Hello all
I am looking at buying that 76 Custom Cruiser that is on Ebay. I spoke with the owner and it had water up to the door handles and sat like that for about a day. What kind of repairs do you think will have to be done. I would hate to see it go to the crusher but dont want a money pit either. Any advice would be helpful

Thank

 

Fresh water is a much simpler issue. Salt water is a whole different story....that's all I will say about that.

 

As an insurance supervisor/adjuster/appraiser for many years (40+) with 4 major insurance companies, I have a lot of experience with flood loss cars.
If the water is into the dashboard and door wiring the car will NEVER be right again.... Especially saltwater. I also saw this ad on e-bay. Even if you got this Olds for free, the repairs would be monumental and far exceed the effort trying to repair it imo. There's lots of project cars on e-bay. This is one to stay away from.
It's a shame this great car is ruined.

 

X2. Run...not walk....but run from any thoughts you have about buying this car.

 

A friend of mine once repaired his flooded Mustang GT convertible. The water was up to the roof. He ended up with a car that was as good as before but it was as mentioned before here that it was fresh water. With salt water its pretty much a parts car at best. I hope the owner had agreed value insurance on it!

 

Even as a parts car the value is limited on a salt water damaged car. As an example, take a tail lamp and put it on your Olds and you will constantly blow those 1034-1157 bulbs.
As a No East salvage manager for one ins co, I would have total loss flood cars IMMEDIATELY brought into the salvage yard, steamed cleaned, dried, fluids changed and the engines run if possable. Even with that we would only auction them off as "parts cars only" and the title would be stamped "salvage". If the above repairs have not been completed on this Olds, the salt damage continues as we speak.

 

Thanks guys i appreciate the advice. Its such a shame it was a great car. If anyone has a Custom Cruiser of 75 or 76 I would be very interested in it

 

I never see one of these on the road or at car shows anymore. You see a Chev or Buick now and then but never an Olds.

 

By the way, for those interested, here is a link to the auction.

Now that I've read the offering, I would agree: stay the #*@% away.

Those very nice photos were taken before the flood.
When the seawater came in, it brought tons of sand and mud as well, all of which are no doubt infused through every part of the car, including the intricate tailgate mechanism.

There may be a few good parts on this car, but that's it.

- Eric

 

My next door neighbor owns a repair shop and sells cars. He bought a 2008 Ford Escape at the dealer auction that was in the flood in Binghamton, NY last year (fresh water). He spent countless hours disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling. He drove it for six months to get all the bugs out. Well, lets say he drove it for six months until he was sick of getting the bugs out. He sent it back through the auction. Enough said

 

What a shame that a magnificent example like that one is now junkyard fodder. I agree- any car that has been subjected to salt or brackish water flooding is a total, good only for parts. Can't vouch for how good any parts would even be after that.

 

Aren't body parts still usable in these situations ?.

 

They should be required to crush these cars. Instead, they will go to a junkyard and some poor soul will buy the transmission, rear end, engine or whatever. There will be thousands of them after Sandy.

 

Why? What did Cutlassgal do that was so bad?

Just joking.

Adam

 

I have to say that was funny. A little humor added is always a good thing.

Thanks

 

Something(s) so bad that a super-destructive hurricane was named after her...

 

Here on Long Island, the tow companies have been working 24/7 for the last three weeks. Companies from the mid west , and as far south as Florida. Well over 50,000 cars alone here are total losses. An abandoned airport on the east end is being rented to store these cars before they begin to auction them. I've seen everything being flatbedded including motorcycles to classic cars to exotics...

 

^^^^ With thousands of totalled cars, new and used car sales at dealers must be booming. I wonder how many car dealer's inventories were wiped out ?

 

I posted this a couple weeks ago on ROP:

http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/viewtopic....ighlight=sandy

Here's a nice Starfire for sale right now on copart as well

 

After salt water contact, no. You'd have to chemically pickle the metal to ever stop the corrosion.

I hate to see all these cars lost. Kinda makes ya wonder if the E P A or other nefarious anti-car guvmink agency seeded the clouds or something, don't it?

 

Doesn't matter. Nobody with any sense is going to replace their totalled car with an Obama-electric $h"t box anyway.

 

That's really sad. I like that wagon too, but it's not worth the money to fix it

 

We have a place here in Indy called Reddi strip. They dip parts in 3 or 4 maybe different chemicals to remove paint, rust, bondo, etc.. They have the capacity to do large parts like frames & rear ends. A place like that might be able to neutralize or eliminate the salt water & its' harmful chemicals, but I don't know for sure. You would really have to want to save a car & have a bunch of money & time to try it though.
It is a shame to see such a nice car ruined like that.

 

I wonder what it looks like now. Those pics are no doubt BEFORE Hurricane Sandy

 

A mixture of baking soda and water will neutralize the salt water.For the seams and frame and other hard to reach areas,spray WD40 as it replaces water.These are proven cures.Just my 2 cents if someone is serious about grabbing one of these cars.

 

Anyone that buys it better not take it to a cold climate state . I bought a 70 cutlass 442 ,came from down south ,everything looked good till i removed the interior panels , had water line almost to top of doors , and while working on parts it sit in cold storage , we started it and it would not move , the Diffy was frozen solid ,

Dan B

 

Yeah - those are supposed to be full of oil, not water.

- Eric

 

Might as well just keep the car as a stationary momento at this point. I was sure to get my cars to higher ground after hearing there was a good chance of record high tides and flooding during the storm. Turns out they would've been lost if I didn't

 

A previous owner of this Custom Cruiser is a member here and I heard it's not nearly as nice as it was described on ebay. The seller is also not the 2nd owner, nor is the paint original as described in the listing. The car was a little rough to begin with, even before being submerged. I saw pictures of it after and it was covered in seaweed and the windows were all wet on the inside. It's a shame but do not buy that car.

 

I was the owner of the car about 2 months before sandy came. It needed alot when I sold it to the E-Bay guy. After the storm, I would place the value at about $1000, Engine, glass, stainless,...etc. I am still very sad of the passing of my car. BTW, thats it in the PIC below with my 76 Regency about 2 years ago.

 

Anybody know what became of the poor car?

 

Just think; scrapped cars going to China and NOT treated for salt water penetration, melted down and transformed into sheetmetal, for whatever.
Anyone remember those late 70 early 80's cars that'd get a rustspot in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason??
Here we go again!

 

I once repaired a car for a guy who played U Boat commander. The car went into the salt water upto the top of the doors. By the time I had fixed it almost everything on the car had to be replaced.And it was things like the entire wiring harnass and all the braking system, complete trim, entire fuel sytem and on it goes. If the car wasnt valuable we would not have bothered, but it was and we fixed it. I love the wagons but im sure they would not be economical.