Leaking midyear coupe

[Ed Jennings]

My 67 leaks somewhere up under the dash on the driver's side. The water lands on top of the air conditioning duct and ends up on my left leg prior to running off and saturating the carpet.
On advice from Jerry Bramlett last year, I took the plennum vents off and sealed around the seams that I could reach. Whatever had been comming in on the right hand side pretty much stopped. I may have slowed it down on the left (I think), but there is still enough leak there as to render the car pretty much unuseable in wet weather.

The car was purchased years back to be an everyday driver. Bought a coupe instead of a convertible for just that reason. I'm getting to the point of using it for a near daily driver again, but I gotta stop the leak first. Any suggestions as to where to look. Is it possible there is a blocked drain in the plennum? How would one access it?

I kinda, sorta need to pull the dash completely out of the car to change one of the dash pads. Wonder if I'm going to have to do that before I'm quite ready in order to find the leak.

[Mike M.]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

hate to be bearer of bad news but most leaks such as you describe will necessitate windshield removal. don't be suprised if you encounter some rust thru of the windshield frame. might get lucky and just find caulking dried up allowing h20 thru. good luck, mike

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

I sealed around the windshield several years ago. Had no effect on the leak. If I can't find something else, I may have to get a windshield pro to pull the ws all the way out and see what I can find. I want to eliminate all the other possibilities first.

[Dave McDufford]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Ed,

The link below shows where the drain for the fresh air plenum is. Water leaks from a blocked drain hole would be much lower than what you describe. The second picture shows a good view of the area down the side (albeit right side). Some of this may be accessible by removing the cowl vent cover. I would look/feel for holes or cracks in the fiberglass leading down to the bottom of the chamber. Also check the area of the windshield wiper shaft. The next step would be to remove the trim around the windshield to see if you have a rusted birdcage. You do not need to actual remove the windshield to see if you have a problem.

Good luck – I hope it is something simple.

Dave

http://www.photohost.org/gallery/sho...t=7&thecat=998

[Dan Tewell]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Ed,
It has been my experience that "windsheild" leaks are not really the fault of the windsheild. I have found time and again that the leak is between the birdcage and the bonding strip that is rivited to it. The factory applied a sealer between the two. Over time, this sealer dries out and leaks. In my 27 years experience, I've not seen a birdcage rust on the midyears.

[Mike McKown]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

How do you fix a leak between the birdcage and the bonding strip? Does it leak through the rivets?

[Mike M.]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Dan: up here in the hills of western maryland, west virginia and western penna, where the winters are harsh and salt is cheap, rusty c-2 birdcages are common. i personally own two such coupes that required major windshield frame repairs. to give you an idea of the corrosive nature of our winter highways, i have a two owner 56 vet that the father and son put only 100k miles on it before i acquired her. one can place ones open hand thru the rust holes in the 56's frame. it lived nearly its entire life in preston county, w.va.. mike

[Dan Tewell]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Mike, The way I repair them is to pull the windsheild along with the seal. I then take a die grinder and remove as much of the sealer as I can along with a small amount of the bonding strip. This will also scratch the birdcage. I then fill this void with a non hardening sealer. I use a urethane used for installing the newer windsheilds. Be sure to not get carried away and remove any of the finished top fiberglass, or your mouldings will not conceal your handy work.
No it's not the rivits that leak.

[Dan Tewell]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Mike, Here in Ohio, salt is used like it's free. The 65 that I'm finishing up had extensive water damage to the interior. The seats were rusted in place. It took me 3 hours to remove the seats. When I pulled the windsheild, there was absoultly no rust on the birdcage what so ever. Looked like it did in 65. However, the sealer was cracked and open the whole way around where the birdcage meets the bonding strip (from door to door). This was the main water leak.

[Mike McKown]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Is the caulking you are talking about what is pumped in at the base of the windshield as described in the service manual?

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Sounds like I need to pull the ws trim and have a looksee.

[Dan Tewell]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Mike, I don't have a service manual, but I doubt it. The caulk I'm talking about was applied to the birdcage just before the bonding strip was rivited. This bonding strip is what the surround panel is bonded to at the base of the windsheild. I've never seen a midyear windsheild that leaked. It was always this joint that leaked.

[Floyd Dossey]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

Ed,
There is a metal tray which is part of the bird cage that the windshield and gasket sits in and it probably has rusted thru on the drivers side. Unless you pull the windshield and gasket no amount of sealer will stop the leak.

Regards,
Floyd
65 Fuelie

[Michael H.]

Re: Leaking midyear coupe

I've seen a lot of water leaks come from the top of the door jamb and through the gap between the vent window and windshield post. They hide behind the dash liner until they reach an opening - it can appear to be coming from under the dash but it really isn't. The best way to trace the source is to use a leak detector solution and ultraviolet light. Pull the instrumnent panel and have someone slowly pour water/dye while you watch with the ultraviolet light.