The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk water leak in 1957 cab

guys,
since i bought my 57 3 years ago, when it rains i get some water inside the cab mostly from under the dash, it seems, coming from different areas. now, before i put my truck cover on it, for storage outside, i made a cover for just the cab out of plastic visqueen to keep the water out, but when im driving in the rain, it leaks pretty bad.
im assuming its coming from the louvered panel between the hood and wind shield.

how easy does that louvered section come off, and is that the typical area for rust / holes to be ?

i also have new weather strip around the doors, but they leak too......

thanks guys.

leonard

that cowltop vent feeds the louvered kick panel vents at the sides, it's unlikely any water is getting under the dash directly from that, but it comes off easily with a few screws [under hood edge] once you remove the wiper bezels and you'd then be able to see for yourself ... it's entirely possible the cowl side plenums are rotten, as most get to be, and that could allow seepage from the sides onto the floor where the mat would spread it across the floor, especially if you have carpet or the old style underlay below a rubber mat - take off those inside vent covers to judge that.... it's also possible the windshield rubber is letting water in, especially if it's old, and the flange it mounts to could corrode ... another possibility is under the trim piece over the defrost vents - at the ends there's holes that drain any moisture into the cowl plenums, and they rot as well, could pop that strip off [screw at each end then about 6 spring clips across] and see what that looks like

the door seals will likely never do very well at keep all water out because of the poor dogleg design at the front never fitting real well, out of half dozen TF trucks I haven't had one that didn't leak down on the step from the dogleg

sorry for the bad news, but the TF series is another example of cheap consumer goods meant to do one job [hauling loads] not being very good at anything else

also, covering the truck with anything resembling plastic before putting another cover on it is a sure bet to ruin your paint job, if that matters

Bill

wow, thanks for the very detailed info Bill. very helpful.
one day i really need to dig into it and see whats going on, and hopefully get the leakage down, at least some.
it always amazes me of the knowledge a lot of you guys have on here.
thanks again.

leonard

Hi Leonard;
I had the same problem with mine and it was the windshield rubber leaking. I took a small tube of black silicone and ran a bead under the outside lip of the seal. Problem solved (I hope I don't have to change the front glass anytime soon)

Take care ol' buddy

thanks waldo... i hope to check into it real soon.
it has new front windshield and rubber, but since the back is the same, and leaks some too, im sure the front could be leaking too even though it has new rubber.
im also suspecting maybe it could be leaking around the wiper snubs ?

the door leakage around the weather strips i think i am just gonna have to live with that, as squeeze has said. it really fills up the foot step and i even drilled a small hole to let it drain. LOL.

thanks for the help guys.

leonard

Leonard I'm afraid there's no quick fix when it comes to leaks,unless it's really obvious!
It's a process of elimination, start high up with a garden hose,some help there would be good,while you're 'pulling shapes' under the dashboard,and work your way round the windshield,then onto the cowl section,in fact anywhere you think you could get water ingress.
Dusting body seams with talcum powder can highlight leaks too,plus depending on what talc you use makes the cab smell nice too!
Good luck on your search.
Jock.

I like jock's ideas, except with the water hose - I would start low then work my way up instead of the other way around.

thanks guys.... one day soon i hope to look into this problem.

leonard

That would work, I assume your relying on the fact water will find its own level, obviously water coming in higher up might work its way down before you spot it.
Making you think the leak's lower down.

Makes sense....

ok guys, i finally did some searching for my water leak.
when i pour water from the hose into the vent valance at the back of the hood, i see water coming from both the drivers and passengers side vent area at the kick panels. some water comes directly from the vent, and some comes through a hole, a factory hole, (thats about1/2" diameter) that is forward of the vent covers. i would say this is 50% of my water leak problem, the other 50% is from the weather striping on the doors not sealing up good.
i realize i will have to live with the door sealing problem, but would really like to take care of this other leak.

question: how can i fix it to where i dont get any water leak in that area, and does anyone make a solid vent valance up there where the wiper knobs poke out ? i realize if that is solid i wont get nay fresh air through the kick panel vents, but im willing to sacrifice with that.

thanks for any help guys.

leonard

I think the hole you cite just forward of the vents must be where the control cable goes in, should be a grommet there, water in that hole would just be a symptom of the general deterioration hidden inside

the only way to fix the area is to find out just what's rotten inside and patch it properly - the way it should work is any water getting in the cowl inlet runs down toward the inside vents, but is deflected around them by a "gutter" sort of arrangement above them and carries on downward to a drain opening at the bottom of the cowl where the lower fender and the brace rod attach - over time the guttering inside the cowl can corrode and the drain at the bottom will get plugged up - this is particularly a problem when the truck lived in a dusty area and/or got a lot of trash [straw, leaves, etc] into the air inlet, and it was never flushed out, as in the farmer never washed the truck well .... also, it's likely the rubber seals are rotted on the flap that the cables control

fixing that area properly will usually require cutting open the plenum on the cowl that the back of the fender bolts on top of .... and if you want to plug the top cowl inlet, you'd have to make your own solid piece, and short of actually welding the piece in, you wouldn't be able to seal it well the way it fits and with the wiper towers poking thru

Bill

thanks for the detailed info bill. much appreciated.

i kind of figured it would be a ton of work to fix correctly.
im not wanting to go through all that at this time, so i may look for another vent cowl and try and fill in the vents with some sheet metal, and see how it looks.

thanks again for your input.

leonard