Leaks! Water! Mold! Oh my!

[darth_linux]

Well, unfortunately, I have some water leakage. I noted that the previous owner installed a new carpet, and in his notes he said the old carpet was wet. I also noted that there is lots of places where there’s some mold and mildew in the interior, and now I know exactly why. There is at least one place where water is leaking into the car, probably several. I can’t tell right now.

The biggest place I noticed was in the rear seat passenger compartment foot well, but I also noticed some water on the headliner. Don’t know if it’s condensing on the headliner, or if it’s actually dripping from the roof down onto the headliner from the inside. I’m hopeful some sage elders from this forum have seen this before, or know where all the common points of failure are for the sealing of the glass and cabin.

Let me know where you think I should look first, or do I need to just gut the entire car and track the water down that way? Not sure where to start. Thanks.

 

[Triple Pickle]

I’d pour some water around suspected areas and have someone inside see what’s going on. Might want to pull that carpet out and have a look while you’re at it.

 

[1970FuryConv]

In my experience, the water at the rear floor pan is often from a clogged cowl drainage area, causing water to leak past the kick panel, back along the front floor pan and then down into the rear floor pan. If you haven't already, I'd remove both kick panels and vent doors, clean out the cowl drainage area directly behind it, pull back the carpet, and inspect for water tracks.

1972 Fury, what you may find behind the vent door

 

[CBODY67]

DO check the weatherstrips at the bottom of the side glasses. If they are in poor condition, that's an easy entry into the door frame and/or the inside of the quarter panel.

The pattern on the headliner looks like something other than water to me. NO issues with condensation should happen. DO NOT attempt to scrub it!!! If it will not brush off, let it be. Otherwise, you'll be asking for a source of a new headliner. As good as the bodies might seem, they are certainly not air-tight by any means. Any possible condensate would be absorbed by the jute sections of roof insulation, I suspect. IF that pattern was near the top of the windshield (front or back), THEN it might be a glass gasket issue.

Blot the water from the carpet and get it dried-out. By observation, automative-grade fabrics are resistant to mold and such, meaning they will "clean up" decently well, unless things have gone too long. You might desire to go ahead and remove the carpet and insulation, laying it in the sun to dry. While out, you might also shampoo it, too, if desired.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

In addition to all of the above-mentioned places for water to get into the passenger area, if the door panels have been removed and the water-shield plastic sheets behind them have been trashed or improperly reinstalled, then water will get into the floors from the doors. The water-shield plastic sheets need to tuck back into the door frame at the bottom, so that any water that runs down the plastic from the window glass can be directed into the bottom of the door and drain out the door drain holes, rather than into the car's passenger compartment.

 

[darth_linux]

In addition to all of the above-mentioned places for water to get into the passenger area, if the door panels have been removed and the water-shield plastic sheets behind them have been trashed or improperly reinstalled, then water will get into the floors from the doors. The water-shield plastic sheets need to tuck back into the door frame at the bottom, so that any water that runs down the plastic from the window glass can be directed into the bottom of the door and drain out the door drain holes, rather than into the car's passenger compartment.

Thanks Ross, I will be pulling all of the interior out of the car to steam clean and detail, and while doing that I'll check all of the water barriers, window seals, etc. I appreciate your reply.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Thanks Ross, I will be pulling all of the interior out of the car to steam clean and detail, and while doing that I'll check all of the water barriers, window seals, etc. I appreciate your reply.

what steam cleaner are you using?
where did you buy it?
Thanks

 

[darth_linux]

what steam cleaner are you using?
where did you buy it?
Thanks

It’s a McCollugh Professional I got off of Amazon.

 

[darth_linux]

In my experience, the water at the rear floor pan is often from a clogged cowl drainage area, causing water to leak past the kick panel, back along the front floor pan and then down into the rear floor pan. If you haven't already, I'd remove both kick panels and vent doors, clean out the cowl drainage area directly behind it, pull back the carpet, and inspect for water tracks.

1972 Fury, what you may find behind the vent door
View attachment 580458

Well, I finally got around to pulling the cowl vent covers and inspecting. The driver's side was almost completely clear of debris. The passenger side was bad, but not as bad as the photo here. Probably half that amount. The drain holes did seem to be clear however, and I wasn't getting water into the passenger side because the water is draining into the engine compartment, as there is some rust through damage and the water leaks out before it gets down to this vent area.

Time to pull the door cards and rear interior panels to look at the water barriers and weatherstripping.