Sunroof Drain Holes

randywebb · 03-06-2007, 05:14 PM

Do the 1973.5 cars have front drains for the sun roof?

I'm told that both 1971 cars and at least some years of the SC's do have drains in front.

But...

island911 · 03-06-2007, 06:47 PM

RSBob · RSBob's Garage

Randy,

My car with a build date of 7/73 does have front drains in the area of the arrow.

randywebb · 03-06-2007, 11:41 PM

uh oh -- I think I will get out a magnet...

Could one of the 5 PO's have filled it up with putty??? Who would be that stooopid?

lespaul · lespaul's Garage

Randy,

I will check my '73.5 sunroof tonight.

Brad

jtosburn · 03-07-2007, 07:46 AM

Randy

Scott Clarke pointed me at this thread. Here's a photo of the drain tubes in the door opening, above and behind the hinge point. This is on a '78, and the tube has a break, obviously, which is why I took the picture. You should look to see if these are present in your car; they should be. Scott's '70 has them. If you can find them, then someone filled the holes in the sunroof. If you can't, then the plot thickens.

Joel

Quicksilver · 03-07-2007, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by randywebb
uh oh -- I think I will get out a magnet...

Could one of the 5 PO's have filled it up with putty??? Who would be that stooopid?

The drains aren't solid metal all the way down. (at least on the later cars...) If someone managed to pop the plastic tubing off of the metal tube at the top they might block it to keep it from leaking instead of draining...

File this under weird.

lespaul · lespaul's Garage

For what it is worth, here is a pic of the inside of my '73.5 door with the drain tube showing. I will investigate more when I get home tonight.

ossiblue · 03-07-2007, 10:41 AM

Randy,

Your car should have drain holes in front, as mentioned. I suspect a PO plugged them because of a leak, maybe at the door jamb. I suppose if the rear drains are free-flowing, all water leaking through the seal will drain out the back. Have you had any interior leaking into the driver's area?
'

randywebb · 12:04 PM

no leaking since I fixed the windshield seal a couple of years ago

both doors have the bent metal tubes as shown in lespaul's & Joel's photos above -- (congrats on the car Joel!)

neither metal tube has anything attached to the bottom of it (like a plastic hose)

Using a small magnet, I can't find any area that is non-magnetic.

So.... apparently a PO sealed up the drain holes. Maybe he used JB Weld or a metal filler.

Maybe I should just leave well enough alone?

ossiblue · 03-07-2007, 01:15 PM

Randy,

My thoughts too. The early cars had the metal tubes (mine are a 69&75), the later ones, not sure of the dates, have plastic. Seems there may have been a reason to plug the holes, and if there are no leaks, well...
Larry

jtosburn · 03-07-2007, 06:35 PM

Thanks, Randy. I'll do a traditional new car photo post as soon as I can snap some pics. As for your sunroof drain tubes, look at it this way: at least you've eliminated one common rust area from causing headaches down the road.

Joel

Scott Clarke · Scott Clarke's Garage

My car ('70E) has tubes that run all the way to the bottom of the rockers. Joel's '78SC has tubes that stop about 8" below the top of the fender. They are steel in both cars. My car has a 1" break in the line visible near the bottom of the A pillar. This is bridged by a piece of clear plastic tubing, and appears to be original.

I think that the sunroof well likely has four "watersheds" that are the result of the curvature of the roof. Randy- I'd keep an eye on this. Open your sunroof following a drive in the rain or a carwash and see if water is puddled up at the front corners. Fortunately, it never rains here and Randy never washes his car, so there should be no problem.

Note that there is another break in the tube near the sunroof opening. With the headliner removed, you can see that there is another section of clear plastic tubing that connects the tube within the a-pillar to the short nipple welded or brazed to the sunroof well. If a tube needed to be replaced, freeing it from the area near the base of the a pillar might be the bulk of the work. Has anyone done this?

Everyone should run out to their garage and blow some air through their drain tubes right now! I tried this last weekend, and found that both fronts were blocked. I had to clear the driver's side by flattening and sharpening the end of a 2' piece of 18ga wire, chucking the wire into my drill, inserting the wire into the tube and letting the RPMs fly. This bored through a big clot of compacted dirt that was about a foot down from the sunroof well. I was very relieved when the tubes cleared, and also that they held fluid without mysterious leaks when plugged at the bottom and filled. I wasn't so lucky with the rear tubes. The passenger's side rotted through and rusted out the rear deck. That was a lot of fun to fix!
-Scott

Joel-
You need an avatar, man! How about a square of Talbot yellow?