Flood damaged 914, Ouch Options

[GeorgeRud]

A friend of mine just moved down to Baton Rouge, LA last month, and had his cars in storage as they were having a large garage built at their new home. Of course, they were involved in the flooding up to the top of the windows. Besides his 914 2.0 and his Porsche tractor, he last a Jaguar XKE, Jensen Healy, 67 Ford Mustand, and a 35 Ford Coupe. At least their home is on higher ground and didn't flood so they are OK!

Has anyone ever had any luck resurrecting a flood car? Since his was nice and straight, I wondered if it could be stripped to a bare chassis then rebuilt? Same ? about he Porsche tractor.

[ThePaintedMan]

Greg, that's awful advice for folks trying to actually save these cars. Some of you folks with more seniority in life seem to still see them as disposable, but a lot of us from my generation want to save them (we just dont have the money to buy them all up right now). This car is salvageable without ridiculous work/money. Save it, and those if us buying them later on thank you for it.

[GregAmy]

Greg, that's awful advice for folks trying to actually save these cars. Some of you folks with more seniority in life seem to still see them as disposable, but a lot of us from my generation want to save them (we just dont have the money to buy them all up right now). This car is salvageable without ridiculous work/money. Save it, and those if us buying them later on thank you for it.

It's not "awful" advice, it's practical advice from someone who understands the time, effort, and money it would take to "salvage" this car back to its original condition; time, effort, and money that needs to be done immediately to at least stop any further damage from water intrusion and subsequent corrosion (the clock is already ticking...I can hear the rust creeping from way up here...) Water can siphon and wend its way into some strange places...40-yr-old electrics, gauges, motors that were already on the edge now have to be replaced. The interior will mostly have to be replaced. The chassis will need to be completed stripped, drained, and flipped 7 ways to Sunday to ensure all water is clear from all little crevices, and all of those areas cleaned, stripped, repainted or coated. The engine will have to be rebuilt (you want to tell a potential buyer the engine was flooded and all you did was popped the plugs and changed the oil?) New clutch and axles. All bearings and seals replaced.

And then, as noted, you have a formerly-flooded car on a salvage title, which will never be worth as much as it was before.

Is it possible to restore this car? Of course it is! Anything is possible with enough time and money. But is it practical? I don't think so. No matter how nice this car may have been, a 2L 914 is not as rare as hen's teeth.

Hey, maybe this car had a special place in this guy's heart; honeymoon car, daughter learned to drive stick in it, whatever. His collection indicates he may have the cash flow and money is less important to him. In that case, good for him I hope he saves it. But do you have $30k to toss into a $15k car? Not me, brother.

This car does not have to be crushed; if disassembled immediately it could be a good source of parts for the rest of the fleet. Or, maybe a good candidate for a stripped out race car project (Prod?). If it were me I'd not let it get crushed; I'd buy back the salvage, park it on my lift, and open a 914 used parts eBay store... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)