Here's the dilemma. I put all new weatherstrip on the car. But when it rains hard, i still find my floor carpets soaked. How can I correct this problem? I'm wondering...where does the water go when it falls into the wiper tray? Could this be the source of the problem? Just a guess. I'm probably going to have to go hunting for this problem. All the weatherstrip is brand new. :confused:

 

There was a topic on that. I think the opinion was that the drain plug down inside the passenger side cowl was plugged. Where the Heater A/C takes it's "cold" air input. Another source was down the windshield frame, I didn't catch that one though(how it was fixed). Thankfully mine is just a bad T-top seal.

Scott

 

I haven't checked for it, but there was a good thread on the Forum about this a while back. I believe there was a good article on the Corvette Fever or Zip Web site about this too.

There is a lot of potential for leaking from the wiper area.

1. The caulking around all of the components in that area can crack and should be replaced. I recaulked all of the seams and then covered the entire area with undercoat (probably not NCRS, but clean).

2. The plenums (? -- holes on either side of the wiper area) that are covered with screens can still fill up with leaves and other things and make drainage from that area poor. I think I got them pretty well cleaned out with the vacuum.

3. The weather stripping where the windshield meets each fender can crack. I just caulked mine (I know, Bubba should have replaced them :bb ) and I think that made a big difference in my leaking.

4. Supposedly, not have the kick panels attached correctly can allow water onto the floorboards.

5. I also checked for any signs of water coming in down the windshield pillars, since that is a problem area for our cars. Fortunately, mine looked good.

I'm sure this isn't everything to check or do, but maybe it'll help. I did all of the above and I have not more water leaking on the floorboard (now the T-top weather stripping is another story :rolleyes: ).

Hope this helps.

 

Jerry covered most of the things.

You never mention where you find your carpets soaked? In the front, or back behind the seat near the seatbelts?

Assuming it's the front, the windshield is a likely culprit. The crud in the fresh-air vents is the other big problem. If you have the original windshield seal it's probably cracked and letting water in somewhere.

Get your car in the garage where it's nice and dry. Remove the stainless trim and pour a bucket of water slowly down the top of the glass. You can generally follow it and see where it ends up. Took me a couple tries to finally find the small crack in the side. Also found a crack at the top that was causing a drip in the cabin.

Turns out those two small cracks were causing a TON of water to get in. $100 dollars and a re-sealed window later, the leak is gone. :)

HOWEVER, there is a very common problem on early vettes with a caulked hole down the windshiled frame. This is behind the fender and is VERY hard to get to -- in fact you can't get to it from inside the car. If your leak isn't windsheild or air vent, it's probably this. The only solution there is to cut the fiberglass from the outside the re-seal the hole. Not good. This is the article that was in one of the Vette magazines that was mentioned above.

Good luck!

 

Yes, that fender area is due to rusted windsheld frame and or holes not plugged anymore...the easy way to do this is a whole tube of black RTV from a hardeware store...caulking gun size...and load hell out of it....bottom to top, and smooth off the surface with a paper towel....hell with cutting fenders and the like,.....

GENE

 

Thanks guys. I can also count on you. Think I should take it to a shop and have them reseal the windshield? Or probably just put a new one on. I'm not happy with the old one. :D

 

There's a good article with pictures over at CorvetteMagazine.com (link). It shows just the T-Top weatherstrip installation, but it has pretty good info on it nonetheless. Hope that helps some, too.

 

This may sound crazy, but I had a puddle in the passenger foot area every time it rained hard and the car had been sitting (forgot to put the cover on :smash: :smash: :smash: :smash: )

Found it was the passenger side rear pillar weatherstripping was not making good contact with the door weatherstripping. Water collecting on top of the car would run down the channel it's supposed to, then instead of going through the door (what a dumb idea in the first place :rolleyes: ) if would be pulled through the opening between the weatherstripping, travel along the chrome trim, and dump out into the passenger foot area.

Just something else for you to check.

 

A few hints here.
http://www.bokonon.net/corvettefaq/c3/SealUpLeaks.htm

 

Water Leaks
Well, I chased this problem on my car for 4 weeks. I think I found all the possible points of entry. I will list what I found from easiest to hardest.
1. The accumulation of leaves in the inner fender well as described above. Water will run into the wiper bay, then down the inner fender, and into the fresh air vent. On my 78, I think there is one on the passenger side only.

2. Weatherstrip around the doors. The t-top weather strip will leak if it is not in good condition and run to the rear of the t-top. The other major place in in front/at the bottom of the windows. Spray water at that point and it will drip oven the inner door panels.

3. Wiper bay under the windshield. The factory used a sealant here that cracks after 20 or 30 years. What does not look like much of a hole in actuality creates quite a big leak. Spray this area one small portion at a time with a hose. The BEST way to be sure, pull the windshield and fix any holes in the pillar also.

4. This brings us to the windshield frame. If there are holes in the windshield frame from rust, and the windshield trim is not sealed with a thin strip of sealant, water will find its way into those holes and drip under the dashboard.

5. Any car that has had a frame off is at risk for the worst type of leak. The front clip is attached to the body by bonding adhesive. Those bonds are then sealed up with a sealer that hardens. In the process of removing/reinstalling the body, you will probably get enough flex to crack or break the sealant. Now, water will run down the windshield, into the little area in front of the door and into this area. This will result in water flowing into the kick panel area, and if you follow the water streams, you will see it coming in at the bonding seams. This is VERY hard to fix.

 

Unfortunatly the car did have the body off by the bubba who owned it before me. How do I fix the body seal problem which you discussed at the end?