G'day,
I need convertible owners or experts to help out here. I recently purchased a '74 convertible and every time it rains or when I wash it, the rear carpet gets soaking wet. On closer inspection, the rubber seal on the hinged cover or lid is pulled really tight in the two corners and is flat there rather than round as it is along the straight bits. I could actually see into the luggage area through the gap as the lid was being closed.

I loosened the four bolts and moved the lid about 4-5 mm to the rear, but this puts the lid pretty close to the rear deck. Any closer and the paint would be scraped.

I noticed that there is a drain hole on the driver's side that appears to go into an enclosed channel that presumably drains the water off somewhere, but I could find no mention of it in my AIM. Found one for the coupe, but not the vert. However, there is no drain hole on the passenger's side, even though this is the side that would be lower when the car is parked against the kerb. (Not down under though

So, here's the question; should there be a drain hole on both sides, or just one? Also, any tips for re-applying the rubber seal or anything that will stop the leaks would be most welcome.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

My 75 has drain holes on BOTH sides and I'm quite certain the 74 is no different. For some reason, yours was sealed. Possibly (but very unlikely)from the factory. Do some exploratory, and see if you see signs it was sealed. Good chance a previous owner thought it would stop the leak.
My 75 had a leak INSIDE the drain hole (under the hinge)where the sealant didn't get. The car had leaked(bad) day one from the factory. The carpet had been replaced at least ounce due to it. I believe previous owners/shops were unable to locate it,and the owners tried to avoid water best they could.
After 36 years, my daughter and I were able to find it. I replaced the seal (that had already been replaced) and it still leaked. It does flatten on the corners- as they all do -but that is not likely the problem. Water is probably building up too fast and finding an open area in the seal, because of the missing or(more likely)a sealed drain hole.
Try this. Put Vaseline or something similar on the seal. Shut the lid ad see that it(the grease) makes contact in all areas. Make small adjustments in the lid if necessary. If it were me,I would also drill the area where the drain hole should be. Then find a SMALL friend. A Petite-patient-beautiful female should work fine. Have her/him lay inside with the lid shut, as you shine a strong flashlight around the (closed) deck lid gap. Must do this in a very dark environment. If you decide to re-open the the drain hole (which I would recommend)-- you might detect the leak--as my daughter was able to do-- by seeing light come through the hole.
Hope this can help you, and maybe save you some time and aggravation. Leaks can be time consuming to find, and dealers and shops didn't/don't like to fool with them, as they can take a lot of time to find and customers don't like paying for something that is often not properly diagnosed--as it sounds like your patched drain hole was.(probably done by a BUBBA) I spent a lot of time on mine--including replacing a seal that was probably unnecessary.
Good luck

 

Much appreciated - you have given me a plan of what to do this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

You can also take a die grinder and make the two drain holes as large as possible.
I have also drilled a small hole thru the rear body mount. Any water that gets in the mount and hinge pocket will puddle in that area and create a lot more problems than wet carpet will.

 

The drains are shown in the AIM. Sounds like you need a decklid weatherstrip.

 

Both holes on mine were sealed shut with the factory adhesive (Mark of Excellence). In addition, the 'wells' that the holes were supposed to drain into were separated from the deck. Either way I'd lose and have a leak!

I took a chisel and knocked out the factory adhesive and, with a coat hanger, pushed the broken pieces of adhesive through the 'drainholes' located under the deck in front of the fuel tank. There was a ton of it. Coupes have a plenum these drainholes dump into, verts do not. The wells, located near the upper hinge area inside the cockpit, were epoxied and clamped to seal them up. After all was finished, I tested for water leaks (I used an ear irrigator bulb). These are the only pics I have for this mess...

Coat hanger fished through the drain hole.


View from under deck. Look closely and you can see the black coat hanger showing where the wells exit

 

Mike,
I went right through my AIM and couldn't find it. Could you give me the page number please?

TIA

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

Coat hanger fished through the drain hole.


gkz,

Thanks for the photo, that's exactly where my drainage slot is, but there is no slot on the other side. The car has been repainted from its original green, and I'm guessing that the body man fixed the passenger side "hole" in the process of the repaint. I'll drill a small hole where I think the slot should be and blow some compressed air in and try to determine where (if!) it comes out.

If it looks good, I'll take noonie's advice and open the slot up some. Keep watching.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

Open it up. Give it a drink. See if the water comes out like it does on the other side-and hopefully not in the car

 

There should also be two tubes from the plenum that go out the back wall. You can also see the two holes in this picture



Jim

 

UPC E01 - E12 Sheet 20 for coupes. Probably in the same place for convertibles. Drains the plenum beneath your rear deck vent grilles.

 

G'day,

With the help of two friends who came around, I found that the pass. side drain hole had been filled with bog (bondo???) and it was easy to drill through and open up with a rat tail file. We poured water through and it drained out OK, but upon closer inspection, the rubber seal is up to a quarter inch forward of the lip on the rear body, so water was also coming through this gap and into the car.

The rest of the deck lid seemed to hold a seal after I had loosened the hinge bolts and moved the hatch 4-5 mm to the rear. We are going to put another strip ( about 6" at a guess) of closed cell neoprene rubber UNDER the stock seal, just in the corners, to push the seal rearwards and press against the "gutter" on the rear deck.

I'll let you know....................

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

We are going to put another strip ( about 6" at a guess) of closed cell neoprene rubber UNDER the stock seal, just in the corners, to push the seal rearwards and press against the "gutter" on the rear deck.

I'll let you know....................

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn[/QUOTE]

That is what I did also, but mine still leaked inside the drain. Sounds like your almost there

 

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one to think of this. I poured some water on the closed lid and almost all of it went down the holes. Next problem, passenger floor well carpet very wet. I vacuumed most of it up and used my heat gun to dry out the rest. Had to pull both seats and lap belts out as the latter had water in them.

It's 6 o'clock Friday evening now, so I might get the seats back in to go for my first "topless" drive with the car in Australia before sunset.

Thanks for all of the replies and help offered.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn