yikes....... Swamp in my car HELP

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

Dave Hord is dead right about ripping out the underlayment.  With that much
water in the footwells, that other stuff isn't going to work. A powerful
professional level wet/dry shop vac can be a big help, but yer gonna have
to strip the underlayment and replace it to get a dry cabin in a reasonable
length of time in the winter in most of the country. New Mexico, Texas and
Southern California might allow for different methods and different results.

The only way to get a dry cabin when it is that soaked is to remove or tent
the carpets and rip out the underlayment insulation. Then you dry out the
bare floorboards (covered with tar pads) using a hair dryers, after wiping
up as much water as you can soak up in big bath towels. The water may be
back in the rear footwells by now, and all that wet underlayment stuff has
to come out. And you throw it away. And it weighs a ton (metaphorical
reference.)

You dry out the actual carpeting (takes days) and then you put it back in
over new underlayment. Get the underlayment at a shop that specializes in
doing custom interiors for historic vehicles, sport trucks, or auto seat
cover shops that do whole interiors. They have it in a big roll and you buy
it by the foot and cut to fit. It is about an inch thick and is mostly felt
made from used wool (not woven.)

Some guys get away with not taking the carpeting all the way out. They
loosen it at the door sills and the firewall, and raise it like tent flaps,
with short poles or cords and hooks to keep it away from the floor. Then
they don't have to take out the console. They do take out the front seats,
usually.

Then they can reach under the 'tent' and grab big wet handfulls of soggy
underlayment from up along the console, and rip it out. You can feel when
you come to dry material.  Then you keep the car in a warm garage for a few
days, doing repeat wipings with towels and blowers and hair dryers,
etc.  During that time you locate the new underlayment and get home and
start planning how to fit it in.  Takes a few days.  This is a big job.
Drive something else and take a few days vacation.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket (pun intended) but with that much water
in the footwells, you have to take extreme measures or end up with a very
damp cabin for a very long time, more so in winter conditions.  BTDT
several times with several cars.



 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At 02:49 PM 12/16/2002 -0600, you wrote:
>As far as getting the water out.  Try a shop vac, or a heat lamp.  If
>you don't have a heat lamp, use a shop light, and set it fairly close to
>the area that needs to be dried out.  just watch out with the Shop
>lights, they get real hot, and could singe some things if it is to close
>the the area.  Make sure to crack a window, let the moisture out.
>
>
>Cade Carvell
>National Business Systems, Inc.
>2919 West Service Road
>Eagan, MN 55121
>Office: 651-994-4400
>
> >>> Nate Beck <Nate.Beck at netiq.com> 12/16/02 02:39PM >>>
>This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not
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>[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>I parked my car in the driveway on Thursday last week, and did not
>drive it
>all weekend, It poured rain all weekend.  I got in it this morning and
>the
>carpet on the drivers side front and back is really wet, like squishy
>wet.
>I pulled some towels out of my garage and got out as much as I could,
>while
>my car warmed up a little bit.  I was able to trace the leak down to
>the
>hole for the hood release, the rubber gasket is ripped.  I was going to
>use
>some silicone sealant to fix the whole.  Does anyone have any other
>ideas?
>Also do you know what I can do to dry the car out faster?  I don't want
>to
>get mold or anything growing in there.
>
>TIA
>
>Nate