This is for anyone who has fixed or does not have leaks coming from cracks near the rear hatch brackets. This is a leak I found after fixing the roof leak and I found evidence of the old leak during my investigation.


This photo was taken by removing the interior trim of the passenger rear most pillar. Leaning in grin the trunk looking down at the floor of the trunk area you can see the rust in the right side. Just above this is the point of entry for the water.

 

Gee, this car is so Harbor Freight!
American cars of the 70's sucked to drive but were build to last for decades (if not driven beyond 60, 000 miles)!

 

Mine's been pretty good to me, although I have sympathy for folks who are having issues.

 

No, they weren't.

 

Just for comparison:my 79 Supra began to leak around hatchback rubber glass seal when it was 13 years old; 87 Camry wagon from California desert began leaking around quarter windows when it was 18 years of age and 81 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royal Brougham never had significant leaks on rear quarter welds at all (retired in 2007 under "cash for clunkers")

 

Keepin' it real, Cb2!

 

Whoa pull in the reins there fellers.
GD3 2007-08, remember?

I had a issue with leaks in my 08. Turned out to be the seams under the rubber roof strips, there are butt welds there holding the roof panels and 1/4s together. The seam sealer cracks and let's water in.
I cleaned the areas mixed up JB WELD and applied with a flux brush. That was 4 years ago and still dry inside.

Hope this helps!
O btw fellers I own a 1968 Charger and it leaks like the Valdez, dried seam sealer and old age. But just like Christy Brinkley she still looks good, lol.

 

Just another long-term update since I was in my spare tire area recently. Still nice and dry. The repair done with clear silicone caulk in March of 2014 is still holding up well 5 years later.

 

After the repair of the leaks unter the rubber roof strips and the fifth door seal rubber by applying sikaflex blackseal bt a year before I found a new one small leak inside from the 2 lighs...so I decided to remove the bumber,then the lights and solve the last(I hope) leak problem.

 

Spare tire compartment rusted through most recently. I have a terabyte of other rust holes that I don't have the time, motivation or bandwidth to post.

 

I've re-sealed the gutters last year and it seemed to help but yesterday I noticed water in the spare tire area again.

Everything is covered in plastic trim of course so it's very difficult to tell where it's coming from without taking it apart

 

Find your leak pooling in the spare tire well before it's too late.
Hello darkness my old friend

 

check other threads for culprits but I had water coming in holes in the roof for the spoiler. Plus the ~1" black body plugs found throughout the trunk area behind trim panels; there's a few on each side near the cabin air rear vent located behind the rear bumper. Then I had the typical rear wheel wheel leaks that allowed more water to pool in the spare tire well. Then there's the dozen holes in the floor of the trunk space that I plugged. See my previous post and next post for the damage.

 

I can't stop the rust no matter how much I love her, so I'm resorting to stainless steel patches.

 

Looking down into the spare tire wheel well and my hack job.

 

The fun never ends.

Looking at the passenger rear corner of the vehicle with the rear bumper off. Note the preemptive rust paint that didn't help.

 

Looking at the backside of the driver rear well


Looking up at driver rear corner of the vehicle behind the driver rear tire

 

For those looking for a solution, there are several youtube videos going over the welding points on the side/roof/trunk areas that you need to seal. I've used RTV gasket and smoothed it over the cracks with success especially in Florida rain.