Front trunk seal leak...what is going on?
 

Well about 1.5 years ago I found out my trunk seal had been leaking allowing water into the smugglers box. A couple thousand dollars of fabrication and repairs later the rust that it caused is perfectly gone. What is left is that my trunk seal still leaks. I haven't driven it in the rain since the repairs and washed it with a fine mist and then cleaned out anything that leaked. What is going on seems like water gets under the seal and then into the trunk. Could my seal be wrong/shrunk or what could the problem be? Should I replace the top portion from side to side? Is there any way to get a fatter one so it sits up against the hood tighter?

you should be able to tighten the hood latch

I would not screw around with the latch until you have investigated whether the seal is worn, shrunken, missing, etc. The latch can affect the closure of the hood, and the outlines of the car and its parting lines along the fenders.

What year?

What does the seal look like?

Sorry I didn't mean the latch. The water is coming in from the top seal by the windshield. It looks fine and I replaced it a while back but I want to say that a fatter seal would have to prevent water from leaking in. Could it be that it is not glued in?

if the seal is installed correctly, even if not glued, it would likely seal out water.

what does it look like?

It sounds like your seal isn't seated correctly by the top.. I recently put in a new trunk seal and it took me a few times to adjust the seal to get it seated correctly after testings its sealing capabilities with a water hose.

You sure it's the trunk seal? It could be the seal between the fresh air box and the cowl (sits behind the fresh air scoop where the hood meets the cowl). I say this because that area sees quite a bit of water. If that seal failed, then water could easily run downstream into the trunk and smugglers box. In fact, the fresh air box has a water drain that goes through the smugglers box to the ground. If that drain hose isn't connected, missing, or cracked, it would be putting water in the smugglers box.

You might be onto something! The next time I will see the car will be around the 15th or 16th and I will try and post up some pictures. I will let you guys know soon. Thanks for the help all!

The drain hose is a good first place to look. You didn't say what year your car is and there are different ways the drain was routed. Early cars have a metal drain tube connected to the airbox by a special rubber connector--two different diameter openings--that can easily crack. Later cars (at least through the early 80's?) have plastic hoses that run the hole distance and become brittle and crack.

If it is in fact the seal, most likely it has shrunk or become crushed down by the trunk lid and has lost the "memory" to spring up and hold a seal. Both symptoms are due to age. (Funny, I just realized that shrinkage and memory loss due to age applies to the driver too!)

A proper seal has the "open mouth" facing the cowel and when the lid is closed, the inside of the lid compesses the top lip of the seal forming a barrier to water between the metal lid and the seal itself. Water then flows into the open "mouth" (now a bit less open) or groove of the seal and is channeled off to the sides. If the seal has shrunk or lost its ability to rebound, the metal trunk lid will not compress tightly against the top lip and water coming off the cowel will over flow the groove and seep into the trunk. If water is entering through the seal, a new one is in order and gluing, as mentioned in other posts, is not needed.

It is a 66....it does have the mouth you mention and I just replaced the seal but I think it was with another one the shop had sitting around...I can't remember really...I will take another look soon. I didn't realize a drain tube could be dumping into the smugglers box...

+1 with it possibly being due to a bad seal for the cowl vent. Good luck!! Tony.