CDaniel525

I hadnt drive the car or started it in weeks, probably months. It was covered the entire time till a bad windstorm blew the cover off into a mud puddle, so I refused to put the cover back on till i get it washed somehow. So it got rained on badly that one time and then just again in the past few days. So i looked in the car and both the drivers and passengers floor are soaking...when i press down on the carpet, there is an actual puddle. No mold there tho. It almost looks like the water is dripping off from behind the dash on both side and on the drives side is also dripping down from the kick panel. Any clues where all of this water could be coming from?? Only place I could think of is windshield leaking.

In the rear, there is mold on over 25% of the carpet behind the seats :cry I think it is coming from the Astro Ventilation gills, but there is not astro ventilation in my car...just the gills screwed in....and i know there is some water coming from those screws...i just can imagine it soaking the whole entire rear carpet. I wouldnt think it would let enough water in. There is silicone around the screws coming in, but it definitely isnt waterproffing it enough, but still can imagine it doing all that. Cant tell where else it might be coming from. Any ideas?? Once again only place I could think of is the rear window.
This is really pissing me off, cause I learned to deal with the face that the car leaks a little bit when i drive during hard rain, which didnt matter cause i dont drive much and only in the rain when im stuck in it. And I never noticed all of these leaks till now cause the car was always covered. What to do?? :sad:
Im going to :cry myself to sleep now
Sorry for the vent....just cant figure it out.

hunt4cleanair

That would drive me nuts as well...and they didn't exactly make C3 waterproof! Michael Davis does a nice job of outlining problems, diagnosis and solutions in his book "Corvette Water Leak & Wind Noise Solutions"

A couple of things you might check is in the rear grille, there is a hose that drains water from the are out through the wheel well. If this hose is plugged or rotted out...water works it way inside. This is the area underneath the pot metal grilles on the rear deck. Check it out and see what you find.

The other area is in the windshield cowl area and from what you describe this may be a possibility. There are drain holes located on both sides above the frame at the front edge of the doors. If these areas are plugged, the large amounts of water coming off the windshield, drain into this cowl area will back up and run into the floor board through the fresh air vent.

Check these out...these are the obvious sources for leaks. Beyond this you may have structural damage but obviously only happen when the cover is off. let us know what you find.

redwingvette

I had to replace the "hoses" on mine. They are attached with hose clamps in the inside bottom of the box under the grilles and 3 rivets through a metal plate in the wheel well. My jack box was full of water after a heavy rain because there isn't a drain hole in there. The hoses were dry rotted so bad that they had cracked apart.

jerryp58

Don't forget these guys... http://users.erols.com/jerryp58/corv.../vetteseal.JPG

They're rubber seals at the base of the windshield at the fender corners. Mine looked a little brittle, so I squeezed some caulking underneath them. I also cleaned out the two vent areas (under the screens) with a vacuum. I caulked any seams in the cowl area. And I covered it all with undercoating. Doing all of that completely stopped my floorboard water problem. :yesnod:

For the back, you might want to check for leaks around the window too.

You may also want to check how much your T-tops might be leaking by sitting in one of the brushless car washes. I've driven my car in some pretty heavy rain, but it doesn't compare to the "beating" from a car wash. In there, my T-tops leak at the center rear corners and the driver's rear corner (this is the only place it ever leaks when it rains).

One of these days I'll be replacing the weather stripping I guess :rolleyes:

I think with a little patience you'll be able to track down all of the leaks and fix them. Hang in there and Good Luck.

killain

I think at some point your gonna have to pull all the carpet out if you want to get rid of the mold. and I'd check the T-tops weather stripping, it is the one true bad point in all C-3 corvettes. I had to replace mine twice now!

CDaniel525

Thanks hunt4cleanair...my rear grill on the rear deck doesnt have the hoses connected since it never had astro ventilation. It is just fiberglass indent with the grills for looks....thats where some water is leaking from the screw holes.

The front windshield cowl does get clogged alot, so maybe thats why it go so bad this time....usually i clean it out, but this time i havent drive it so it probably is bad. Maybe I can manke these holes bigger somehow.

jerrryp....im gonna be working on the car in a garage today so ill have to check those places you pointed out and bring along my silicone gun

killian...i know i have some lil leaks in my t-tops as well, which ill replace but even at 80 mph in a torrential down pour, I only get it really bad.

Thanks for your help guys.....im gonna try to figure this out ASAP.

Chris@VetteFinders

Here's some info too: http://vettefinders.com/rhys/resources.cfm

Corellian Corvette

When it's in the garage, it's also good to get a big jug of water and slowly pour down problem areas -- it's real easy to track water leaks and isolate that way.

Also - when I got my '73 both the front and rear windshileds needed to be re-sealed. If you have the original seals they get old and crack in time, which will cause water to enter the car in wierd places. I had leaks all over the place but now she's about 95% dry.

My leaks:

Rear windshield needed to be re-sealed.
Astro-ventilation rubber ducts (pun intended)
Front windshield needed to be re-sealed
Adjusted t-tops and windows for better sealing