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On 30 Dec 2001, at 19:07, Mike and Barry wrote:
> For a while now I have had water leaking in my car and now assumed
> that it must be a combination of my window seals and door seals. I
> looked many times at the drain hose below the fresh air fan and it
> has never been clogged. Yesterday I noticed water dripping from the
> fresh air fan area, so looked around and forund that there is some
> rust there. Apparently there has been a build up of debris and dirt
> that just held water and made it rust from the inside out. I have
> found another '71 squareback and that metal area (that extends
> outward into the trunk--to make room for the vent fan?) is not
> rusted. Here is my belated question could I cut this part out and
> weld it to my car ('71 squareback)?
Glad to hear that you have actually found your problem, but sorry
to hear that it appears to be due to rust. First of all I'd verify that
this is really the problem. Get a friend with a garden hose to flood
the vent louvers from the outside while you watch with a flashlight
from the inside. Make sure that you can see exactly where the
water is coming from before you decide on a plan of attack.
I like to take a shallow pan into the car with me when I do this so
that I can catch the water when it starts to come thru.
19 times out of 20 the problem can be cured by making sure that
both drain hoses (yes, there are 2 even on the 71) are clear. You
also have to make sure that the nipples which lead into the hoses
are clear. If yours is actually leaking thru the rusted out metal, then
you are in the unlucky 5%.
Even if the leak is via rust-thru I think there is a simpler solution
than cut and weld. If it is just spotty rust perforation, I'd take the
radio out, remove the wiper motor, and pull the fan box out. Reach
up into the air plenum and carefully remove all the old crud that has
collected there. Get it clean; you might even take a wet sponge to
it and wipe it until it is spotless. Let it dry thoroughly.
Then figure out a way to get a stubby paint brush up there loaded
with roofing tar and paint over the rusted area, sealing the leaks. If
there isn't enough metal to allow the tar to seal the holes, consider
adding some fiberglass cloth soaked in tar over the larger
perforations. This won't really show anywhere, but you'll need this
to be neat so that it doesn't catch and hold water and cause more
rust. Also make sure that you don't cover and block the drain for
the one hose that goes all the way to the top.
-
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Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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