J__ Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 well this seems to be a very common problem amongst Z's. i guess its because of that darn drainage that channels all the water from the valance area right into that area of the fender, and i guess the water gets trapped there because the bolts that hold the fender to the rocker and the shape and curvature of the fender creates a sort of a pocket for the trapped water to sit in leading to rust. has anyone came up with a cure to this? i was thinking of rerouting the drainage so the water gets drained into the wheel well area instead of into that little pocket. anyone else come up with ways to solve this problem? you cant really plug that drainage up because then the water inside teh valance area will have no where to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj paul Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 id prob just drill some drainage holes, or maybe just cut that area out and leave it open so that the water can just fall out of it. i have the same problem and im replacing it with new metal but leaving an area open for it to vent, not sure of design yet though because im working on other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 escalan over at classic came with a solution. you need to remove the fenders. on the sides of the firewall you will find the drain holes from the cowl. one on either side. put a plastic sprinkler pipe elbow in there. take a piece of tubing, slide it over the elbow. run the hose down to the ground. glue everything in place, put a clamp around the hose. put the fender back in place, there should be enough room to have the hose stick out behind the fender. i have done this on my 72 z. water and crap now runs to the ground instead of being trapped behind the fender. there are pix over at classicz.com oh, a friend ( does custom body work ) welded in replacement metal panels from victoria, think tab makes em. he ended up cutting em up as they didn't fit the way they should. told me if he was charging me labor, would have been cheaper if he had custom fabbed the panels himself, than what he would have charged me to modify those premade panels. just tossing it out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom'sZ Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 i guess its because of that darn drainage that channels all the water from the valance area right into that area of the fender, and i guess the water gets trapped there because the bolts that hold the fender to the rocker and the shape and curvature of the fender creates a sort of a pocket for the trapped water to sit in leading to rust. That is where the water is coming from, the plenum between the windshield and the hood. That is the area the air conditioning, vent and heater draws air. The air is drawn in through the vent slots in the cowl panel. What causes the rust is that a lot of other junk ends up entering through those slots as well, such as leaves, pine needles, dirt and sand, whatever. This garbage is washed down into the drain area at the bottom of the fender. It becomes trapped and inturn helps trap more garbage. It holds mosture and eventualy causes rust. To prevent this from happening, you can try a number of different things. First, don't park the car under trees, or park the car inside a garage or cover it. Obviously this isn't always practical, so... once the fender has been cleaned out down there, when you are washing the car, run water down into the cowl and wait to see if it is draining out the bottom. If crud comes out, keep rinsing until the water runs out clean. Hey... the alternative is worse. Many times junk gets trapped in the plenum itself and causes the firewall to rot out. Then the water leaks in to the interior of the car. This is common in many other makes of car as well and I think a lot of times when guys think exhaust fumes are leaking in from the rear hatch, it may actually be coming from this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I had this problem on my car as well, luckily only on one side of the car. My plan was to leave out the little brace for the fender. My car had dirt and twigs packed into that area, and that rotted out about a 6" square patch on the fender. I figure I can make another brace myself if the fender needs it, but that brace is like a wall that holds all the crap in there and that's what rots the fender.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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