[aonghus]

Allright, just installed my carpet, it rained, I have tight weather seal around my doors, I didnt even drive the car in the rain, yet, a uniform square patch of carpet floor mat didnt get wet on the top.

now, I have dynamatted my floorpans, POR15'ed them liberally, but I didnt not replace the seam sealer on the crevices of the floorpan, could this be my source of moisture? It only happened on my passenger side, stopped at the shifter, and at the foot of the toepan, as well as at the seat mounts

(drain plug is in securely)

 

[67CruiseMasterCamaro]

Possibly. Use some of that there 3M stuff and use plenty of it to get into the V of the seam. Maybe the floor may was wet, but evaporated already? Still wet on the bottom.

 

[sicsD8]

Your heater core isn't leaking is it? Smell for antifreeze. Otherwise it could be the cowl at the windshield is rotted out on that side.

 

[JimM]

If the floor gets wet when it rains, it could be:

Kickpanel vent seal

Heater box seal or rusted out

Rotten cowl or upper dash under the windshield

Unless it was raining REALLY hard, I don't think it would come UP thru the floor.

 

[MangeMD]

"Unless it was raining REALLY hard, I don't think it would come UP thru the floor."


LOL

 

[BelAirBobs]

I'm betting heater core... Passenger side, and all else is sealed tightly.... check it out.

 

[JimM]

I'm a big fan of leaky cowl vent seals, personally, and they're easy to fix.

Peel the carpet up, and run a hose into the pass side cowl vent. See if the water's coming down from the heater or out from behind the kick panel. If it's heither, you could have a rotten cowl. While the water's running, you can make sure your rocker drains aren't clogged, the water whould run out in front of the back tire.

 

[aonghus]

dont have heatercore, detroit speed firewall delete welded on, plus my hood was down,

the water seems to have come up from under the floor (it was raining REALLY bloody hard ) didnt get the cloth on top of my mat wet, or my jute padding, just the carpet, also, idont have a kick panel, the hole for the blower motor is still there, but its like i said, it is a VERY uniform square, goes from bottom of toeboard, to the sill plate, then back to the shifter, and again to the seat mounting bolts

im stumped on this one, but i figure 3M seam sealer cant hurt at this point. I've wasted 4 rolls of paper towells trying to dry 'er, and about 3 hours with my hungover friend blow drying it

 

[WildBillyT]

Two words-

Desiccant Bag

 

[WillS]

Not to highjack this thread. But, Jim M. your are scaring the crud out of me with kick-pannel vent seal talk. I had such a hard time getting them off and back on. I know I did not seal mine and it is just a matter of time before I have to.

 

[JimM]

Sorry, Will, don't mean to be scary... but it's a fact of life that every drop of water draining off the windshield runs down the cowl vents, then drains inside the cowl into the rockers and out the back. Whole system is one big gutter. The cowl vents stick over 2" into THE WET SIDE of this gutter. If that tube ain't sealed, water will get in, and run down the inside of the kick panel and under the carpet. Most times, the padding sits there a lil wet and never dries, even tho there ain't enuf water in there to get the carper wet... You been watching all these rusty floor posts?

I've had mine off and on too, and it was a BEAR of a job. I resued the old sealer, there was lots and it softened up nice in my hand, and I'm keeping my fingers very crossed.

Here's another one for you. Did you know there is a drain hole just below the wiper motor? The wiper motor sits in a low spot in the lower cowl. If this drain plugs, there will be a permanent lake a quarter inch deep there, which, in time, will destroy the entirecowl to firewall seam from the inside out.

 

[aonghus]

thats some good info, for now i've stuffed a rediculous amount of towells into my car, hoping that it will at least soak up whatever rain comes in...

lived in san diego my whole life, never thought i'd have to worry this much about rain

 

[aonghus]

cowl lake discovered... expecting to rain til thursday

bloody el nino

the leak is inside the kick panel area, where I cannot get to just yet, wont stop raining here

 

[dawg]

IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

 

[JimM]

If you're kick panel's are not in, that's your leak right there. Apply some duct tape to those holes!!

As I posted above, the cavity in the cowl, where the kick panel vent hole is, is designed to be a river.

 

[aonghus]

WHY oh WHY did Chevrolet design this car with an open cowl

, dont have the $ for kick panels just now, and I hear the OER ones are CRAP anyway :-\

thanks again jim for openin my eyes
(lookin good with your progress, wish my firewall was that purdy )

Originally posted by dawg:
IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

hey now, it normally rains two to THREE times a year here

we're goin on almost 4 solid weeks of rain

get ready to see some wild fire news again next fall LOL

 

[JimM]

Thanks!

As for the OER kickpanels, I used em, and have no complaints. Thet fit right, and look great.

 

[aonghus]

ahhh sooooo (chinese accent best used)

well they might be getting charged on the good ol' student credit card then LOL

 

[Steve W]

Hi guys. Sorry I got to this thread a little late. (See...I was gone for awhile and no one even missed me!)
I had a leak at the driver's side kick panel vent on my 68 convertible. I noticed everytime I washed the car, the driver's side floor was wet. Being a convertible, I naturally suspected the top was leaking. So I sat in the car while the wife hosed it down and I found the leak was coming from the kick panel vent. Did a little research here on T.C. and fixed it right up. First I took off the kick panel and inspected everything. Removed all the old dum-dum. Cleaned it all out. Then I snaked (yep, with a plumbers drain snake!) and flushed the rockers and the cowl and cleaned and tested and then dried EVERYTHING! When I put the kick panel back in, I used a silicone sealer to make sure I wouldn't have any leaks ever again. And I don't!

And I have had ample ways to test it lately. The rain has been relentless, some 10 inches just in the last 3 days here. And, as luck would have it, the Camaro is in the carport, not the garage, so its only partially covered...but still nice and dry inside! And, by the way, I have a few friends who have the OER kicks, and they have no complaints.
Good luck.

 

[JimM]

hey steve, I missed ya!!!
been wondering where u been, u a dialy here.