Water getting in - 11th Feb 2011 3:46pm
Mum has a 1972 Austin 1300 Mk3.
NO laughing because it is in superb condition and has done just 39000 miles in 39 years. We have all the bills and paperwork etc.
However, there is a problem - quite a long standing problem. When the car is left out in the rain there is an accumulation of water in the driver side footwell (mainly) and a bit in the passenger side.
The floor of the footwell has a substantial layer of grp resin that has prevented any corrosion over the years. The leak is not from the heater matrix or sills or from corrosion anywhere under the window seal. The window has just been "out" to check.
The problem has been managable until recently but for the last 6 months since being widowed mum has kept the car on a run-in rather that in her lock-up. So, much more exposure to rain. Currently she copes by using newspapers under the carpet and changing them daily. Not satisfactory
I guess there must be a double skin area around the main bulkhead where rainwater drains through and away. THAT was certainly the system on a couple of older cars I have had in the past eg Golf. Presumably there is some corrosion at the bottom of that double skin area - which will be behind what is laughingly called the "instrument panel and dashboard" on the Austin 1300. I cannot SEE anything - but logically that is where water must be getting in.
Questions:
a. Am I thinking along the right lines
b. How can we get it "fixed"
Mum is 93 so we are not looking for a cure that will last another 39 years. However "drill a hole in the floor to let the water out" is not an acceptable answer.
and finally
c. Any suggestions as to WHERE we can get the work done
Thanks folks
Snod
NO laughing because it is in superb condition and has done just 39000 miles in 39 years. We have all the bills and paperwork etc.
However, there is a problem - quite a long standing problem. When the car is left out in the rain there is an accumulation of water in the driver side footwell (mainly) and a bit in the passenger side.
The floor of the footwell has a substantial layer of grp resin that has prevented any corrosion over the years. The leak is not from the heater matrix or sills or from corrosion anywhere under the window seal. The window has just been "out" to check.
The problem has been managable until recently but for the last 6 months since being widowed mum has kept the car on a run-in rather that in her lock-up. So, much more exposure to rain. Currently she copes by using newspapers under the carpet and changing them daily. Not satisfactory
I guess there must be a double skin area around the main bulkhead where rainwater drains through and away. THAT was certainly the system on a couple of older cars I have had in the past eg Golf. Presumably there is some corrosion at the bottom of that double skin area - which will be behind what is laughingly called the "instrument panel and dashboard" on the Austin 1300. I cannot SEE anything - but logically that is where water must be getting in.
Questions:
a. Am I thinking along the right lines
b. How can we get it "fixed"
Mum is 93 so we are not looking for a cure that will last another 39 years. However "drill a hole in the floor to let the water out" is not an acceptable answer.
and finally
c. Any suggestions as to WHERE we can get the work done
Thanks folks
Snod