interior leak!!!

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Guys I have to add to this thread.
Last thursday night we had some severe weather here in Austin (3"hail) which just missed our house but we git alot of rain. Fri morning I went out and opened up the duster and found the front floor boards covered with water. It looked to have come from behind the heater box. It definitly did not come from the wiper seals. I removed everything from the firewall and found one leak comming from one of the barbed insulation pins by the break peddle, and the other comming from the seam where the firewall joins the cowl and the passenger side upper kick panel area.(PIC #1) The cowl area was full of leaves and enough compost for Ed Begly to start a garden. I managed to clean the mess out by accessing the area through a couple of device holes from the factory set up (pic included) Im sure the drivers side is just as full, suggestions on how clean it out would be appreciated.
Hope this helps someone.
Andrew

interior laek point.jpg


EC cleanout point.jpg
 
when i did my last duster it was really nice up in the corner too. i dug out all the seam sealer, blasted and painted(primer) the whole cowl area below the winshield under the dash. redid the seamsealer and painted(color).as far as the d/s cleanout, on the cars without a vent. the best results come from removing the fender. the problem is, if it has never been off, or was done by a good shop before, the sealer on the fender to inner fender top rail is usually so tight that you can really bend the fender up getting it loose. or you can do what a guy did, on a car i did a while back. where the vent would be, on the driver side, is the spot for the vent hole. cut a hole in that area big enough to get your hand into and then seal the hole shut with a coffee can top, caulk and sheet metal screws. before you say, well, you know, thats pretty redneck. if he hadn't done that one thing, the car would have been rotted down before he got it to me. i think i remember him saying 8 years was how long it sat. good move if you asked me
 
Sorry to take so long to follow up. Here is how I solved the drivers side issue. I cut an access hole used a shop vac and then followed up with rust converter inside the area. I folowed up with a cover plate.
I still have the small interior leak above the heater box location at the upper seam. I have two choices here,one to open the top of the cowl and weld the seam from above which would be very messy or re-apply seam sealer to the bottom of the seam. I just hate to use 'cualking' to create a water tite situation. any other suggestions and what exactly did they use as their seam sealer, or what is the modern day equalivent.
Thanks
Andrew

EC cleanout2.jpg


EC cleanout3.jpg
 
don't know how well it will work yet but I used black caulking with silicone. we don't get that much rain here and I don't park under trees
 
so i finally got around to checking my rear quarter drains. pulled them and kept hitting the fender. 5 or 6 rusty drill bits and bolts fell out. the more i hit, the more came out. maybe thats why my fenders arent in the best shape...:angry7::angry7:
 
This is a good thread. I was wrong that your car was leaking from the wiper pivot seals. It looks like there are a lot of places it was leaking from. I just did the wiper pivot seals in my car though. When I took it apart they were'nt even there at all. Nothing was there except a really water logged foam gasket that fell to pieces when I touched it. Anyway, I checked all of the other places on my car that everyone is suggesting on here and there was no problems on my car. So I guess I'm lucky. I'm glad. The wiper pivot seal replacement was not really that fun. But I'm good now. I even put a hose on and tried real hard to get my car to leak. Nothing.
 
i personally use 3-m seamsealer in the caulking tube. all but 2 dusters that i've owned over the years, and i've owned 22, had leaves in the cowl and, lower front fender, and the Q/P's have been full of junk, tools, dirt and dust,and it never dries out. ever. i usually pull the plugs, get an old metal coat hanger,turn the garden hose loose in the trunk extension, and start digging. then i dont put the plug back in till it is dry. sometimes i don't put them back at all. i would rather it stayed open and dry, than closed and damp. just my opinion, for whatever that is worth.
 
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