Hornet windshield drains

[Deleted User]

My '53 Hornet coupe leaks like a sieve in the rain. Once I got caught at a show in a torrential downpour and there was 2" of water on the floor! I checked under the dash and found remnants of a funnel shaped piece I guess is supposed to direct the water to a drain hose.

Are there replacements available? Or has anyone rebuilt these drains and can offer some advice on how to make my Hornet a dry place in the rain?
Thanks
Bill

Marconi

I think the 'funnel' shaped pieces you reffered to are the hookups for the defrosters. The windshields just lay up against the lip on the body and the reveal mouldings hold them in. You probably need to remove the windshields and put some sealer between the glass and rubber and also between the rubber and the body lip and re-install. That should take care of any leaks.don't forget to do the center strip also.

RL Chilton

Along with Steve's advice, check your WTSP around your doors, especially in the front of the door jamb. Bad WTSP here can let a lot of water in, fast! The defroster tubes are simply lightweight tubing that routes from your defroster to a hole in the side of the cowl and dumps out at the bottom of the frame. These alone are not going to put 2" of water on the floor.

Additionally, if your windshield WTSP is bad, new ones can be obtained from K-Gap.

[Deleted User]

Sounds to me like the S-shaped weatherstrip that covers the top hinge may be damaged or gone. If this is not inplace and working properly it can funnel water that runs down the seam between the fender and the door into the floor.
Bob Hickson

kamzack

While taking my 50 front sheet metal off, I discovered a small drain hose on each side. It comes out the cowl on each side. I was impressed that Hudson thought of just about everything. I'll try to take pix in next coupla days to try to show ya where they are. Furance in my shop quit ignighting it's about 20 degrees ou there, so I have to get the courage to try fix it.
Kim

RonS

Did you verify that the windshield drain tubes are in place. As I was finishing the restoration on my 53, I forgot to reinstall these @10 inch tubes on both ends of the windshield trough. First heavy rain and my wife was bailing faster than the souls aboard Titanic. Check the body manual for a visual.

[Deleted User]

Thanks, guys. These are all great tips. Much of the water came in directly under the dash, so I think that's where I'll put most of my attention.

But, there's a true confession about a dumb move I made, too! This coupe acquired power windows on its long journey to me. I had been working under the dash preparing for a show the next day and that day arrived really nice, so I left all the windows down to drive to the show.

At the show the world's WORST hailstorm arrived and I hit the buttons to put up the windows and they did NOT work! By the time I got done yelling and had found the wire I'd accidentally disconnected the day before, the poor Hornet had 2-3" of water inside. I now owned a '53 Step-Drowned!

So, it wasn't just the windshield drains! It was the owner yet again.
Bill