Slant Six Forum :: A body water leak

76 feather duster sl6, 4 spd od. recently rewelded the floors, torsion bar mount and frame pieces. about to tackle a large leak from under the dashboard onto the driver side floor.

dont think it is the wiper pivots because i put rubber discs from the old sl6 plug wire kits(large sparkplugs) under the wipers pressed down onto the cowl- seems pretty tight.

lower windshield leak- dont thinkthis is the problem because have filled in the entire seam carefully with clear silicon.

corrosion holes from accumulated debris that came through the cowl on top of the firewall.

figure most of the guts of the dashboard have to be disassembled to get up there

if i cover the cowl grill wont it cut off air to the underdash door vents on each side?

exactly what type of goop should i use to seal the holes

i also have the problem of rusting and some perforation where the side roof gutters(rails?) meet the roof. planning to clean it, scrape it fill it with the same goop you recommend for the dash leak problem and then paint over it. am i on the right track here?

Author:	MichaelS [ Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:07 am ]
Post subject:	A body water leak
Its not a slant six question, but the car has one so,. I have a '74 Dart and in a hard rain, while parked, it gets wet on the drivers side floor. I made a cover for the air grill but it still comes in, any suggestions were to look for leaks? This morning i found water in the air vent by the feet so I wont rule out the air grill at the base of the windshield. Is there a drain that could be clogged for this area?

Author:	SlantSixDan [ Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:18 am ]
Post subject:
Clogged cowl drain, see this post. Wiper pivot seals in need of replacement; purchase the wiper seal kit from Schumacher (scroll down the categories at the left side of the page).

Author:	Doc [ Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:50 pm ]
Post subject:
Also, inspect along the roof rails for cracks in the caulking. (seam sealer) I have had water enter the car thru these types of cracks. DD

Author:	slantzilla [ Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:38 pm ]
Post subject:
One other place to look is the bottom of the windshield gasket. The gasket recedes and uncovers an inch long slot that is not quite in line with each wiper pivot. No one has ever been able to tell me what the slots are for, but they will leak water like crazy.

Author:	MichaelS [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:22 am ]
Post subject:
The wiper post seals look old also were do I find the drain on the '74, there is no visible way to clean anything out from the engine compartment.

Slant Six Forum https://slantsix.org/forum/

A body water leak https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29398	Page 1 of 2

Author:	SlantSixDan [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:29 am ]
Post subject:
They deleted the firewall plugs after '66 in North American production; if you want some, you'll have to cut your own. Otherwise go in via the vent boxes as described in previously-linked post.

Author:	66aCUDA [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:47 am ]
Post subject:
What is a good replacement caulk for the cracked caulk over the windows? Thanks Frank

Author:	CARS [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:17 am ]
Post subject:
Quote: What is a good replacement caulk for the cracked caulk over the windows? Thanks Frank Are you refering to a caulk applied when the W/S was installed or the calk used on the drip rails? The seam sealer (refered to as caulk) is applied before the paint is applied so any sort of re-application is going to possibly look funny. I like to use 3M's self leveling seam sealer for this area because it will flow into all the nooks and, as the name implies, level itself out. It is fairly clear but has a yellow tint to it. The bad thing is that it requires a 3M Automix application gun because it is a 2 part product.

Author:	66aCUDA [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:26 am ]
Post subject:
Cars The drip rails. I need to remove the cracked caulk( is this called seam sealer?) and replace when I do the body work. So how much is the gun?? Frank

Author:	CARS [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:52 pm ]
Post subject:
I've always heard it called seam sealer because that is what is on the container. That doesn't mean that others have different names for it . Unless you want the area to be discolored (in that valley 99% of people wont see it anyway) you will need to repaint over it. I would try to borow that gun from the body shop supplier that you buy the sealer from. I think the sealer is about $30.00 a cartrige. The gun probably lists for something outragous like $200.00 but I think I bought it for under $70.00 because I buy all my supplies from them.

Author:	bob fisher [ Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:42 am ]
Post subject:	the toughest rust repair
hi sages- surmise this is a job for superman(sl6dan, di, the doctor , among others). been off the forum for a few weeks, but now have time inthe summer to do some long delayed restorations to my 76 feather duster sl6, 4 spd od. recently rewelded the floors, torsion bar mount and frame pieces. about to tackle a large leak from under the dashboard onto the driver side floor. lucky for me to see this discussed on todays forum. am still a little unclear on diagnosis and remediation. choice one- dont think it is the wiper pivots because i put rubber discs from the old sl6 plug wire kits(large sparkplugs) under the wipers pressed down onto the cowl- seems pretty tight. choice two- lower windshield leak- dont thinkthis is the problem because have filled in the entire seam carefully with clear silicon. choice three- the only other option is corrosion holes from accumulated debris that came through the cowl on top of the firewall. looks like one hellacious repair job. figure most of the guts of the dashboard have to be disassembled to get up there, clean and then paste in some kind of goop to seal the holes which are probably next to the stove pipe stacks which connect to the vent box assemblies under the dash. going to prove this by closing off the cowl grill spraying water outside and seeing if it leaks like hell, probably wont. too bad there is no apparent way to easily correct this. is my analysis correct?. a few questions- if i cover the cowl grill wont it cut off air to the underdash door vents on each side ? dont want to do that in fla heat. months ago someone on the forum put up pictures toshow how this works on an a body but had cut off part of the firewall and cowl to illustrate it.it made things very clear. dont want to go that far. exactly what type of goop should i use to seal the holes. uncle moe told me to use liquid nails but think that would get too brittle , crack and leak again but it is very adhesive. lastly i also have the problem of rusting and some perforation where the side roof gutters(rails?) meet the roof. planning to clean it, scrape it fill it with the same goop you recommend for the dash leak problem and then paint over it. am i on the right track here?. thanks for the help sages. bob fisher. ps-i know i know i should have sent the car tothe crusher a long time ago.

Author:	SlantSixDan [ Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: the toughest rust repair
Quote: 76 feather duster sl6, 4 spd od. recently rewelded the floors, torsion bar mount and frame pieces. about to tackle a large leak from under the dashboard onto the driver side floor. Quote: dont think it is the wiper pivots because i put rubber discs from the old sl6 plug wire kits(large sparkplugs) under the wipers pressed down onto the cowl- seems pretty tight. Could still be leaking past the pivot mounts. Since you're in the neighbourhood, why not put in the full wiper reseal kit? Quote: lower windshield leak- dont thinkthis is the problem because have filled in the entire seam carefully with clear silicon. Could also be an upper windshield leak. Water has a way of migrating far and wide from its point of entry. Quote: corrosion holes from accumulated debris that came through the cowl on top of the firewall. Or just plain overflow from a clogged cowl, if you're lucky. Quote: figure most of the guts of the dashboard have to be disassembled to get up there Yup...sounds like this car has extensive floor and body rust, so it cannot be assumed that any of the undercar metal is any good. I'm afraid you're going to have to bite the bullet, pull the dash, the windshield, and the heater box, and assess the situation to figure out what-all will be necessary to effect a complete fix. Quote: if i cover the cowl grill wont it cut off air to the underdash door vents on each side? Yup...you'll have no air supply to the heat/defog or the underdash doors. Quote: exactly what type of goop should i use to seal the holes Repair as you'd repair any other rusty metal (floor etc.) Quote: i also have the problem of rusting and some perforation where the side roof gutters(rails?) meet the roof. planning to clean it, scrape it fill it with the same goop you recommend for the dash leak problem and then paint over it. am i on the right track here? Sounds like it!

Author:	oneiros2001 [ Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:23 am ]
Post subject:
Hello everybody, i have the same problem as Bob Fisher, but on my F body volare 78, does anybody knows if this car has the mentioned plugs to clean the cowl and if it does have this plugs where are they located? And also where are the drains so i can clean them? hoping that this will fix my problem every time that starts to rain for long periods of time or very hard and the car is parked outside my house i find the same problem water on the driver side floor (curiously if my car is parked outside my gf's house it doesn't happen i guess it's because my gf's house is on a hill so the car is not on a totally horizontal and maybe the water goes through other parts but who knows) please help i am tired of having to check the car every time that rains thanks

Author:	66aCUDA [ Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:55 am ]
Post subject:
Your 78 doesnt have the plugs. And there is no easy way to clean out the cowl. A long stiff piece of wire is about the only way I know of, along with an air compressor. Good luck, Frank

Page 1 of 2	All times are UTC-08:00
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited https://www.phpbb.com/

Author:	Wesola78 [ Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:16 am ]
Post subject:
On my '78 Volare 2-door, I used to have a damp floorboard after every hard rain. I covered the cowl vents (?) just under the wndshield with two pieces of aluminum. They are held in place by what is supposed to be leakproof tape. This has been in place for over a year, and no more leaks when it rains. Kind of a redneck fix, but oh well...