trunk gutter

[mike willett]

i have been having some water leak issues in my 67 rs. I did my water test and found it is running in around the trunk weatherstrip. found quite a bit of rust on the inside lip. So, I am working on cleaning that all up. I see that the trunk gutters are available now from classic industries as a set of 3 pieces. both side gutters which make sense and then the upper. their description reads" the gutter section installs around the outer perimeter of the trunk and allows the trunk weatherstrip to fit properly into the groove. the upper gutter molding is plated for corrosion resistance and the side moldings are painted black to match the original in appearance." So, the two side gutters make perfect sense. but my car does not have a SEPARATE piece for the upper gutter. and the plated makes no sense to me at all. my car has had both quarters replaced as well and the panel between the trunk and the rear window. perhaps this part was left out? should there be a double gutter at the panel between the window and the trunk? and if so, is it plated or painted car color.  i am debating buying new gutters to repair the rust issues on mine. or just cleaning up what I have.   

[firstgenaddict]

The upper gutter is a separate piece from the filler panel between the deck lid and rear glass, it is only the rear part of the channel which is visible, it curves under and the deck filler panel spot welds inside the channel and then SHOULD be SEAM SEALED. yes the original piece was zinc or glavanized for additional corrosion protection as a horizontal seam with little slope it would tend to collect water.

I venture to guess the overlapped and spot welded seams are no longer sealed and that is where your water leakage is occurring.

[mike willett]

thanks for the reply. My center section is missing. the trunk has leaked forever. the sides do have a lot of seam sealer which looked like it would hold. but there is rust on the trunk side of the weatherstrip. one side the weatherstrip was not glued well, perhaps the water was flowing thru that.  It looks like I have some parts to buy and a project to do!  it would be really nice if I could actually seal the trunk. Do you by chance have a picture of the upper gutter?

[firstgenaddict]

I looked at 2 of the cars in the shop yesterday, the rear lip of the gutter is actually part of the sub  structure and the filler panel spot welds into the channel, then it would have to be seam sealed.
If you remove the seal, clean the gutter, kill the rust then reseal and paint the gutter the trunk should not leak... the problem with water is the surface tension allows it to wick or migrate into many places you would think that it could not get to.