buy all the harnesses!

Good luck with the restoration.....see you at the track in BG?!!

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

Don't forget about the gas tank and the three fuel lines. You can probably blow out the lines with an air compressor but I would get a new tank. And sending unit and wiring harness. At least it wasn't in the water for too long. Good luck

 

[Red C5]

Good luck with the project. Hopefully the water damage isn't too bad.

 

[TurboDave]

Not to mention the salt water corrosion that will be starting and continuing in all the lower spot welded seems in the body. Something you can't see and can't get at.

 

[trixdout]

Wish you the best and hopefully not an empty wallet. As others have said the salt is a killer. Hopefully the motor is ok, so that expense will be out of way.

 

[chopped39]

I would pull everything from inside car and wash with fresh water. the engine and trans need to come apart and flushed. the rear end should come apart as well and flushed.check the power steering system to. It will take time but you will know every part of that car when your done. new wiring is a must. good luck

 

[atamagashock]

Luckily the water wasn't there very long, but either way its a big pain. I appreciate all the suggestions and I hope that I get off easy

 

[trixdout]

Whether the car was in the water for 5 minutes or a few hours, the car now needs almost anal care. The water molecules dry, now you have salt molecules that will continuously bind with metal to be stable. Salt is always a charged compound. Gonna have to be anal about getting her ready.


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[Mike T]

Not to mention the salt water corrosion that will be starting and continuing in all the lower spot welded seems in the body. Something you can't see and can't get at.

Dave is 100% right. My profession is body work and the salt in the welded seams would be the biggest problem, the harnesses and mechanical parts can all be replaced. It has been my experience that any saltwater over the rockers would be a total loss in the eyes of any insurance co (they know what can happen down the road).

 

[belsie]

Dave is 100% right. My profession is body work and the salt in the welded seams would be the biggest problem, the harnesses and mechanical parts can all be replaced. It has been my experience that any saltwater over the rockers would be a total loss in the eyes of any insurance co (they know what can happen down the road).

In boating we flushed out the salt in motors & drives with Salt-Away which is highly referred to!! It will dissolve / neutralize and clear a great deal of the salt............good luck!!
PM sent

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

strip it down to the bone and then strip it some more. Put it on a rotisserie power wash the hell out of it - and Salt-Away it then power wash it again then Salt-Away it again INSIDE AND OUT.
Good luck Dude.

 

[TurboDave]

In boating we flushed out the salt in motors & drives with Salt-Away which is highly referred to!! It will dissolve / neutralize and clear a great deal of the salt............good luck!!
PM sent

Well, maybe, maybe not. 23 years of riding around on the world's salt water oceans have taught me a thing or two about salt water corrosion. There's good reason the insurance companies total a vehicle with salt water over the rockers.

 

[scot w.]

Like Dave and the others have said it's going to be Tough to stop the corrosion of the salt regardless of how long the water was in there... It pains me to even hear of one of these cars that has been in a salt water flood because I know what has to be done.... I hope the best for you and your father on fixing them back... I have two words that might help... "Donner Car".

There is a Sandy victim car at Richard Clarks place right now that was completely stripped down and the effects of the salt damage is literally unbelievable! The water got as high as past the gauges on the dash so ALL of that is ruined!

Gauges
Radio
Heater & A/C controls on dash
Wiring harness from Front to Rear
Light bulb sockets
Trans
Rear end & bearings
Engine
Heater box
ALL Interior cloth needs to be stripped and replaced along with the foam, Seat frames need to be blasted and repainted and something done to rid the salt from the foam and then recovered.

Pretty much the Only things that will survive a salt water flood in a car is the Plastic's & Rubber.....Wiring and electrical connections don't stand a chance and the metal will eventually rot out from the inside, Tough job for sure...

 

[49-blues]

I had some tools and a nice crank in a storage facility that had a quick surge of water from Sandy- in 2 days everything was garbage had to throw out everything - it even pitted the crank journals- junk, that salt water acted like acid on everything metal- lost about $10,000. In tools and auto parts uninsured!

 

[6APPEAL]

I had some tools and a nice crank in a storage facility that had a quick surge of water from Sandy- in 2 days everything was garbage had to throw out everything - it even pitted the crank journals- junk, that salt water acted like acid on everything metal- lost about $10,000. In tools and auto parts uninsured!

Ouch!!!!!