any advice on water damage,

[florida03]

I live in south fl
last night about 12 inches of
rain in one hour.Water was more than
half way up my rims.and when someone
drove by water whent up to the windows.
Anyways i wet vav the hell out of it and
still soaked.My question is should let
her dry or just get a new rug,230.00 at local
dealer plus 320.00 for install or are there any
other options.This may seem petty but with
only 1200 miles on the clock i whant to do whats
best , thanks for listening

 

[CuLaTeR]

Where in FL do you live? Rain was miserable here in FT. Myers.

 

[florida03]

hollywood,it was bigold FAT rain

 

[CWCobra]

I used to live in Louisiana, and once got my ride flooded. I took out all the carpet, padding, and seats, and let them dry for a few days. Put them back in, and all was good. This approach required a lot of labor, but is straight forward to do, and costs nothing. Loss of use for a few days while drying out might be trouble if you don't have alt trans. The flood waters did damage my rear end: water got into differential, then forced lube out around axle seals, and onto brake rotors. What a mess. Had to pull axles and replace seals. Again, very simple to do, but labor intensive.

I guess with a new Cobra, I'd opt for the new carpet and padding, but install it myself. Probably smell better that way, although I had no mildew in Louisiana flood. Probably because I dried it right away...same day it got wet, before it had chance to mildew. Once it sours, there's no getting rid of the smell.
Good luck,
CW

 

[LandShark]

Is it just rainwater??? I had the windows cracked one night and forgot about it. We got a "gully washer" that night and I remembered the windows about 4 am. :sleeping: With less than 1000 miles, I had 1 inch of water in each floor pan. Shop vac'ed the crap outta it, parked it in the garage (where it shoulda been anyway) and blew fans on the interior for 24 hours. Stopped getting interior condensate in about 3 days. Been good as new ever since. This happened last Oct.

 

[florida03]

yes,just rain watter,but you cant
imagine how much water we had
in so little time.just noticed the seats are
wet on both sides to.just ordered new
midnight black carpet kit ,maroone ford gave
me a 20% discount ,came out to about 180.00

 

[toofast4u]

Pull the carpet and dampening material out of your car ASAP. Set them in the sun to dry, I know I live not far from you there is no sun right now, or throw them away. If you don't it will rust your floorpans in very fast. You will probably also have to replace the dampening material also.

 

[florida03]

maroone said the kit comes
with the dampering material
included. gonna get a new one
thanks allot guys,looks like i
got some work to do

 

[florida03]

im thinking i got lucky
My neighbor has a sweet
50th anniv vette 700 miles.
he just got home and i took a
look inside.The water came
up to the center console,water in
his shifter boot and glove box.WOW
thats all i could say.Im only one month away
on closing on my new house(with a garage)
these apartment complexes never
clean the gutters and one good shower,its all
over,Im outta here!

 

[tommygun]

why not put it thru insurance?

seems the cost might be over your ded. when all is said and done. There are relays and such under the seats and the processor sits low enough that it may have gotten wet also. Take your time with this since there is so much electronic stuff with our cars. Goodluck

 

[florida03]

the seats seem to work
for now.looks like everything
is sealed preety good. anyways
ded 1000.And i dont whant any
evidence of water damage on my
cars history.

 

[toofast4u]

If you had your house you could put it through your home flood insurance.

 

[caveman6666]

Cover the seat with a blanket. Put a dehumidifier there with the drain hose run out the door. Leave it cracked and let it run all day.

 

[mchedd]

florida03 - I had a similar situation during the "no-name storm" that hit Pinellas County back in the 80's. I gutted the interior and pulled the door panels as well. Put a couple of fans inside and let the sun bake the interior for a day then wd-40'd all the metal before putting all together again. Kept the car for another 4 years and never had a problem.

 

[Griffin]

Do you happen to own a Black Cobra?

 

[RedfireVenom]

Personally I would have it replaced, because that was probably dirty water being kicked up from the street. I would try to let it dry out in the sun and see if that worked, before I'd spend the money.

That reminds me of a time when I had my first car, a 1985 Corolla, and I was transporting some goods to a restaurant. An entire gallon of Kikoman Soy Sauce spilled in the rear seat floor pan in the middle of June. Imagine that smell. It was a beater car so I didn't bother replacing it. I just shampooed and vac the crap out of it. Car never smelled the same.

 

[florida03]

just an update.
installed new rug
with my buddy.took
us 2 hours with a couple
of breaks,only thing wet was
the rug,smells like the day I got
her. By the way ford wanted
$330 for install.