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Hi!
I’m new to the forum, and don’t yet have a full grasp on this “Forum Etiquette”, so I want to apologize in advance for anything I do wrong in that regard, as well as the crappy photos.
I recently got myself an old classic, a Kadett C coupè, that has a 1.2l engine with a staggering 55 hp. For you Americans, it’s basically Opel’s take on the GM T-car platform, witch is what the Chevy Chevette is built on. Anyway, it’s in pretty good condition, and the small amount of rust that was on it (under the battery tray) has been taken care of.
I am however a bit concerned that rust will develop in the trunk, as there is a couple of small leaks, and I don’t quite know how to deal with them. Basically, water runs from the top of both wheel wells and back into the trunk.
The first one, I’m pretty sure is around the filler neck grommet, as water bunches up around it when it rains, and there are water marks running from it on the inside of the panel. I don’t see any intuitive way of removing it, as the filler neck is flared in one end, and welded to the tank in the other.
The second leak’s location is a bit uncertain, but I have two suspect areas. The first being the corner of the rear window gasket, where water pools when it rains, and the gasket is cracked.
The other is the cabin vent. the problem with that is that the louvres prevent further inspection, and are firmly attatched in a manner that seems to require prying it off, witch in turn will risk damaging the paint.
inside, under the vent
I hope you folks have some useful advice on how to approach these issues, and would like to thank you for taking your time!
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I just noticed most of the photos was flipped when I uploaded them, and I can’t edit the post because of “too many links”. 🙁 Sorry for being a forum n00b.
Nice car. I assume you intend to keep it as original as possible and want to keep it in the original paint.
I think your best option for the rear window issue is to remove the glass and replace the rubber seal. It’s possible the old seal is collecting water at several points around the perimeter, and it’s pooling and dribbling out at the corner you mentioned. If you tried squirting some silicone under that corner of the seal you could be making things worse by trapping the collected water. That leak might be doing you a small favor by allowing some water to run out. When the old window seal is removed, you’ll probably find several spots of rust around the window channel which will have to be fixed before the new rubber is installed.
As far as the ventilation grille goes, perhaps it has to be removed from inside the car. You’ll have to remove any fabric or plastic cladding that covers the C pillar inside the cabin to get at the back side of the grille and look for hidden fasteners.
About the fuel tank and filler pipe, what you describe means the fuel tank cannot be removed from the vehicle. I’d be surprised if things were engineered this way. There should be a way of separating some portion of the filler neck from the tank.
Now, before you go opening things up, if you Google Opel Kadett C fan club you can probably get in contact with other owners who can give you a lot information specific to your vehicle.
Sorry for not replying, I was on vacation the last week and a half.
After further inspection, I noticed some rust right underneath both corners of the window, inside the trunk, so there’s definitely some water dribbling in there. I’ll try to get my hands on a new seal for the window.
I still have no idea how to approach the cabin vent, but after confirming the window seal is leaking I no longer think it’s where the leak is.
The filler neck grommet has not dry-rotted, so I think I can get away with squeezing some sealant under the edge of it, but I’m not quite sure.
That you said about not being able to remove the fuel tank got me thinking; the fuel tank is quite small, only about 40 liters, and is mounted between the cabin and the trunk right above the rear axle, I think it is just enough room to wiggle it out without removing the filler pipe, and I’m guessing that’s the only way of replacing the grommet.As for the Opel Fan Clubs, almost all of them are german, and the ones I could find in english or norwegian required a paid subscription to even access :dry:
Just an FYI… if you dont know… dont know about your car if your trying or need to remove the fuel tank on a lot of older cars you have to remove the back seat to get to the pump… just wanted to tell you
Thanks for the heads up, but fortunately that is not the case in my car, the pump is easily accessible from the trunk.
Yeah, the trunk is waterproof now. The problem in my case was a combination of things, the first being the rubber grommet around the fuel filler. The grommet itself was fine, but it didn’t seal properly to the body. A bead of RTV gasket maker squirted in under the edge of the grommet fixed that, and made the water ingress significantly better.
The next thing I discovered was the tail light gaskets were in pretty bad shape, both the gaskets between the housing itself and the body, and the ones between the housing and the lens. One thing to be really careful with is to not over tighten the nuts holding the taillight assembly in, or it will crack the some 40 years old plastic right around the sealing surface to the body of the car, this can also cause major water ingress.
If the rear window gasket is leaking, it will also run down into the trunk.Good luck, I hope this helps.
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