Steps to take to protect a Westie from possible flooding

[McDuff]

Firstly, Happy New Year to all on the forum .

 

I live in an area outside Leeds where there has been some flooding , and wonder if anyone has any advice on how to protect a Westie from some of the effects, at least, of water damage due to flooding.

 

I thought of sealing exhaust and Webers using tape and plastic bags.  Disconnection of battery and removing upholstery, seats etc seemed a good idea.

 

Any other ideas? 

 

JW

[Rory's Dad]

Get it up on axle stands - I'm guessing the car is off the road.

 

And a Happy New Year to you too

[DanDud]

move it to the top of the nearest hill.

[DamperMan]

Stand it on a foam raft

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

personally move it, its not clean water.

 

if you have somewhere to move it to and you need a trailer I can bob over with mine!

 

cheers

 

john

[ianht71]

My previous Westy was written off exactly this way

I chocked it up as high as I could using axle stands, then lifting the jack on wood, lifting higher, and then putting the axle stands on piles of wood. I got the wheels about a foot off the ground eventually

Unfortunately it did not work, the water reached the height of the petrol filler and as the water went in the petrol floated out, once this had happened it was game over as everything that was in the water, in the entire garage, was then covered in an oily mess. It was pretty much brand new but the brakes seized on, the seats absorbed sooo much oily water, the chassis was full of water, there was rust beginning to show all over the chassis, there was water in the engine oil

The car was written off and I had a horrid job of cleaning everything. It then did actually turn up on eBay a few months later being sold by tvr glen

Wouldn't wish it on anyone

Ian

[TAFKARM]

Personally, I'd move it.

I've got space if you need somewhere to store it for a few weeks. Im outside Chesterfield.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Move it, it's the only safe way.

As others have said, the problem isn't just water immersion, it's the state of the water. (Same goes for everything hit by flood water, I'm afraid). It's generally heavily contaminated, not just by mud and local oil/fuel etc, but by human and animal waste and so on, washed from the sewers and off the fields.

While you might be able to block off certain items, like fuel tank or carbs, you'll never guarantee a total seal of all the tubular chassis sections; which in most Westfields don't have any corrosion protection either.

[jeff oakley]

You can clean anything properly after a flood, there are products for everything, the problem is cost. In the case of the flooded Westfield, everything was salvageable, but the cost of doing so is not acceptable to an insurance company as they fear on going claims due to water ingress going forward.

If the car was a £5 million Ferrari, they would fix it.

Now back to the case, if you fear getting flooded, then move it, unless you are sure you can lift it high enough and even then being in a wet environment will not treat it well. You could liberally spray everything with something like GT85 which will help.

If you go onto the EA website, you can see how likely you are to be flooded but there are two areas to look at flood from traditional source, like a river, and now ground run off. Worth a look if you suspect a problem.

[tisme]

As others have said, not a good idea to let any water get inside a Westfield (other than normal rain when you're out !! ).

 

If you can't or don't want to move it, then assuming it's in a garage it would depend on what your worse case scenario might be - some the floods recently have been horrific (fortunately our part of Northamptonshire hasn't been affected) - if you're looking at possibly 4 or 5 feet of water then you'd need something substantial - either raise the car on some form of hydraulic "ramp" (some quite small ones for classic cars or motor bikes will easily lift a 650kg Westie) or devise some hoists to lift the car up at either end (chain block hoists are cheap and will easily lift 1000kg but you obviously need some strong beams or fixing points in your roof).

 

You may even be able to devise some form of flotation "collar" (or buy an inflatable dingy and park the Westfield in it ) - as they say.....desperation is the mother of invention......

 

     

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

To me the sensible solution is just to move it.

There has been plenty of offers in this thread.

Do away with the risk altogether and then at least you can still sleep on a night.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

What Geoffrey said.

 

Don't underestimate the huge difference between immersion for a significant period of time and exposure to even the heaviest rain.

 

Both gearbox and diff have breathers that can allow water in, and they're quite low in the car. Engine breathers might be higher, but dip stick tubes aren't always.

 

The wiring loom does not have a waterproof outer cover, it also has numerous joins in the ground wiring as it runs around the car, all of which under long term exposure could let damp in.

 

Chassis tubes have tiny gaps in joints here and there, let alone rivet/bolt holes. There are all sorts of aluminium to steel joints hidden away under the tub that could be the focus of bi-metallic corrosion if water gets in there and stands.

 

Porous materials will soak up water.

 

And as said previously, don't forget that its frequently contaminated water; one of the big reasons the insurance companies want to see strip back of anything that can't be properly cleaned is lingering public health issues.

[Young Pretender]

If you have some oil drums you can make a TG river crossing raft. However if it really floods you might scratch your bonnet on your garage ceiling - for that reason I probably wouldn't

[McDuff]

Thankyou  John and RussH  so much for the offers of help/storage etc.   At the moment the water levels in the nearby 2 rivers have fallen substantially.   Although 2 properties about 75 yards away were flooded with loss of vehicles, they are at a lower level than mine.    Also we received no warning from Police or Army ,( who were out in force),  to leave when the water was at it's highest, although the adjacent areas did.  

But will keep a close eye on the EA website and have signed up to their warning texts.  

 

I suspect this will be an ongoing problem in our area  and others, for years to come  .  This year's local flooding was the worst so far, so next year's may be worse still with climate change etc.

 

It may well be that we will be flooded in the future,  so may take you up on your generous offers if the weather forecast looks bad again. 

 

Thankyou once again.

[McDuff]

Thanks to all who replied,  I hadn't appreciated how much damage water would do to what is basically a very simple car design.

 

John