midnight mechanic

Rain water comes in somewhere near the driver's side floor boards. I sprayed plastic-coat on the windshield gasket so I think the water is coming from the windshield wiper cavity.

A possible solution is the seal the cowl cover. Any one have any suggestions???

woodmv

iTrader: (8)

Unfortunately, no I don't have any suggestions on how to fix it, but maybe some to diagnose or confirm the issue.

That area beneath the cowl at the fender/A-pillar area has a lot of intricate joints, layers, and structure and unfortunately is prone to rust. There's also a vent tunnel that runs through there to the dash, and unfortunately all that stuff is virtually inaccessible without major deconstruction.

You might get an indication of how bad it is if your fenders are removed, look at the area just where the last topside fender bolt nearest the drivers door bolts in. You can see the area I'm talking about in post #321 of my build thread. If yours is rusted badly, you'll likely find rust in that area if you poke around. Or, for a less invasive look, take out the speaker on the drivers side under the dash. There's prolly some rust particles stuck to the magnet. If you hit the pillar area with a mallet you might find rust particles will fall from above the speaker hole.

Again, short of major deconstruction I'm not sure if there are any quick fixes. Wish I had better ideas for you.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

on mine someone had installed an alarm or something, and had drilled a hole in the panel under the dash, which of course is the bottom of the wiper cowl... i've got a race car, so i just put a little silicon on a screw, and put that in the hole, YMMV

7aull

iTrader: (2)

Does your car have a sunroof?
If so a front drain line runs down the A-pillar to a drain tip in the dr wheel well. If by chance the rubber hose has come adrift off the nozzle drain tip up at the roof, then that hole could allow water to run down the inside of the A-pillar and to the floor….?

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

midnight mechanic

no sun roof......I duct taped the cowl, looks like hell, but it if prevents rust so be it

j_tso

iTrader: (2)

Pull up the carpet and side panel off then pour water down windshield and front cowl to see where it's coming from. I found out the original seam sealer cracked and was letting water in that way.

jayjak

Same was happening to me, The leak was in the hatch seal and rolling down threw the bins and making the footwells wet, May be worth checking out

midnight mechanic

ah the dreaded leaky hatch....I confronted that problem 22 years ago. The storage bins are dry.

This is to all automobile manufacturers: automobiles were around seventy years before my 83 was designed and assembled. So why can't they make a car body that doesn't self destruct by rusting away? This isn't rocket science. Reminds me of an episode of "F Troop" where the F Troop was training their replacements. They screened people for positions that replicated themselves. Gays hire other gays, Fat people hire other fat people, People with acne scars hire other people with acne scars. Morons hire other morons.

NCross

iTrader: (18)

Has the windshield been replaced? Id check around the windshield trim for poor sealant. Door and window track seals could be the problem as well. Mine has bad door seals so I have to be careful when I wash it or it will get wet inside.

midnight mechanic

Bingo!

Been there, done that, ten years ago. I sprayed that plastic coat stuff, that can make a screen door into a boat bottom, around the windshield edge. Problem solved.