Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule There's Still Hope http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/?id=6717 Quote: Workers are dismayed to find water in Belvedere's container The vault in which Tulsa buried a Plymouth Belvedere 50 years ago was built to withstand a nuclear attack. Water, apparently, not so much. Workers lifted the vault's lid Wednesday morning to find about 2 feet of standing water and indications the vault may have been filled to the rim sometime during the past half-century. Despite the discovery, organizers said late Wednesday that they think the car may be in reasonably good shape. "It's not a rust bucket," said Art Couch of W.N. Couch Construction, after he and Jim Taylor of Taylor Crane examined the steel skid on which the car rests. "We felt the sides of the car and it's solid," Couch said. The Plymouth will remain encased in several layers of purportedly water-tight material until Friday, when it is taken from the vault east of the Tulsa County Courthouse and to the Convention Center Area. On Wednesday morning, its trademark tailfins were clearly visible under the coverings, but hopes for recovering the car in something like pristine condition faded. "It's sad, really," said Tulsan Jim Brewer, who attended the Belvedere's burial on the courthouse lawn in 1957. The condition of an accompanying time capsule, which in appearance resembles a small propane tank, was not clear on Wednesday. On Thursday, one of Taylor's cranes will be installed on Denver Avenue and several practice lifts conducted. Couch said the steel skid under the car appeared to be sound, but a second rig will be installed for safety's sake. Discovery of the water was particularly difficult for the scores of volunteers who have worked for more than 18 months on the car's excavation. Their chairwoman, Sharon King Davis, wiped away a tear as she surveyed the vault. She brightened a few minutes later, though, and said, "The party goes on!" In addition to Friday's unearthing and unveiling activities, two Tulsarama car shows featuring 500 classic automobiles and a Saturday night sock hop are scheduled for the weekend. The possibility that water might have made its way into the vault was, in fact, not a surprise. When discussions about excavating the car began in late 2005, some sort of water damage was considered likely. As more was learned about preparations for the car's burial in 1957, though, expectations began to rise. They were given another boost in April when an exploratory dig to one corner of the vault found no sign of damage. And, in fact, the vault shows no obvious signs of failure. Vertical lines suggest water may have come in under the lip of the lid but don't explain why the water level shifted over time. "I don't know how that much water got in there," Couch said. "We've dug trenches 30 feet deep in this area and not found water." Two out-of-town visitors -- Mark J. Hash of Sutherlin, Ore., and Mark Sandwith of Victoria, Australia -- were undeterred by the Belvedere's amphibious habitat. "I always thought it would be not perfect but not a rust heap, either," Hash said. "It looks like it's going to be somewhere in between." Hash's 1957 Plymouth Fury -- somewhat rare because only 7,000 were made -- is entered in the invitational car show at the Civic Center. Sandwith and his friend Andrew Sharpe have built a five-week holiday around their stop in Tulsa. They picked up a 1961 Chrysler Newport in San Francisco and plan to drive as far east as Nashville before returning to the West Coast. "It's still a good trip," Sandwith said. "Even if it turns out to be a rust bucket, I guess there's a moral to the story," said Tulsan Steve Walter. And that would be? "Something about burying your treasure," he said, a reference to Matthew 6:19: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy." "Either that," Walter continued with a twinkle in his eye, "or the value of good French drains."
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule I don't want to come across as being overly hard on you, so I hope that isn't the case. But there isn't enough air in the bag to float the entire car to the top of it's tomb ,let along with enough force to puch in the roof of the car.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Oooh, Trevor, you made my brain work a bit, stop it. If the car were airtight, I'll bet it would float. I'm stating in supposition that the only reason cars sink is that the water eventually finds its way in. It only takes 35 cubic feet of air to lift a ton. Time for me to resume coma... Devon
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Oh man, those pictures are a downer. It's got to be trashed. :ball: They should have built a tomb above ground to seal it in.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule I read in the paper today that the vault had water in it up to the fenders, with evidence that at one time it was completly filled!
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Would there be enough air in t e bag to get it to float or would it stay on the bottom due to weight: One cubic foot of water is 62.4 lbs. We'll say that the car for fun weighs 3600 lbs. That would mean that there would have to be 58 cubic feet of air inside the bag. That's cubic feet of air. Not a bag with a volume of 58 cubic feet. The Belvedere had a length of about 206 inches and a width of 78 inches and a height of damned if I can find it. Anyway, here is what I worked out. There is plenty of space inside the bag. At least there is if the car wasn't there. I have no idea how to figure out how much space was inside the bag that wasn't taken up by the car. Of course we are still working on the idea that the bag was airtight.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule You know, from those other angles on that video, the roof looks fine. Maybe it was just an optical illusion. On the other hand, it looks like the tip of the right tailfin is protruding from the bago No: That things on jackstands. If the bag held air and lifted it, I doubt it would set it back down dead center of the vault. As for why the vault leaked.....did I see that right, the vault overlaped the cap. Shouldn't the cap have overlaped the vault??ou: That would make it very vulnerable to rainwater.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule uzzled: uzzled: uzzled: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=15039&start=26&posts=31
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Test lift. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UxL9jqe_s How about this, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sid=m37&satitle=160117700004&category0=&fvi=1
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule I'll bet the floors and trunk will be rotted and the interior is going to be toast.If the engine wasn't greased down,which I doubt,it may be junk. She may clean up decent on the outside,but this is like dragging a car out of a lake. If someone runs it on Ebay,they would have to sell it as a flood vehicle! Boy,that's a sad sight. Guess we'll all see it tomorrow. I can't wait!
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Is that the back fender and bumper showing through the plastic? Looks pretty bad.ou:
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Even if it did float, it would slowly reach the top - that doesn't mean it would dent the roof - especially on a car of that vintage.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Maybe the roof is dented because this guy was standing on it 50 years ago.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule So, its 11:17 AM Pacific time... is there anyone who could post the pictures of what the car looks like now after its been "officially" pulled up from its watery tomb? Thanks, Wayne
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule According to the website the car will not be unveiled until 6:30pm CST. All they have done so far is pull it out of the hole. They were showing the lifting on CNN though.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule Isn't the unveiling at 7:00pm Central? I saw something about streaming video at 7pm on that news station's site.
Re: 57 Plymouth Burried in Time capsule I guess it's possible the car may have been sitting in water for only a few years not 50 like most of us are assuming.Just maybe it's not as bad as we all think. Here is a quote from someone who is there. Ok I just watched it being pulled out and loaded on a trailer, the bag was definitely compromised in several places and mainly in the corners. The drivers bottom side was ripped up, but I suspect the workers may have done that to install and hook up the lift beams. The most notable thing was Boyd looking and pointing to something underneath the rear section while talking to a guy I believe was from the bag company; and it looked like Boyd was about to shake his head in disgust with the object he was pointing at (either a frame piece or rear end piece some what hanging down, camera shot was to fast and dark to make it out), I think Boyd then realized the camera was on him and he leaned over and said something quietly to the gentleman. Looks like Tulsa burried something else. http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0607/431137.html
