i'm restoring my floor pan, and we can't seem to find why it occrued in the first place. since most of the rot is behind the gas and brake pedals, what coudl it be? someone said it could be from "a leak in the cowl". any other suggestions? could it be the t-tops? or weatherstripping on the windows? any ideas? its on both the driver side and the passenger side....

 

you sure it wasnt from water dripping off your feet or are you saying its like behind the pedals.

you check your wheel well? or even the firewall for leaks?

try sitting in a no touch carwash, lay on the floor and look up with a flash light without the carpet in.

i dont know why more people dont use drivethrough touchless spray car washes to find leaks more often

 

its BEHIND the pedals AND on the driver side floor.... what could this be?

note: its also up towards the firewall on the passenger side also.

are the wheel wells close enough to cause this?

 

sorry not the wheel wells, i was :lala:

do the car wash with a flash light. the pressure of the water should show the leak

 

My guess is dripping sludge off of yours or previous owners feet. It's really common out here and other areas that get a hard winter. Especially the areas that use lots of salt.

 

yeah, water can soak up an incline, like when you dip a dry towel into water, imagine a pile of snow or water crawling up the carpet as it melts.

 

so, if its not a leak.. then technically if i never drive the car in the winter again, and use floor mats if it ever rains, i should never have rust there again!!?

 

As long as you can prevent moisture from soaking into your insulation, you should be good

 

but, does anyone have any information as to how water gets into there from the cowl area?

 

the cowl could have crap glogging the drain hole and its leaking in that way mabey...

 

where is the drain hole?

 

never heard of drain holes or any of that. When I had the bird my cowl looked like a bees nest from the drivers seat. Either way I say fix it yourself.

Nate

 

From my experience, the cowl area of 2nd and 3rd Gen Camaros are prone to holding water due to leaves, dirt, and other road debris clogging the lower crevices of the cowl.
And since your car has T-tops, water most likely leaked down the A-pillars and onto the floor over a period of time.
I'd say that your car never really had a chance to dry out, causing the rott in question.
The rust WILL come back, unless it is cut out completely and the clogged cowl and leaky T-top issues are addressed when installing new floor pan sections.
Power washing down into the cowl area will loosen and remove most of the dirt, leaves, and debris that's clogging it. Installing and maintaining a NEW set of body-side T-top gaskets (get them at: http://www.1aautomotive.com) will virtually eliminate the t-top leakage down the A-pillars.
3rd Gen Camaros have adjustments for the overall tightness of the T-tops (round plastic disks that hold the t-top latching rods in place) that will help seal the T-tops and help eliminate the leaks.

In a northern-climate, T-top cars never really get a chance to dry out if they're daily driven and stored outdoors... that's why we see so many problems w/ the T-top cars regarding floor pan rust issues. Remember to undercoat the newly patched areas while the metal is still shiny new(both sides)... that'll give you a few more years of life if it keeps leaking.

 

Im glad I live in the south, my ttop car has no rust what so ever on the car Is your car a straight shift, water can get in through the gomets on the clutch lines, also behind the brake booster where the rod goes through the firewall. Any wires added for amps etc, the factory wireing gromets could of gotten torn also. The gas cable gromet. Water could be leaking down the a piller like said above. The seal where the steering goes through the pan could also be leaking.

You can use chalk powder and dust the pan and then wash the car or drive through a wash and trace the leak in the powder. keeps you from having to lay in your floor pan while in a car wash.

 

Here's another possibility:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=191014

That was my problem. I noticed my carpet was ALWAYS wet. When I pulled the interior and washed the car, I made puddles on the driver side. It was my cowl vent. Just something else to check.