I’ve had a problem with water leaking in to the passenger foot well when it rains. I figured out that it’s coming from a couple of small rust holes in the air inlet under the windshield wipers. It looks great from the top but when I peeled back the tar insulation mat the metal crumbled. So what do you think is the best way to fix this? I'm not concerned about the way it looks because of the location but it needs to be waterproof since it will be exposed to pooling water.

 

the only way to fix rust is to cut out the affected area and weld in new metal, or i suppose you could use rivets as opposed to welding. once you got the new metal in and painted, buy a can of spray on rubber rocker guard and give the whole area a good healthy coating,

 

If you can get in there and get it down to bare metal, and the holes aren't really large, you could fiberglass it over. Paint is with a self etching primer or epoxy first, to prevent the rust from coming back. Once it is glassed, prime again, paint and coat with and underbody coating.

While you are in there, make sure that water can drain out of the cowl area. Not being able to drain may have caused the rust in the first place.

 

if your going to do anything involving new pieces of metal you midst well fix it properly...a can of spray on rubber, a box of rivets, and a piece of metal do the job at current...but only last so long at least with a new piece of metal welded in place there is a guarantee that the water won't seep into the joint lines...and we all know water knows how to find a hole

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I just finished fiber glassing over the area. It was just a couple of small holes and the area they were in allowed me to form the glass in to a trough shape so water shouldn't get under it.