Flooded LS3

[mtuck]

Hey guys

I live in the Houston area and as you know we have a lot of flooded cars from hurricane Harvey. I have the chance to purchase some of these cars pretty cheap. I am looking to buy a flooded Camaro with an LS3 and trans for my 67 Camaro project. I know I am going need to tear down them and rebuild it.

I can get the complete cars anywhere from a few hundred to the few thousand dollars. They come with salvage titles but I don't care about that as I only want the engine and trans.

Are these worth the rebuilding or should I just pass?

Thanks
Matthew

[minendrews68]

Depending on what your going to have to give, I've often thought the same thing. If your not giving a arm and a leg, I think i'd go for it. I'm sure there are other parts that you could use as well. Wish I was down there, I'm afraid I too would jump on it.

[rickpaw]

As long as the engine is not running when it flooded, I don’t see an issue. I’d love to get one or two of these cars for the drivetrain.

[minendrews68]

Me too!

[cdrod]

Matthew:
I'm in Houston too, and I'm thinking of installing a center console from a gen5 Camaro in my 72 442 project. Let me know if you buy a whole car and want to part it out. Thanks!
Rodney

[badazz81z28]

As long as the engine is not running when it flooded, I don’t see an issue. I’d love to get one or two of these cars for the drivetrain.

if water got in the engine and sat for a period of time, the engine is worthless.

[slimjim]

if water got in the engine and sat for a period of time, the engine is worthless.

Don't want to sound like a rookie but can you elaborate? I just bought a dropout engine at a price I figure too good to be true that my speculations are through the roof! nonetheless, it's going into a shop this week for a rebuild.

[minendrews68]

My wife's uncle has a car lot. He's bought Baptized cars in the past, some had been sitting for weeks. He never had a problem with any of them. When he sold them he always told them the situation.

[TheJDMan]

I would not hesitate buying a car like that since you know up front what you have and you are planning on a tear down and rebuild. I would not count on using any of the electronic components but I would not have any qualms about the engine and trans.

[minendrews68]

I would not hesitate buying a car like that since you know up front what you have and you are planning on a tear down and rebuild. I would not count on using any of the electronic components but I would not have any qualms about the engine and trans.

I agree!

[badazz81z28]

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Don't want to sound like a rookie but can you elaborate? I just bought a dropout engine at a price I figure too good to be true that my speculations are through the roof! nonetheless, it's going into a shop this week for a rebuild.

Well I guess it depends on how high the water line got and how long it sat like that. If water was sitting in the crank case or above and or water sitting in the cylinders I think it would have some serious rust. IMHO a LS3 from Summit Racing would be cheaper and less risker then buying a flooded out engine.

[MonzaRacer]

So lets go over what happens to a flooded car as I relate a little history of my buddys 57 chevy.
Fresh rebuild on whole car in late 80s.
Guys steal his car, not sure if keys were involved or not.
Thisis lower part of Indiana and stripper pits are all over and he calls and we go looking after car was stolen from local grocery store lot.
full on black and white 57.
I have built him a sweet 355/TH400 and he got a 12 bolt rear from someone.
4 wheel disc, killer stereo with poly polypropylene comes etc. We even had 4 Optimas in trunk. So we are searching everywhere local sheriffs say cars are dumped after joy rides.
I get a call on CB that someone thinks there are aliens in local stripper pit that has concrete ramp/launch pad.
So we go looking and sure enough the car had ran out of gas and kids most likely had simply pushed it in but being fresh restore it had good door seals!
So we go gather up scuba gear and heated suits as stripper pits in the area are COLD! Hypothermia in minutes.
So local tow company and plenty of rope and chain and we head out.
6 hrs later car STILL has lights on!
We go down, find good hook point and get it towed back up it was only in 125ft of water but damn cold.
So out it comes, only real issues is mud around rear tires. Cause as soon as it hit mud coming off ramp it stopped or we would never have gotten it as that one pit is close to 400+ feet deep!
So he opens door(idiots had locked door with lights on) as he had spare keys. Never found keys and it wasnt hot wired(found out later a locksmiths kid had made copies of "cool" cars to joy rid2!).
Anyway we pulled plugs on everything, I took distributor cap off and gave a spray of Cyclo Breakaway, we fueled it up, spin it over after using generator to recharge batteries. Changed fluids and he drove it home.
BIGGEST issue is mold and critters and smell of nasty flood water.
engines/trans can have water pitting so at least a head pull is mandatory and possible dry sleeve or bore and hone but as long as it wasnt running you have 2 in 8 chance engine got large amounts of water in cylinders.
During Katrina my buddy was donating his time and mobile service shop taking flooded cars and making them run to use in the area rather than bring in others and he had near zero issues after cleaning them up. Biggest issues are mold and rotten water smell. NEVER buy sight unseen. But if price is right you could pick up couple of 5.3 or 6.0 trucks and have plenty of spare rebuildable parts!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh yeah stereo was fine too! Water cant hurt boxed CDs!

[Jetfixr320]

I know a guy that has rebuilt flood cars. Fresh water wasn't a problem, but he bought one car from N.J or N.Y that had been flooded with salt or Brackish water. It was junk, corrosion in the motor and trans. But, I'm not sure how long it had sat before he got it.

[badazz81z28]

So lets go over what happens to a flooded car as I relate a little history of my buddys 57 chevy.
Fresh rebuild on whole car in late 80s.
Guys steal his car, not sure if keys were involved or not.
Thisis lower part of Indiana and stripper pits are all over and he calls and we go looking after car was stolen from local grocery store lot.
full on black and white 57.
I have built him a sweet 355/TH400 and he got a 12 bolt rear from someone.
4 wheel disc, killer stereo with poly polypropylene comes etc. We even had 4 Optimas in trunk. So we are searching everywhere local sheriffs say cars are dumped after joy rides.
I get a call on CB that someone thinks there are aliens in local stripper pit that has concrete ramp/launch pad.
So we go looking and sure enough the car had ran out of gas and kids most likely had simply pushed it in but being fresh restore it had good door seals!
So we go gather up scuba gear and heated suits as stripper pits in the area are COLD! Hypothermia in minutes.
So local tow company and plenty of rope and chain and we head out.
6 hrs later car STILL has lights on!
We go down, find good hook point and get it towed back up it was only in 125ft of water but damn cold.
So out it comes, only real issues is mud around rear tires. Cause as soon as it hit mud coming off ramp it stopped or we would never have gotten it as that one pit is close to 400+ feet deep!
So he opens door(idiots had locked door with lights on) as he had spare keys. Never found keys and it wasnt hot wired(found out later a locksmiths kid had made copies of "cool" cars to joy rid2!).
Anyway we pulled plugs on everything, I took distributor cap off and gave a spray of Cyclo Breakaway, we fueled it up, spin it over after using generator to recharge batteries. Changed fluids and he drove it home.
BIGGEST issue is mold and critters and smell of nasty flood water.
engines/trans can have water pitting so at least a head pull is mandatory and possible dry sleeve or bore and hone but as long as it wasnt running you have 2 in 8 chance engine got large amounts of water in cylinders.
During Katrina my buddy was donating his time and mobile service shop taking flooded cars and making them run to use in the area rather than bring in others and he had near zero issues after cleaning them up. Biggest issues are mold and rotten water smell. NEVER buy sight unseen. But if price is right you could pick up couple of 5.3 or 6.0 trucks and have plenty of spare rebuildable parts!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh yeah stereo was fine too! Water cant hurt boxed CDs!

Man your talking like immediate attention. These hurricane cars don't get immediate attention to prevent rust in the engine. To pull heads, sleeve an LS etc...etc...I still believe a new LS3 would be more cost effective. I don't see savings here.

[mikedc]

Saltwater and freshwater are two very different things for cars.

People go to a carwash and pay money to have their car blasted with freshwater on all sides & underneath to clean it up. Then they park the car all winter just to avoid getting salty water sprayed onto the lower half of it.

[nvawgn]

any news? has anyone bought a salvaged motor yet?

[DualQuadDave]

I build a lot of different motors, from antique to LS's and have built a lot of motors that have sat with water in them a long time(some 20+ years). Cylinder rust is the biggest concern, but for a few months of exposure, it should not be bad. The big problem is salt water. When the hurricane hit NY, all of the flood cars had salt water in them-totally wasted everything. What you need to know about LS alum blocks is they will not overbore more than .020 safely. Iron blocks can go .030 safely. I build a lot of Buick Nailheads and some sit for years before getting dug up and rebuilt and even nasty rust will usually clean up at .040 over, but that is not possible on an LS. If you need a motor, hit me up. I have an LS3 and 2 LS2's in stock right now that I am building.