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Water coming between cowl and driver side A pillar birdcage. Not the best pic, sorry. The old seam sealer broke that was there broke off. Can I reseal from the inside? i dont want to pull the whole front end. Water does not enter when I ran a hose into the wiper tray. I then sprayed where the corner of the windshield meets the front fender. water was running out of the crack above the two bolts in the pic. It was running down and filling the body mount.
Hi LC,
I'm afraid you can't successfully seal this leak from inside the car.
Sealing the leak where you see it will only cause the water to be diverted somewhere else.
The leak needs to be sealed at it's SOURCE. In this case at the windshield.
I hate to say it, but it's likely that the windshield will need to come out to fix this leak.
BUT, you can certainly try to add sealer in that area and see if that might help the situation.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
Things could be worse than having to remove the windshield. I was afraid that the leak was between the cowl and the back of the fender, where I can't get to.
Hi LC,
It depends just exactly where the leak starts as to what it'll take to stop it.
Might you gain access to apply the sealer by reaching in past the wiper transmission?
Regards,
Alan
I had a leak in the area that started when a bad repair came apart and started letting water in at the windshield frame corner. The source was under the front clip and it had to be pulled to fix.
Took a closer look today. Did find one small leak in the top of the wiper cowl, but the majority seems to be the windshield corner.
Took a closer look and it seems the sealer has pulled away. If I remove the windshield I could seal it up better. I could just try to seal it as is. But I would like to see if there is any more damage. I don't plan on pulling the clip. The thread you linked me mentioned cutting the top of the fender off the access. I wonder if anyone has done a write-up on that?
Hi LC,
Wasps? Hornets?
You mention cutting off the end of the fender.
While this seems like a good way to gain access, you really DON'T want to cut the fender at that point under any circumstance.
The straight cut at that location makes it impossible to do a fiberglass repair that's not visible.
Sadly this has been proven too many times.
Regards,
Alan
Hi LC,
Wasps? Hornets?
You mention cutting off the end of the fender.
While this seems like a good way to gain access, you really DON'T want to cut the fender at that point under any circumstance.
The straight cut at that location makes it impossible to do a fiberglass repair that's not visible.
Sadly this has been proven too many times.
Regards,
Alan
I'm not sure I could tell the difference between them. Luckily I don't have to, it is long abandoned.
I believe you that that the fiberglass repair will show through. I still think it might be the best option for me. This car is not destined to be "restoration" so much as a hot rod or resto-mod. I feel better about having bodywork issues than just sealing over a rusty birdcage.
So update time. I pulled the door and got a better look. Seam sealer where the windsheild corner of the birdcage meets the fiberglass fender was gone. The metal trough that directs water was in the way to reseal. I used a slide hammer with a hook to pull it back. I applied chassis saver to the doorjam/birdcage and also poured some in between the windsheild/fender lip to coat the area of the birdcage I couldn't get to. New coat of A.C. Delco seam sealer and I should be good to go!
Last edited by Learning_Curve; Apr 1, 2017 at 07:14 PM.
Reason: Info added
But if it doesn't and you choose to cut the corner off , do yourself a favour and make up a bond strip before you do any cutting . That will at least give you a better chance for a stronger join later on.
Birdcage water leak
