Rain water on driver side floor

[pfleuret]

It rained in the afternoon and a fair amount of water accumulated on the floor. No sign of moisture at the base of the windshield. I suspect the cowl grill in front of the windshield. I assume there is a blocked drain. I cannot see any way to get into that area. Wonder if anyone has an idea what to do. Thx.

[pfleuret]

I see this problem has been discussed here. Hopefully there are options other than taking the front of the car apart

[Joe Travers]

Pull the driver side vent housing & heater box to check the cowl hat areas for rust through.
Hope someone wasn't parking the car under a tree for years.

Joe

[Joe Travers]

See you said driver side. That vent housing is easy to pull.
Open the door and loosen the two nuts that hold the rods onto the hat.

Joe

[poboyjo65]

The easiest & cheapest way to keep water out is to block off the cowl vents with magnetic sign material. I used it for a while . it comes white but you can paint it. I just used black rattle can paint. take it off every now & then though especially after a day in the sun. dont do like I did & leave it on for 5-6 years & it stuck to the paint & took some paint off when I removed it.but it was a poor paintjob probably wasn't scuffed enough. aftermarket makes one for a mustang that I've heard falcon guys trimmed it to fit their cars. it is plexiglass & foam around the perimeter with some type of little j bolts to hold it on.

[Jims65cyclone]

I've done the same as John, and used magnetic sign material to cover the vents. BUT, don't do what I did and place it too close to the leading edge of the vent slots where air can get under it. I did that trailering mine to PF and air got under the leading edge, causing it to flutter just enough to wear some paint off one of the vent bars. The plexiglass ones use spring loaded J-bolts that hook under two of the vent bars. The foam weather stripping seals around the perimeter. You can get the materials at Lowes to make one.

Jim

[pfleuret]

Blocking the grill sounds like the ticket. I only need to use it when there is rain on the way which is not that much in Sacramento. I will investigate like Joe suggested but in the meantime can use the block.

[Groover]

If you think the drain is plugged, I've used a leaf blower in the cowl to blow stuff out. Otherwise it's remove the fender or remove the heat tube underneath (I think).

[pfleuret]

Many thanks for various suggestions. This is a great place for newbie Comet owners.

[Joe Travers]

The retaining rod on one side, another on the other side. Deep-well 3/8" socket, back off the nut until you can push the rod up and turn the hook to the inside to release the housing. If the seal sticks or crumbles, run over to FP and pick up another. That'll buy you room to look up there w/ a penlight and check the cowl.

Drains are located @ back/bottom of inner fender well behind the tire. Just rodded mine out w/ a long flat-blade screwdriver. Gets debris out of the back of the fenders.

Joe

[power band]

hopefully not serious enough to need surgical repair:



my junkyard rescue '61 Comet had critters galore literally jumping out as I pulled it from a long sad rest. took it 'down to metal' but still a few acorns roll out occasionally. I do use the magnetic outer cowl cover if a heater/def isn't needed

since the Falcon/Comet cowl interior is inaccessible to some extent , sometimes minimum cutting for access may be necessary.

reaching up through vent or heater hi-hat gives some access but with fenders off the cowl can be opened at the side for an invisible-assembled thorough repair (also rocker access).

'just refurbished remov/repl. the 63 wagon Heater - PITA ! - removed front seat and reached up into hihat to pull out some toothy carcasses and enough seat padding-nesting to reupholster the front seat. (ewww). I opened a small section of the cowl under hood next to hinges enough to get the shop-vac snorkel into it.

. . ..

[pfleuret]

The retaining rod on one side, another on the other side. Deep-well 3/8" socket, back off the nut until you can push the rod up and turn the hook to the inside to release the housing. If the seal sticks or crumbles, run over to FP and pick up another. That'll buy you room to look up there w/ a penlight and check the cowl.

Drains are located @ back/bottom of inner fender well behind the tire. Just rodded mine out w/ a long flat-blade screwdriver. Gets debris out of the back of the fenders.

Joe

Joe I was already under the car looking for drains in that area and didn’t see anything. Maybe it is filled up with undercoating. Is the hole on the flat part of the inner fender?

[poboyjo65]

You can see the side drains of the cowl in powerband's second pic, looks like he opened up the front one some. they are on the sides of the cowl, cant be seen with fender on. If anyone needs the sides from my old cowl they're in pretty good shape .

[pfleuret]

I noticed the top of the drain in that photo but for the life of me can’t find where it comes out below.

[A/FX]

With one of the front fenders removed the drain will be visible, there is a drain on each side. Note red circle on the attached picture. There is also a fresh air plenum on each side under the dash, if you are lucky they will be solid with no rust through. If you are unlucky there will be penetrations from rust that is allowing water to drip on your feet.
Jim