Capt Solo

I finally arrived into town today, and was delightfully surprised at what I found. My house did flood, but not by the feet I was lead to believe, it actually only got into the garage leaving my house mostly dry. My garage sits about a foot lower than the floor of my house. The Mercedes however got some salt water inside of it, but only just a little, so I'm going to yank the carpets and pressure wash the undercarriage. Thank goodness the electrics weren't damaged (only a few lines to the brake lights got wet). The Jeep was fine as it was high enough to not get any water in it.

But the best surprise was the Fox. It did flood, but the engine was dry. It put a plastic bag over the intake, and the seemed to do the trick. The water only rose to a couple of inches over the door sills, so there is about an inch of standing salt water in the foot wells (Morgan, I think you are familiar with this situation). After looking the car over, I decided to crank it. It started right up, everything worked (except the tranny, which is a completely different problem).

I'm going to take Dwight's advice and yank the carpets. However, I think I am not going to dry them out, I am going to burn them as they are pretty worn out as it is. I think I can tackle a recarpeting job. I'm just glad the car is in good mechanical shape. However, I do have some questions. Should I pressure wash the inside as well as the outside? And should I try to do any rust proofing on the inside as well? It was salt water afterall.

Thanks again everybody for the advice and well wishes, now I know why I still come back to this forum!

'81 tic-tac

and yes, i would use por-15 or a similar product to the floor on the inside.. rust usually starts from the inside out.. and once you re-carpet it, no one's the wiser.. 'cept you..

now fix that tranny!

:-)

PJM99

I would take it all apart and rinse it out with clean water really well.

powerkraut

be careful around the engine with the pressure washer tho... my brother did the engine on his supra in about 92, and it cost him $850 in repairs. water is bad. otherwise... should be good wheelin' with the jeep down there now, new sand dunes at least eh?

Cdn Blue Coupe

I'd limit the power wash to the exterior. I'd hose out (not power wash) the engine compart but very lightly. One place to be sure to rinse is the front pockes of the hood where the metal gets folded over.

Interior, I'd rinse out or sponge out with lots of fresh water. Hoses tend to get water in the worst places.
Finaly shop vac and dry well.

My 2 cents