I have found water in the spare tire compartment twice since I bough this 1983 EC the day before Christmas. I haven't pulled the tire to look behind it yet, but things stored beside the tire on the outside are getting wet but the carpet is NOT. Where is the water coming from?

5th gens are notorious for leaking in the smugglers box. I dont know what type of sealant is best, but I'm sure many others here can say from experience.

Could be entering from around the bottom of the glass...remove the bottom moulding and check for corrosion of the sheet metal. Over years debris is washed down the back glass and builds up behind the moulding and retains moisture that starts the corrosion process...I found a bunch of pine needles behind mine that was the cause, but corrected it before it did any real damage.

Thanks. I will check that out.

my leak was from the bed, where the bed meets the wall of the bed (not sure what the proper name is), but i cant remember what i did to fix it, someone here could probably point you in the right direction. but i'd check there too.

I hate to say it but every elky I have owned had a rust problem at the windows front and rear. That rear window angle helps collect stuff for sure. My father told me that oak leaves are acidic and are the worst leaves to get on the car.

We have a '64 Elky and EVERY time it rains the carpet behind the Bucket seats is nice and soggy. There is also the usual leak at the front glass wherein we get water puddles on the drivers mat and of course the passenger side is again nice and soggy.
No Electrical problems as yet and this leak has been for quite a few years.
I've entertained the idea of running some type channel to a drilled hole on the floor pan however this can reverse the "cure" therein creating other problems.
Every action has its own alternate action.
Another "solution" is to chop the top and have a "con"vertible except that it willn't be convertible, it'll just be open. Holes in the floor at this point would be a good idea, however then Elky would only be good to drive in Spring, Summer, and of Fall in Florida or somewhere along the Southern track.
Theories work best on paper.

The only advisable option is to remove the trim and window and scrape the crud out to effect a good seal for window re-installation and new trim attachment, or eliminate the rear window altogether.
Can't do this for the front glass however unless one is building some goofy "A-Team" or "McGiver" thing.

All righty then.

OK, I have determined the leak is from the rear window. I can see all sorts of debris under the trim. I cant find any instructions for removing the trim.. How do I do that?

I have been looking for a manual on the EC but so far I have only a Chilton's 1982 thru 1987 and that does not include the EC but it does have the motor in the Monte Carlo. The Chilton's for the same period for "TRUCKS' apparently does not consider an EC to be a "truck". And the car manual doesn't consider it to be a "car".

Haynes should have one for those years as those years are not that long ago as say for a 60's model.
There are various sites that have the book(s) you NEED and you may start with Year One yet I have not the web link.
I have an assembly manual for my '64 Elky which I got thru
www.oldmusclecars.com however I recall not seeing anything about window installs, yet I haven't looked specifically for that area as yet.
There are tools for removing the trim because there are very good factory clips that the trim is attached to. Not many people can effectively remove the trim without almost destroying it however I'm sure there are some folk well experienced in this art form, yet I know not where they might be.
Window trim ain't cheap however for your model I'm sure it is cheaper than mine.
In the '60 to '69 Chilton book I have, ALL vehicles American and some Foreign are included.

Window trim is real tricky. They make a tool for it, but you always run the risk of cracking the windshield. That really stinks. The clips are on the body side of the moulding, they stick straight up. if you go in from that side you chip the paint. Thing is unless you plan to pull the glass you might as well not mess with it. I have tried sealer, silicone, 220 tape, tarp, and more but have not found anything other then sheet metal repair to fix the problem. The floor pan rust hole's will be a testiment to where a car leaks from.

I could swim in my passanger side floor in my 78 after a fair rain.I still have a roof replacement for it in the wings for a warm afternoon. I got the donor roof already. I'm thinking of building upright channels to make sure the new roof gets good placement. And lead in the welds. Might even add lead to the weak areas in window channel. I'll take picks when I do it.
T






But in houston you will replace a winshield every couple years anyway.

Almost any body shop or window replacement service should have the tools and be able to remove the trim for you for a nominal fee that way you won't destroy your hard to find trim pieces...............Dan

I used to have the same problem, it was coming from my back window and I just used regular bathroom caulk (it so happened that it was the same color as the elky) and it worked fine, you cant even tell.

I met a man that use to work at the GM plant in Arlington TX. He told me that on the 5th gens that back window ended up causing GM to create a team of people to figure out a way to make it seal properly. It's curved surface (glass) and the body didn't quite fit properly. First batches all had to be pulled back and re-done several times to get it right. Over time, he said, the glass manufacturer came out several times to check angles and measurements to get the glass right.

When I took apart my 80 the back window along the bottom wasn't even sealed, which helped me get a start on removing the glass, made it easy and at the time I was really glad. I didn't want to break the glass trying to get it out. I'm hoping the newer sealants are far better at holding and keeping a seal.

I have decided to let it go for now since I cannot figure out how to get the trim off without damaging it so its better to let sleeping dogs lie.

Take the side trim off first. I used a small long thin flat bladed screwdriver, they do make a tool and I am pretty sure you can get one at a local auto parts place, but I slide that near the first clip and eased the trim up and around off the retainer. Once I had one off I slid the trim off the rest and slid the trim off the top and bottom retainers moving from one side to the next. Just push one way or another.

Its just that first piece, once that is off it's all really easy.

Thanks, thats just the info I needed and not in the Haynes manual!!

Well, it wasn't that easy. The side and top are the same piece. split at the center. The bottom has two pieces also split at the center. I got them all off because most of the clips had deteriorated with age. Plastic just doest have a long lifetime down here is the South Texas sun.

Now I need 18 new clops as even those that survived are not in really god shape.

The good news is, there is NO rust under the chrome. All the original paint is still intact and it looks like a little silicone should solve the problem. Also, if I cant find the clips I think I can glue the trim back on with the same silicone that I am sealing it with.