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| Hi, my 58 Plymouth 2 door hardtop has a pesky leak when it rains hard, water runs down behind the kick panel and ends up on the front floorboards, both sides...it's not coming from the windshield rubber, or the stud holes for the stainless trim around the windshield...I have ruled that out. The body was sandblasted and I suspect some factory sealant was blasted away, causing this. I think it has something to do with how the cowl pieces were put together, with the cowl vent in there too...it's a complex area and mostly hidden with fenders on.
I know it's tough to diagnose this, just wondering if anyone else has ran into this problem? |
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Location: Under the X in Texas | Was the windshield out and the trim retainers for the windshield removed when the body was blasted? If so, the lower retainers were possibly not re-sealed when re-installed. The car would be channeling water through the mounting holes of these retainers which were sealed when installed new at the factory. |
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| I explained that I have ruled that out. I carefully resealed those holes with silicone when I put the stainless back on...the water is coming from somewhere else. Thanks for the input though! |
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Regular
Posts: 94
Location: New Zealand | I had the same problem with the 4dr sedan I had and it seemed to be caused by bad sealer around the lip of the cowling area, the part of the cowl that is under the top of the fenders. If you stick your hand up under the dash you will find a ledge just above and in front of the hinges, that is where the water was coming in on mine.Trouble is you either have to take your fenders off or contort yourself to try and get it from the inside. Hope this helps.
Cheers Norm |
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Veteran
Posts: 269
Location: Chesterfield, Virginia | Our 59 Desoto had a water leak in the same area.I found the leak by pouring water colored with food colorings in different areas,different area.different color.My leaks came from pinholes on the top of the fire wall corners,under the windshield cowl(between the hood& windshield).A tough area to get to. I fixed the leaks by pouring POR-15 into the area thru the wiper hole area .Tte POR-15 filled the holes and coated the area .It has not leaked in 3 years.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1049
Location: Auckland, New Zealand. | On the 57 and 58 Plymouth, a likely cause of the leak you mention is the bolt that goes through the rear-most "ear" of the front fender at the top (when you lift the hood it is the bolt at the back by the hood hinge) and attaches to the cowl area. Water can pool there and then run down the thread and drip off the bottom. Remove the bolt, apply sealer, reinstall the bolt to rule this out. If sealer was not applied when this bolt was installed then it WILL leak from that area.
Let us know when you find out what it was.
Glenn. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5139
Location: cornpatch county, Southwest IOA | I don't know if it is the same or not, but on my 56 Chrysler, the hood hinge bolts were threaded into the inside of the dash. There are large cork washers on it. Perhaps yours are crumbled or missing?.............MO |
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| Good play, people, thank you. I will pursure these leads and share what I discover. It would sure be nice to give anyone else a heads up when their cars are apart and being restored, to address every possible scenario here.
Edited by 58dodgeregent 2010-09-08 1:35 AM
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Expert
Posts: 2996
Location: Sept. 1958 | MOPAR-TO-YA - 2010-09-07 10:30 PM
I don't know if it is the same or not, but on my 56 Chrysler, the hood hinge bolts were threaded into the inside of the dash. There are large cork washers on it. Perhaps yours are crumbled or missing?.............MO
Yes, 57-59 also do that too, another thing to check. There are quite a bit of bolts that have to be sealed up when putting one of these cars back together. |
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| That's for sure, Christine-lover, if in doubt, seal it up is what I've come to realize. I like your quote on Chuck Berry btw.
I looked at my parts car with a fender off; I think I see how water gets in, there's a seam that runs front to back, under the fender, top corner of cowl, and the area slopes downhill into the interior...and if not sealed, water could easily run into the kick panel area. Guess my fenders are coming off! |
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| I think I have figured out where the water is coming in, well a couple areas for sure...I hope lots read this, as it's not something I'd have ever thought of, but I got in the car and had someone hose down the cowl area...water was streaming in through the holes for the plastic plugs that hold the firewall insulator on!! Water will run down past the hood, down the outside of the firewall and in those holes, if the plug is missing, damaged, as in my case, it had a small hole in the end of it, that's all it took for water to come through it like a fountain!
Secondly, water came in through a beforementioned "shelf" way up under there, you can feel it with your hand, and it goes downhill towards the inside. I pumped silicone along that seam, and smeared it in with a paintbrush. Saved having to take fenders off, whew!
So to anyone who has their car apart, fenders off, etc, SEAL EVERY SEAM AND HOLE!!! While it's easy to do!
I found a kick-ass product for most of this, is silicone made by Permatex, specifically for sealing glass, I think it's called Windshield and glass sealer...comes only in a small tube, it's awesome becasue it's quite liquid, and will flow into cracks and seams. Also areas like for example behind your hood hinges, where they meet up with the firewall...flows right into the crevice. Also keep in mind things like firewall grommets, they aren't going to seal after 50 years, that stuff will flow between them and your firewall. For sealing larger holes, I use Permatex's Right Stuff, as it's extremely high quality and quite thick, doesn't sag.
So don't assume water won't get in, assume it will every possible chance! It's disheartening to pull my rug up and find a new, but rusting floor...btw my underlay was STILL WET as of yesterday, after not seeing a drop of moisture since last september!!!! Underlay is what kills floors, I think.
Edited by 58dodgeregent 2011-03-01 11:28 PM
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Cowl area leak - 58 2 door hardtop -anyone had this?
