Flooded water damaged 1966 VW Beetle 1st purchase maybe ?

[ChunkyTx]

Trying to purchase my first bug. Would anybody consider or have any experience purchasing or working on a car that was in a flood and has water damage. I’m considering buying it but I wouldn’t no where to start. Thanks
1966 VW BEETLE

[vwinnovator]

[oprn]

The work involved to restore a flooded car to road worthy depends on a number of things. How soon after the flood the damage is addressed, what was done to address it, whether the flood was fresh or salt water, how deep the water was are all considerations. The longer a car sits after the flood unattended to, the poorer the chances it can be salvaged.

Quite frankly a flooded car can be either the easiest car to salvage or it can be the most daunting and labor intensive depending totally on the circumstances.

[67 Florida Deluxe]

A modern car with all the electronics would an absolute pass. BUT a '66 bug should be pretty easy if the flood water didn't spill over into the carb and ruin the engine. Of course, as stated previously, the kind of water (rainfall versus a tidal surge) would make a big difference. Salt water getting into the heater channels and crevices that can't be mitigated will forever be a worsening issue. If non-salt water, not a big deal if it didn't stay in the water for too long.
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-Kent (BaT "daleallen")

OG member of the '67 Posse

A few of my toys, past and present
'56 Oval, '66 KG Conv't, '67 21-Window, '67 Bug, '79 SuperVert, '55 Pre-A Continental

[cbeck]

Doesn't have to spill over the carb when it can come in the muffler. Gets expensive quick.
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[67 Florida Deluxe]

[mukluk]

Hmm, person from Houston asking about a flood damaged car... hurricane Harvey maybe? With a good portion of that county getting submerged and average rainfall of two and a half feet, I'm thinking the car was more than likely at least door handle deep in water. I would be concerned about hidden rust in the tunnel, quarters, and heater channels, not to mention hidden corrosion in all of the wiring. Unless the car immediately had all fluids drained and replaced after the flood receded, I would also expect the transaxle, engine, and brakes to all have internal damage.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[Q-Dog]

If it was dried out quickly you might not be able to tell it was ever flooded. But, if it sat under water a while it could be a real mess.
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[TDCTDI]

While the differences between fresh water & salt water have been made, there is lots of nastiness to take into consideration when that water damage is due to hurricane flooding, all sorts of carcinogens & pathogens are carried in those waters & subsequent molds are usually present due to the length of time that those cars tend to stew in those conditions.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Joe 20]

I helped a buddy restore a car that he'd submerged in a fresh water creek. We did get it running and functioning again but it was never the same. Lol this was 50+ years ago and I still remember it quite well...it was a pain.
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"Someday the world is gonna be populated by nothing but Volkswagens'" Corporal Klairvoy

[ach60]

Rudely and expensive to restore in a weekend?
Remove interior, and strip seats down to frames, clean, paint and install new padding and covers.
Remove strip and clean interior shell of headliner, door/quarter panel cards, mats, carpet, padding, what ever you find down to the tar boards.
Remove windows, so you can do the headliner replacement correctly,
Cut "inspection" ports at the front & rear ends of the heater channels.
Heater channels will need to be cleaned, and I'd blow paint in there too, before I
capped the inspection ports.
Speedo, gen & starter, and other electrics light switch, wiper switch may need nothing more than cleaning & re-lube of bearings or bushings.
Front Beam, Pan, Trans, & Engine at the min will need to be flushed, rust damage due to water invasion, may require rebuilding.
Hydro locking an engine due to standing water in a cylinder can be avoided by removing spark plugs, and rotating the engine by hand.
Stuck valves due to corrosion is also another danger, that has to be addressed.
So you see a lot has to be addressed,
but compared to replacing the lower 6" of the sheet metal and pans on a rusty example the work is not hard.
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Good Luck
Al

[calvinater]

Ask Robbie about his experience with his bus.
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"Albatross"!

[Abscate]

No reason to get into the hobby this way, there are lots of better dry ones out there
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.ssS!

[Erik G]

[Erik G]

[TDCTDI]