After spending 12 months restoring a wreck of a 1991 RS with a 350, a new T5, a new interior, new wheels and hundreds of hours of work and thousnds of dollars spent, how does the car repay me? With reliable motoring? With faultless performance, with the loyalty of a loved pet?........................................
NO. It repays me with gallons of water leaked into the boot area and over the top, under the rear seats and down to the front!!! This is one bad leak!
In all the enthusiasm to get this car back on the streets, I forgot to check if the rear hatch seal was actually sealed down!
Needless to say the seats are soaked as well as the carpet. Don't we all love that smell of rotting material!
The interior is now completely out and drying in the attic! The garage is still being used to finish off my show camaro, so there is little space in there!
Off I went to open the big garage door to plug in my extension lead and stick the fan heater inside the car, when the pulley mechanism and springs that guides the door up explodes all over the garage! Luckily, none of them hits the Camaro!

 

When I put the 1977 350 in the car from the pick up truck, I used the mechanical fuel pump while I wait for the AFPR to arrive when I will then use the TBI pump in the tank. I couldn't get this pump to run when I rigged it from the engine bay during the cars rebuild, so I removed the rear suspension and tank (changed bushes etc), and removed it from the tank. It ran! So, why wouldn't it run from the front? I intended to check the wiring out whenever an opportunity arose. BUt it never did and I am still waiting for the AFPR.
What did i find when the carpets were removed? Something I should have spotted before but didn't since it was inside the conduit....

 

Man bad luck about the leak. My camaro leaked forever before I figured out where it was coming from. It's so frustrating, but it will all be worth when you're out cruisin'.

 

my rear seats looked like that a few months ago!!

i had to adjust the t-tops and re-seal the weatherstriping.

 

Andy,
Did the water get in at the top of the hatch seal, as opposed to the sides/bottom? (I ask because that's the only seal I haven't replaced yet)
Red carpet looks good anyway!

 

You should suck that water out with a shop vac dude! If you haven't already...

 

uk89camaro
The water was coming in under the seal at exactly the place where the gas strut bolts to the body. The place where the bodywork curves back flat. Poor picture below! There was no adhesive under the seal at all. The seal is in very good condition though, and is now stuck down properly.
The whole car is covered in snow now, but I put on a poly sheet to enable the stuff to set before it got wet!

 

Here is the place where water builds up (depending on the angle the car is parked at). Photo is a bit dark, but it is a typical UK winter, and a digital camera. The flash has got less power than a ford! During the summer, I had removed all the interior trim and put talcum powder over all the vertical, leak potential, places that I could find before it was all put back. The run marks in this talc were ideal in pinpointing the exact point of entry.

Now it is cured (hopefully), I will be able to wire in properly the 10 disc autochanger and amp, and conceal the wiring. Speakers sound bad though, so they will have to be changed. I may even invest in a new carpet now-BUT, not until I am certain the water is gone!

The MSD system is now in place and waiting for the final hook up to a new MSD dizzy. Should increase performance a touch!
The garage who built the engine for me were very crafty! I told them to build a "nice" torquey engine! They are now starting to telling me what exactly went into this, when I told them it was difficult to keep it straight! Edelbrock performer cam, hi-bleed lifters, "nice" (but unspecified type-but said with a wry smile!) pistons with new crank. More secrets will be revealed they said as time goes by! No wonder it cost £3000 to put this motor together!

Andy.

 

thanks for that, I'll check mine.