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Had a great time at Gettysburg but rain was a huge pain. Twice we got 2-3 inches of water in the drivers side floor board of our 71 Cutlass Convertible.. The second time my wife and I were in the car and it was clear that the water was not coming from the roof, but the water was getting deeper under my feet as it continued to downpour. Today I removed the seats and carpet to get them dried out and figure this out. I was pretty sure the problem was in the rear with the roof trough but that seemed ok as wifey ran a garden hose around the rear of the roof and I looked in trunk and rear seat area. So we went to the front and found the issue. As she ran water in the cowl area under the rear edge of the hood it poured right in to the drivers floor thru the kick panel area. I removed the interior kick panel as she ran water and it comes right out as a flood. We checked the passenger side the same way and it doesn't do it , the water goes out the bottom of the car. I hope you can see it in the pics. I hope it's something easy like a clogged drain, maybe?? I sure hope you guys can help with this, car is still apart and drying out with fans in the garage. Thanks so much, Greg
Your leak may be down inside the air feed. Take off the screen on top the cowl and shine a light down inside.
Can you make sure water didn't get into the wire protector running across the floor?
your leak is most likely your kick panel is no longer sealed to the cowl, once a kick panel is removed you have to reseal with new strip caulk if you don't want it to leak on your floorboards .
The cowl drains are designed to drain that water. Seals or not, there shouldn't ever be enough water in the lower cowl to flood the interior. You've got clogged drains.
where are the drains ? I was gonna post this same problem but Greg beat me to it, I was caught in recent heavy rains and both the drivers and passenger side had wet floors the water seemed to come from behind the kick panels.
I have had my fenders off before and there wasnt any debris behind them
where are the drains ? I was gonna post this same problem but Greg beat me to it, I was caught in recent heavy rains and both the drivers and passenger side had wet floors the water seemed to come from behind the kick panels.
I have had my fenders off before and there wasnt any debris behind them
with all due respect , even with no debris in the inner cowl ,and the water drains out as it should ,if the kick panel is not sealed it WILL leak water on the floor and in a heavy rain it will accumulate rapidly, do yourself a favor and pull the kick panel and you will see the thick factory strip caulk that seals the kick panel vents, as they stick out into the inner cowl where the water will run and drip onto it and leak around it . no if ands or buts about it.
Agree with above. My chevelle had same issue. Kick panel protrudes into cowl side panel. Rain water runs down and on top of the plastic vent " tube"and collects and leaks into passenger compartment. I had no issue with clogged drains and water was not backing up or rising up in that area to cause the leak. I had removed these during interior work and started leaking and they never leaked before. I resealed it with strip caulk and problem solved. You may have a different issue like clogged drains that could cause an issue, but definitely check this possibility also.
That is a good question. The DS kick panel is very flimsy and is held on with one screw, so that won't hold it tightly enough to the cowl to make a water tight seal - it's just a cosmetic panel. Heck, someone put a second screw in mine just to keep it from rattling around.
Last edited by Fun71; August 6th, 2018 at 09:38 PM.
The cowl drains are designed to drain that water. Seals or not, there shouldn't ever be enough water in the lower cowl to flood the interior. You've got clogged drains.
this was what I was thinking but how do you clean them out? The Chevell site ( unless I missed it ) did not tell. I would assume the drain holes would be at the bottom. It showed a Sh*t ton of trash but how do you get it out?
Thanks, guys. Now I have something to look for. A friend recommended using one of those telescopic probe cameras to look down in there, cuz you can't see from the top. I'll go look at it today. Greg.
this was what I was thinking but how do you clean them out? The Chevell site ( unless I missed it ) did not tell. I would assume the drain holes would be at the bottom. It showed a Sh*t ton of trash but how do you get it out?
Take out the inner fenders and use the square access hole.
I had this same problem with my Cutlass back in the 80's. I wound up putting in a small bilge pump. Finally the floors were so rusted they drained out on there own.
I had this same problem with my Cutlass back in the 80's. I wound up putting in a small bilge pump. Finally the floors were so rusted they drained out on there own.
LOL i guess ill just wait then ...gonna be a while cuz i just put floors in !!!
The driver side cowl/hinge pillar on AC car has a steel plate screwed on to seal the opening. I just put kick panel speakers in friends 72 442 so it’s fresh in my mind.
Agree on sealing of kicks on non AC car being a potential leak as well as clogged drain slots.
I'm thinking about putting a sump pump in the drivers floor board, problem is I wont have room for my feet and the long extension cord would be a pain. Oh wait, I could put a generator in the trunk for the 110 volts! Yeah that's it! Seriously, I just had the windshield replaced so I know that's ok. I'll get back to it and let you know what I find. I think Joe is probably right- clogged drain, we'll see...
At the bottom of the cowl is a one inch hole opening into the rocker panel. Leaves, pine needles, dirt, sand, anything that can fit through the cowl screen, if it has one, will eventually collect at the bottom of the cowl and cover the one inch drain hole. I cleaned mine out with the vacuum and a long screw driver to antagonize the collected debris and used a trouble light and mirror to evaluate how effective my assault was. Mission accomplished.
Well, I got back to it . There is a oval plate that screws to the inside of the cowl behind the plastic kick panel. I had to remove the park brake assembly and then could remove the 4 screws to remove the plate. There was no debris in there like the pic on the Chevelle site. There was no hole (drain) at the bottom. I do remember back in 2000 when car was restored the bottom of both side cowls were rusted out. I had the car restored and didn't do it myself but I was able to go over and check it out and I remember he rebuilt the bottom of the cowls with sheet metal patches. Now I can look in there with a inspection mirror and see the mig welds and the patch with no drain hole in it at all. I decided to take apart the passenger side to see what it looked like but found the air intake for the A/C on that side so I couldn't see down in there. (Actually it probably doesn't have a drain hole either as I now think I remember he rebuilt both sides) He has since passed away so I can't ask him if he remembers.... I pulled the 2 bolts on the bottom of the fender and can see/feel the bottom of the cowl and again there is no drain hole. I then scoured the assembly manual, service manual, and Fisher Body manual and couldn't find a picture or drawing of the bottom of cowl. I have been considering drilling a hole in his repaired areas but I really hate to do it. Seem like a hack job. Does any one have any pics or drawings that show how the factory drains are? Or any other advice? Thanks again, Greg.
Did you remove the inner (fender well) like MY442 suggested yet?
No I haven't removed the inner fender, you know how these things can go, one thing leads to another and MAW's ! I could end up restoring the car again! I took my Vista Cruiser over to a friend's last nite and put it on his lift to take pics. The lower rear of the front fenders are rusted out and I could feel up onto the cowl and feel a hole with my pinky. I'll look thru some build threads and hopefully find a pic. Thanks again.
August 6th, 2018, 08:54 AM
...gonna be a while cuz i just put floors in !!!
