JekHawkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2m_miVtD8 makes an attempt to explain the issue, and further videos on my channel chronicle the mayhem.

Here's the 411.

I bought a Trans Am for about $7k. After bringing her home and parking her outside in the rain for about 3 days or so, I opened her up and found about 4 or 5 inches of water in the trunk. To such end, I went looking for the leak. I found the rear leak in what appears to be the seam of the rear passenger quarter panel to the rear panel. As evidence, I cite the slight appearance of rust and obvious trickle of water upon drenching.

QUESTION ==> So what do I do about it? That area in particular seems to have seen an accident or rough abuse, because the panel seems to have some filler somewhere in it. Is it time for a new panel? What would be the best course of action in getting one? Anybody know of a good body shop in my area that would work with me?

But that's not all. As I pulled out the carpets, I found the sound deadening completely soaked-through with water in both passenger-side footwells. I traced this water to the front, seemingly where the wires penetrate the firewall. Water clearly comes in here, but how, why? Surely this isn't normal?

At any rate, I'll shut up and get some opinions. Am I correct in guessing I'll just have to get to a body shop for repairs?

Thanks in advance, all. Any and all advice is welcomed. Flame even, I know I made a mistake.

DAVE00

iTrader: (10)

Check the weather stipping around the rear hatch panel to make sure it's not torn and it's fully seated. This is a very common area for water intrusion. Also, in your video you mention the "Bondo" looking area or rough area in the rear under the hatch. That is common and normal as GM used an epoxy type of adheshive to glue the panels together in the rear and you will commonly get very rough seams under the rear hatch carpet and on into the rear trunk well near where the spare tire goes. As to your hole, it doesn't look that bad but you can always sand it down a bit to get rid of the surface rust and if it's not too bad then just shoot some primer on there to seal it up. When it's dry reinstall the taillight with some rtv or a rubber grommet to seal it up tight and your done.

jam01

first thing you should have done was hang a hose with a shower nozzle on it pointed at specific points of the car. rear, middle then front, you climb in car with the water running or if you have a bud turn it on after your in. that will help you pinpoint the leak in most cases, you can still do it you actually have the car apart enough on the inside where you should notice something.

JekHawkins

So, I may not have been too clear about what I did. I actually did pull out the hose and drenched the car, then opened her up to feel around the inside for where it was wet. Then, after doing so, I opened the inside and carefully flooded around that area to find where the water was. In the case of the rear panel, it was coming in by the bolt hole as described in the video. Whether or not it includes the entire seam there, however, I'm not sure...

The water from the front appeared to be coming in from where the cabling runs through the firewall, but unlike the rear, I couldn't just pull apart the front to have a gander at it.

Concerning the rear weather stripping, this area actually seemed fine. I flooded at entire area with the hatch open to see if water was coming in, but it didn't seem like it was. It is not torn, however, at the bottom corner, where I hear is a trouble spot, it does not appear to seat properly due to the metal underneath being bent. We shall see, however, as you say, it is entirely possible the leak is solely in the bolt hole and can be easily fixed with a rubber grommet.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

we had a pretty heavy rain here once......my car did the same thing.......never knew it til the car started smelling of mold......my car parks on a left to right incline at my apts.......i checked weatherstripping and everything else.......never found the problem and it never happened again

loyolacub68

iTrader: (16)

I just went through this this past winter. I had water in the trunk and in the rear passenger footwells, and underneath the rear seats. Needless to say, my car was a freaking mess by the time I found out what was going on. Found out when water was condensing on the INSIDE of my windows when it got cold.

Not sure how you park your car, but I was parking mine nose down and slightly to the right. If you notice in the gutters of the rear hatch, the water has nowhere to go if they are tilted forward. GM used a dogshit sealant to seal the weatherstripping and the water eventually leaked into the car.

What I did was completely remove the interior. I removed all of the carpet, center console, seats, like I was installing sound deadener. From here you can take stock of whats bad. The underlayment of the carpet is likely bad, if after drying out the carpet you determine the carpet is salvageable then remove the underlayment and buy new fabric at your local fabric store. If not, there are many resources to get brand new carpeting. Next I took my seats to a upholsterer and had them clean mold off the foam of my seats and clean the rust off the metal framing. Next, I dried the interior of my car out completely, making sure to dry out the foam insulation material near the firewall. I used one of the moisture removing bags and hung it in my car to dry it out for a few days just to make sure I got all the water out. Then I took a wire wheel and cleaned off areas that had begun to rust (I had a lot of rust in the center console area, I took apart as much as I could), after those areas were cleaned off I hit it with some grey rustoleum.

I took the opportunity to sound deaden my car, then reinstalled my dry carpet, console, seats, etc. Then I bought some 3M weather strip sealant and put a fat bead of sealant inside the rear hatch weatherstripping. There is a good seal now, and I know better than to park my car at an angle (gonna be in a garage now anyways).

Hope that helps.

JekHawkins

Just wanted to report back-turns out the problem actually was nothing we're accustomed to seeing in our F-bodies.

Water was coming into the back in earnest due to a bodged rear quarter repair job. The impact had broken loose the seam where the rear quarter joined with the rear panel, and the repair job hadn't resealed it. A good basting with sealant fixed that.

The front leak turned out to be (most likely) from the front impact. It had unseated the HVAC blower. Replacing the gasket fixed the problem.

And I can vouch for the bodywork. Had it done by a body shop I used to hang out at 6 years ago. The car has been sitting outside in the elements since it got done, in heavy downpour, with not a drop of water coming in (no floor carpets makes noticing such a thing super-easy).

Thanks for the help guys, wish I could say it was more helpful!