Help! Leak in bodywork...

[djguru]

Hi all! New to the board; own a 1984 RX7, which is probably only one of a handful here in Northern Ireland. Bought it a couple of years ago, after owning a rotary conversion 808 sedan in Australia many years ago.
Anyway, my question;
has anyone ever had water pooling in the drivers side footwell? I've ripped the carpet out (what a PITA) and worked out that it seems to be coming down the front wall just to the right of the accelerator pedal, almost in the 90-degree angle where that wall meets the side wall. The leak seems to coincide with rain and with putting water down the front screen and letting it flow down the drain hole under the wipers.
I figure it may be rusting somewhere between the engine side and footwell side of the firewall.
1. does that sound familiar to anyone?
2. how do I access this area to check (ie. pull off fender/guard)?
3. anything else I should be checking?

Sorry about the long post, but this is driving me nuts and I'm sick of driving around with no centre console and carpet!

thanks
dave

[Glenn Butcher]

Hi Dave, and welcome!!!

I'm not too familiar with your type of car, but I had a water leak in my RX-4 many years ago which was similar.

I traced it to the air intake box for the air circulation in the car.

But have you checked the Heater box? it isn't coolant is it? it would be up under the dash - is the coolant level ok in the car?

I doubt it would be from inside the engine bay i.e. would probably be from out i.e. the windscreen, or wiper? Have you tried sealing it with some silastic?

.ps Did you live in Oz for a while?

[djguru]

Doesn't appear to be coolant because the leak is not coloured green and hasn't occurred for the last couple of days because it hasn't been raining (have head heater on full bore though).
Water seems to flow off the screen ok into the area under the wipers, i figure it may be related to the where it goes after that. There's a drain hole that lead down I presume between the firewall of the engine and the interior wall where the pedals are mounted. I think this is the problem but don't know how to get to it and what I'm likely to find if I can.
There's nowhere visible to put silastic without pulling stuff off.
Help!

Ps. yeah, lived in Sydney until 1998. The support for rotaries is somewhat better there than over here!

[sim_rx3]

should never use silastic to seal something on a car, as silastic cures it creates acetone which premotes rust.
use sicaflex.
its the bonding agent which is used to built or seal most cars now days.
our local car the commodore, the entire firewall is held in by the stuff!! its heaps strong as well. but realy getting it repaired by a panelbeater is the better option.

sim