I have found the source of my leak, see the cracked sealer in the photo. There is a gap between the firewall and cowl bottom of about 1/16" where the wiper motor sets. Although I have quite a bit of surface rust on the inside of the firewall panel the metal under the black bog looks good and solid. I need to finish the clean up and treat the rust and reseal. Overall it does not look as bad as what I expected.

There appears to be some writing and some embossed marks on the end of the fresh air tube. Anyone else noticed these?

I'm thinking about removing the tube by cutting the top out of the cowl area, drilling the spot welds holding the tub. Then re welding it all back together after it's all cleaned up.

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How were able to take this photo. I think there's a spar frame there, isn't there?

Yeah I noticed it to...

How were able to take this photo. I think there's a spar frame there, isn't there?

This is on a 12/70 build series 1 240z. There is no spar frame on the wiper motor side. The other side only has one small strut in that area. You can just see it in the corner of this picture.

It was still a pain to get the old sealer out from the firewall and the air duct, if a frame is on that side in the later cars I feel for you guys trying to dig it out.

I got this all resealed and tested the other day - no more water from the seam.:laugh: But I have found that there is some small leaks around the firewall grommets that I need to seal.

I have also noticed that the factory had put seam sealer on the bottom of that seam (inside of the firewall in the cabin) all the way across from side to side. This had also failed and let the water into the cabin. To repair I need to pull the firewall pad, which is falling apart.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by jwtaylor

...I have also noticed that the factory had put seam sealer on the bottom of that seam (inside of the firewall in the cabin) all the way across from side to side. This had also failed and let the water into the cabin. To repair I need to pull the firewall pad, which is falling apart.

I had to open that seam up to clean/blast and reweld, re-seal as well. It was/is common practice to apply seam sealer between all metal mating surfaces before spot welding. It expanded and cured after going through the paint oven. This served a dual purpose. It acted as a sound insulator, preventing harmonic vibrations and to seal and protect from the elements. Seam sealers have been improved greatly over the years with both better adhesive properties and much less moisture absorbtion. Rust never rests and breeds where we don't see it until it has spread far enough to cause problems or become an eyesore.

Taking care of these problem areas will ensure these cars will live on a long time. I had the advantage, (yeah right) of working on a totally disassembled, bare shell, which makes it much easier to access and remove the rust especially on these North Eastern "sort of survived" Zs.

I had to open that seam up to clean/blast and reweld, re-seal as well. It was/is common practice to apply seam sealer between all metal mating surfaces before spot welding. It expanded and cured after going through the paint oven. This served a dual purpose. It acted as a sound insulator, preventing harmonic vibrations and to seal and protect from the elements. Seam sealers have been improved greatly over the years with both better adhesive properties and much less moisture absorbtion. Rust never rests and breeds where we don't see it until it has spread far enough to cause problems or become an eyesore.

Taking care of these problem areas will ensure these cars will live on a long time. I had the advantage, (yeah right) of working on a totally disassembled, bare shell, which makes it much easier to access and remove the rust especially on these North Eastern "sort of survived" Zs.

And we all know that the Z had tons of resonance issues.

I thought the floor in #6333 were in bad shape. To everyone viewing it just goes to show that with a little ingenuity, the right tools, patience(lots of that) these rigs can be better than new especially with the coating technology. I will be working on the same area in Project 3/72 meanwhile take a look at some current floor work in #6333

We had some heavy rain here last week, but haven't seen wet floors, they are dry. So I assume it's working..

No wet floors so far..