So here in Okinawa, we have the monsoonal rain, and Ive noticed on heavy rain days, my left/passenger footwell is getting soaked. Ive attached a picture, and the center point of the puddle appears to be about where the bolt is in the pic. Its dripping down onto the carpet because it has a "spray" patter around it, rather than seeping up through the carpet. There is also water on top of the ac/blower equipment above the floor, under the glove box. Nothing higher up, so its coming from under the glove box somewhere. Cowl vent? Any ideas on where to start digging? Thanks in advance.
So I think I may have self diagnosed. Rained again today and after I had water sitting in the channel with the defrost vents up front plus a lot of orange dust residue. Im assuming I have the dreaded rusted out windshield frame. The car has been resprayed but there is rust bubbling on the bottom of the frame right in the middle between the wiper arms. How difficult a job is a windshield frame swap? Do I need to remove the entire FRP top to do it?
It was easy on my 75 series ute. There was enough flex in the roof to get the frame out. Don't forget on the hinged windscreens models,the windscreen is designed to fold down ,although you may not have the rubber stoppers on the bonnet.
Once all the bolts holding it in are removed ,it just folded forward on the hinges.
I reused all the old rubber after inspection as it looked ok. I rubbed it down with some Rubber Grease I got from the auto parts shop. Got it all back together and never leaked a drop.
One more tip. On the floor pan there is a rubber plug about 1 inch in diameter. I pulled mine out to give somewhere for the water to run while I got ready for the frame swap.
I got a mobile windscreen guy to supply and fit the new glass after the new frame had been resprayed and fitted.
