BeachinVette

Hey Guy`s
I left my car out off the garage the other night. My buddies 71 was in there getting some new trailing arms. Well it rained. I have figured out that the water is coming in the outside kick panels. I remember someone else having this problem a couple months ago. I need to know the fix for this.
Thanks in advance

Bob

skinsfan

I just had the same problem.. see Rainy Day post..... I have heard that there is a drain hole that gets clogged, and the water diverts into the car... If you get a solution, LET ME KNOW!

Garys '68

I've got a 68. I had to remove the wiper well cover and shove a vacuum cleaner hose down there. I think it sucked out about a pound of leaves and trash. Not sure about access on a 76. I'll see if it works later this week.
Oh yeah, I also found that the fiberglass around drivers side wiper arm mount in the wiper well was cracked, someone pried up on the too hard. Had to grind that out and reglass it, lots of fun.
Gary

Chris@VetteFinders

Well, kick panel could be a couple things. Here, read this:
http://vettefinders.com/rhys/resources.cfm

Emphasis on #5

Woodstoc

Might check your door seals at the front. Sometimes they don't seal well due to old weatherstrip, the door sagging slightly or someone adjusting them in the past. Water will run down to the area where the kick panel meets the sidewall and threshold and soak down the carpet into the floor well.

This same issue can also be the door itself. If the plastic is missing from inside the door panel, the water that makes it past the window seals can get out of the interior of the door and get into the floorboard carpet. The plastic should be keeping the water inside the door, where it moves to the rear and exits out a hole in the door bottom.

Warp70

These guys are good, they nailed just about everyone I could think about :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: I can say that in the 3 years that I have owned my car I have done about everything else, but saran wrap it and I still have major leaks. I bought a good car cover and I keep it covered when ever possible, and I try not to drive it in the rain. Works pretty well, but it is far from a solution :( I have a screw that is stripped out on my windsheild pilar molding, so I haven't been able to check to seals there, but I would imagine that my leak under the dash is originating from there since it's the only thing left. For those of you who did not have the plastic inside the doors, what did you use to replace this???????

BeachinVette

WOW!!!!!
Looks like I have a lot to check... :sad: You know Chris The frame off thingy is bad :eek: :eek: To add to that I replaced the completely busted front clip. I am sure I did not seal things like GM did with what looks like a big caulking gun they use to put the bondo type sealer on there. What do you think about that expanding insulation in a can type of stuff :crazy: :crazy: or would that be the Bubba way :nono: :nono: I can`t think of another way to seal up inside the fender, I pulled the kick panel off inside and there was water :cuss I was thinking I could spray some expando up from there then down from up top... Don`t know if that would seall and be water proof. It would probably be quieter in the cockpit. :cheers: :cheers:
I will await your thought on the expando insulation in a can Idea. :D :D
Thanks again for the suggestions
Bob

Chris@VetteFinders

I wouldn't use the expanding stuff. The thing that did the trick for me was using seam sealer on most of the spots I could get to with a small brush. That didn't fix it all, so then I bought a tube of "flowable" windshield sealer. I used almost an entire tube. It follows the path that water will follow. That will do the trick if anything will.

ksbunting

Can you elaborate on what "flowable" windshield sealer is. Have you a brand name or a supplier, I would like to try this stuff.
Thank you,

Chris@VetteFinders

It is a clear silicone that is extremely fluid. It is usually in the 3m section with the adhesives and stuff. Let me check and see if I have any left. I doubt it though.

They sell it at most auto parts stores.

Just checked, I used it all. I bought mine at Discount Auto.


[Modified by Chris@VetteFinders, 8:37 PM 2/25/2002]

BeachinVette

Thanks Chris
I will give it a try this weekend.

Bob

PROSOUTH

Guys, Let me tell you a LITTLE secret, 99% of all Corvette C-3 Water Leaks come from one place.

You will hear that the T-Tops leak, or the something or another leaks and if I ...................it might stop.

The factory built the windshield frame in several pieces. They were then welded together to make the windshield frame and front part of the cage for your structure.

The problem is that to weld the corners in they had to have an access hole to weld through to get the inside welded. Then they had to cover this up and used some kinda cheap caulking that lasted a few years and then fell out!

Well that is where your leak is. Water runs in at the top corner of your Windshield frame and it is a straight shot down the tube to the kick panel or inside body mount. Here it enters the carpeted floor area.

Usually you can remove the windshield mouldings and reapply a sealant to the holes in the frame that have opened from the old caulking going away. This area is also prone to rust for some reason, but mostly just from the lack of sealant.

Try it and see, I believe you will correct the problem.

PROSOUTH

Chris@VetteFinders

Well, I don't agree with those numbers, but it is certainly another place it can leak. Art at Vansteel helped me track mine down over a period of four days and he can tell you, there is no magic spot that they all leak at. He's seen it all.

PROSOUTH

OK maybe not 99%. but explain how the water got inside of that tube that runs from the top corner of the windshield all of the way to the floor at the body mount?

Must be a hole somewhere.........

Chris@VetteFinders

If you read the page I linked to earlier, you can see. The front clip is attached to the cowl by bonding adhesive. If you lie under the dash an have someone else por water on the top, you can watch it enter in. I had the added ability to look at a totally trashed vette and examine it under its skin while working on mine. I do think I understand how they are sealed pretty well now.

PROSOUTH

OK,But I didn't disagree with you. I only stated that with my experiences I have had 99% of my water leaks cured at either the top corner or lower corner of the windshield frame, where the access holes for welding had come open or the windshield frame itself had rusted. In this instance especially with the symptoms of water coming out of the body mount at the kick panel it is the usual diagnosis that there is water coming down the tube.

Yes I agree, if you have had a Vette with a severe collision during its life there is a good chance it has a cowl area leak, but most were sealed pretty well in this area unless it had a structural alteration to make it come loose.

JIM

Chris@VetteFinders

I am not going to get into a semantics argument here, but the area I am talking about is another area that ends up leaking right behind the kick panel. The seams can and will deteriorate with or without a severe collision.

dladd74roadster

Well, I can only tell you about where I found leaks in mine. First, there is a seam just below the windshield in the wiper valley. I had the dash out to replace a heater core so I decided to fix the leaks once and for all. I put a drop light inside the car pointing up and found that I could see light through this seam. It runs across the car and when water runs off of the windshield, it dumped right into this area. The other leak I found was behind the kick panels. Apparently Chevrolet drilled a screw hole at the bottom of the vent and didn't put a screw in it. I siliconed this hole on each side. I used a water hose to find this one. It seems that when water runs out of the wiper valley and down the sides of the cowl, water gushes through these holes. These are two simple fixes. The dash doesn't have to come out for either. I sealed the upper seam from outside of the car and only had to remove the kick panels for the others. My car can sit outside in a thunderstorm now and it doesn't leak at all except around the soft top and only then when the wind is blowing.

I lived with these leaks for 10 years and had to strip the interior out of the car all the way to the cowl to find them but hopefully it won't take that for you to find yours.

Good Luck and I hope this helps.

dl

Paul L

DL. Do you have a pic of the screw you are referring to?

Garys '68

I also had the same problem as dladd74roadster with that seam separating. I put some screwdrivers in it to wedge it open, then used silicone to seal it. After that I brushed on some waterproof undercoating throughout the whole well. I just must be lucky, I had ALL of the above leaks.
Gary