Sealing & covering the floor panel drain plugs
 

I'm scouring through my interior and eliminating rust spots and fixing leaks. Scrubbing the whole thing down with Simple Green and scrubber brushes, grinding / painting the rust spots, and installing Hushmat vibration / heat barrier.

I have some flexible glue / silicone sealant that I'm going to be sealing the floor plugs with, as I'm fairly certain thats the source of the leak in front of the seats. That in combination with new window, hatch, sunroof and door seals all the way around, and a de-clogging of any drain lines, we should be rockin and rollin.

My question is - Can anyone think of a reason NOT to cover up the drain plugs when I do the Hushmat?

I don't use these plugs to drain water - I dont have any leaks that big. Also, if I do still have some leaks, I'll be soaking them up and fixing them at their source, not draining them out the bottom.

Your input?

~Geoff

are you talking about the big metal ones? or the various small rubber ones? the big metal ones, go ahead and seal up, they were for draining the primers out, as the car was dipped in a vat.

the rubber ones i do like, as if you do have a big leak (accidents happen) you can drain it, however its pretty rare you actually need to do that.

I did find some strange spots on mine when I was investigating water leaks. The seam between the firewall and a pillar was cracked allowing moisture from the wiper motor cavity to seep in. If the sealant dried, treat with a rust converter and era seal with clear silicone. This will let you see color changes behind it.

good point, mine had a hole in the top of the pedal box area, which is also the bottom of the cavity the wipers are in, so if it rained i would have a puddle by the clutch pedal.

If you're poking around in the plenum, remove the wiper mechanism and clean the whole area out. My car lived in South Carolina beneath pine trees for much of its life, and it seems like most of the needles that fell off the trees found their way into my plenum. The driver's side was so bad, it looked like it had been intentionally stuffed.

Accumulated debris holds moisture and promotes corrosion.

Wow good call gentlemen. Haven't got to that area yet - will make sure it's all sealed up. Love the clear silicone idea.

Geoff