[Kory]

Hello all, I finally removed all the trim and fiberglass in the interior rear of my FB tonight. I wanted to figure out what was leaking when it rains. I had the rear window re-sealed and re-gasketed last fall. I found a couple small leaks at the bottom of the window, not a big deal, I will re-seal that area with the 3M window compound.

My big question is on the side vents - especially the drivers side. They have the drain hoses, but water is leaking in around them. It is like it is flowing in around the edges and running down the inner fender and all over the place in there....with gravity it ends up behind the drivers seat on the floor...makes a nice pool with no where to go.

How are these vents supposed to be sealed to the body? I can see a little gap around it. Should I remmove them and caulk the insides or something and then put them back in? How do I remove them...I see 4 studs on the back when I open the vent slider door. Is it just those 4 nuts? Do I nned to open the inside section - looks like 8 or 10 hex head screws....or just pop out the outter part and re-seal it somehow.

Please help! It makes me so sad to have the water getting in the car and ruin a nice restoration.

Thanks,
Kory

 

[Smokin_Joe]

The cavity is supposed to be sealed from the body, and the panel that contains the sliding panel is supposed to be sealed to the cavity. Check to see if the sealer is still intact. Remove the sliding panel and look inside. There is supposed to be seam sealer covering all sheetmetal joints except for the two openings that channel water into the bottom trouf (sp?) of the cavity to flow out the drain hose. The panel that has the slider control is supposed to be sealed all the way around when installed. My 66 is the same as the 65 except I have no drain hoses.

Vintage Burgundy 1966 Mustang GT Fastback (Midlife's younger brother)
MCA member #46447
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1582316&a=12109501&p=45219402.jpg

 

[Kory]

There is some sealer of some sort on the back panel - as you look at this from inside the car. I'm not sure if the inside of the unit is sealed yet. What about where the whole unit comes in contact with the exterior body. You have the fiberglass shell with the vents in it....what do you do to seal that to the body so water can't leak in on top and around that panel? What kind of sealer do you use? The same stuff like on the windows or something else?

Thanks,
Kory

 

[Smokin_Joe]

That area isn't sealed nor does it need to be since any "leakage" there goes into the same area ordinary water throught the vents would.
What you may need to do is remove the entire air extractor assembly inside and out like you were going to paint the car, examine for rust, and reseal.

Vintage Burgundy 1966 Mustang GT Fastback (Midlife's younger brother)
MCA member #46447

 

[dickson]

Disassemble the entire vent assembly and clean off any old brittle caulk from the sliding vent assembly. Reapply some good flexible caulking and reassemble. Add more caulking as needed. That should seal the vent assembly.
Make sure the "catch basin" area has no leaking rust holes.
I've hard-line plumbed both my vents with ABS and routed the drains directly out of the floors. Dickson

1965 GT fastback
There's a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness" - Dave Barry

 

[Kory]

I'll have to take it apart and look in there. It sure looks to me like water comes down the side of the car, gets in between the outter section and the body of the car...this ends up inside the car on the inner fenders and stuff...then it drains down and I think ends up on the floors....

I must be missing something...becuase water is definitly leaking around that area and then it gets under the seat and onto the floors..I have a gasket leak inthe rear window I am re-sealing, but I don't think that was where all the water on the floor was coming from.

Kory

 

[Midlife]

I had a leak once that I traced to poor driver's window alignment/sealing. Water would come in via the vertical seal area, and follow the horizontal interior metal trim, then leak down the quarter interior panel down onto the floor. You should be able to test where you are leaking by removing the interior panels and using a hose carefully positioned outside the car.

http://clubs.hemmings.com/baymustang/platesmall.jpgLet me check your shorts! My multimeter is just a-waiting! Formerly known as Midlife in the old VMF.
King of the Old Farts *struts*

 

[Guest]

Get the MCA approved Mustang Body Assembly Manual by Jim Osborn from your Mustang Parts Supplier for about $14.95. It includes in detail how to install the vents, including location, size and type of sealer.

 

[Kory]

Now thats the best advice I have gotten on the subject so far. Thanks! Hopefully it will show me in detail where to seal, etc. Becuase right now from what I see, water gets in around the plastic edges of the exterior part. This in turn runs down the inner fender and puddles up down on the frame rail or whatever you want to call it. And instead of draining out those little holes I think it is running under the seat and down onto the drivers seat rear floor...giving me WET carpet and a mess.

Kory

 

[Guest]

On my 67 I found that drain hoses were intact, but there were rust holes (small pin holes enlarged to the size of a nickel after removing the rust) in the surrounding metal at the point where the quarter panel is spot welded and sealed to the inside vent supporting structure. This caused water to leak into the area in front of the inner fender wells. I repaired this by welding in a sheet metal patch and resealing the whole area, You might want to check area very closely. Good Luck

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