It rained very hard and almost continuously yesterday so I went out today to check the car. It had water where I usually see water and then where I have never seen it before. So, I vacuumed out the psgr's side then the driver's side. I noticed that the pedal cluster area was full of water despite the car sitting flat on the ground.

I cleared that out then worked on the water around the cross member. I cleaned it up on the front side and then turned to work on the rear. When I look back it is full of water again. I look forward into the pedal cluster area, it is full. So, I sucked the water up in the pedal cluster area and crawled over to the other side.

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The water was right up against the center tunnel and across the front firewall. (Rust shows you). I cleaned it all out and water didn't appear again. I went back to the driver's cross member. This time I watched what happened after I sucked the water up. 30-50 seconds later, water came out of the cross member seam and long-to-floor seam and filled that area again.

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I checked again same thing happened. What is going on?

The water came out of the cross members on both sides, the center tunnel and the driver's long-to-floor-cross member seam. There are no obvious holes or cracks, but there is surface rust where the water has come out.

I don't have a clue what is going on.

is your back window sealing correctly, or is it rattley?

The back window needs to be resealed, but I would doubt it accounts for the water in the center tunnel and in front of the cross members. I have had plenty water come from the rear window that has gone up to the rear of the cross member, but never in front or beyond.

If it ever stops raining there, dry things up, pull the carpets and the seats, crawl inside and either have someone take after the car with a garden hose or park under a sprinkler. take a light with you and look for leaks. You could have water trailing from the front Targa seal down inside the "A" pillar trim and out the kick panels.

The only thing in the car currently are the seats. It didn't even come with carpet when I bought it. Only bondo. I'll try this when someone else comes home. Two people are needed anyway to pull the seats. They have rusted to the rails.

If you are getting water anywhere near the front wheelhouse's or front of the center tunnel and have not been driving the car leak is coming from up top.

The most likely places are the air distribution system plenum seals are leaking via water entering the cowl vent or Drain tubes probably plugged up. Next is you have a hood weatherstrip leak and it is wicking down the flexible air hoses. Next is the really bad news..... the lower cowl bulkhead to apron/wheelhouse connection (inner fender under the cowl has rust and is leaking past the seam sealer. More bad news is the windshield frame has rust under the glass and is leaking. Another place to look...the switches in the door jambs have rotted boots and can leak wicking water on the wiring. Do you have speakers in the doors? Check the wires where they pass through the door jamb and pillar. Easy leaks to fix are the targa tops seals at the door glass connection.

Water always runs down and horizontal on metal.

Get in there and have someone blast with a hose. You will find it


After looking at your pics start here:

To find out if your windshield or rear window is leaking, spray soapy water all the way around the outside of the glass and blow compressed air from the inside out. If it's leaking it will make beautiful bubbles on the outside of the car.

Thank you for the replies guys. I'll go out and start the boot/rust inspection and the water/air test immediately. To answer your question Jeff, I do not have speakers in the doors and the car has not been driven. It is waiting for the engine to be put back in. I have a bad suspicion that you are correct on lower cowl bulkhead to apron/wheelhouse connection. Before I got it, the car had been nailed, I mean nailed on the right side and good deal of the front. I have found that not all the damage had been repaired, but I don't know the whole extent.

Okay, I have the results of the water test. Rear Window -check (I already knew about that though), Top Windshield seal -check

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It leaked in these areas and I even have proof on my shirt.

Seal around the window -check

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Front Hood Seal -check (multiple areas too)

Cowl Vent plugged? -probably (A lot of water went into it and only a small amount came of the drain pipe. No water came out of the broken pipe.)

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Door switch boots? -Old and nasty looking surrounded by dirt.

Windshield frame -okay

Still this doesn't explain how the water got into this area:

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I am going to poke around underneath the hood spring on the psgr side because it looks very suspicious with gobs of seam sealer/bondo and a little rust.

that could be it ... it'll go from the vent box into the valves and down the front firewall onto your floor or into the center tunnel ...
Andy