Philip LeBlanc

Hi everyone, I have a 1989 560SL (actually a family members) still sitting in the yard where Hurricane Katrina left it just off the beach in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Before the storm hit on 8/29/2005, this car was pristine with about 25K miles. Long story short, the storm surge came up, washed the car through the back wall of the garage and it came to rest 8 feet off the ground in an oak tree. It has since been pulled from the tree and has been sitting in the back yard. There have been some insurance issues which is why it had not been touched. I am going to examine it more closely this week to see about a possible restoration. It was under salt water for probably 12 to 14 hours and nothing was done to it. We are also talking about salvaging it for parts if a restoration is not practical. I'll know a bit more about it in a couple days. I last looked at it a few months ago and was surprised at it's condition. I am thinking new transmission and new engine (or at least a complete rebuild) at least. Please share your thoughts and be brutally honest. I would budget about $10K to get her running again.

RoadkingHI

I was living in Japan several years ago when a typhoon hit and altough my car was not put in a tree it was flooded with salt and brackish water.
Not having any money, nor did insurance cover any damage, I was left to work on it myself.
I flushed each area with fresh water then distilled water. Dried them with a hair dryer (sun if not electrical).
I drained and flushed the engine (transmission and rear end did not have any contamination). First with water then with kerosine. I then refilled with oil.
Electrical parts for the engine (generator, distributor, etc) was flushed with distilled water and dried.
All in all I lost a generator and some switches (I think due to not getting them dry) but was able to recover most of the car.
Obviously the seats and any cloth items did not fair well and a LOT of time was spent but I was able to recover the car and drove it for a couple of years.

LOT of work, LOT of water, LOT of time but it was recoverable.

(Side note: I also bought a bunch of radios/players and did the same thing but used an oven.. made a few bucks)

POS

Personally, I'd take the $10k and go buy another one if I had to have one (sounds like you don't). It's a shame to let a 25k mile car die like that, but you could put $10k in it and it'd still be worth $5k because it was flooded. I'd get rid of it somehow - no sense in keeping it around.

Philip LeBlanc

Thanks for the advice. I would tend to agree that it is a lost cause. It had already been sitting for almost a month before we could even get to it. I am of the opinion that it should be parted out. I also posted this question in the general tech area and they all agree as well. I would have moved the car if we had any idea the storm would be as bad as it was. The SL's garage mate, a 1998 S320 sedan was sitting on it's side when found.

We are very fortunate. There are countless folks far worse off and with bigger problems than myself.

DannyM383

honestly Id go buy a 129, theyre very reliable as well, especially the 500's. I've owned 3 a '92 which i sold and '94 and '00 which I kept bc they never went to the shop not once! I see tons of them in the low to mid teens. They're beautiful