AboutDick Benjamin Expertise I can help on most American passenger cars built between 1930 and 1970, and Imperials through 1983.
I have over 50 years experience in restoring and maintaining antique and classic cars, including 20 years operating a classic car repair shop. I am now retired, but I am willing to help with any questions of a technical or mechanical nature. I have more experience with Packard, Studebaker, Hudson, Imperial and other luxury makes, but I do have reference material and experience with most makes.
I do not know anything about modifying cars - if that is what you want to know about, pick someone else. I keep them the way the factory built them, and I advise you to do the same, to maintain the value of the car and also for your safety.
I can only handle mechanical or technical questions - I am not a body/paint expert!
Experience
Past/Present Clients Currently support a technical advice service for the Imperial club, responsible for the technical data section of the Packard Club website. Served as a technical expert for "Expert Central" before it was recently absorbed by this service.
Question My son and I are slooooowly restoring my old 69 Pont GP. This winter we had a water leak from under the dash on the passenger side. The car was stored uncovered outside for many, many years.
I suspect the rubber gasket around the windshield has dried and is the source of the leak. If so, what could I inject between the glass and the rubber gasket to restore the seal. I remember once having a leak in one of my cars and they injected (using a small pump oil can)some black goo and it sealed the leak. Only problem was when it was hot the goo oozed into the car all around the windshield. Obviously, we dont want that to happen.
What other possible sources of the leak should we attempt to repair.
Thank you in advance,
olins@yahoo.com
Answer I wouldn't have assumed a leak in that location was from a windshield gasket leak - my first guess would be that it was from a failed heater core.
If you are sure it is a sealing problem around the windshield, use a black silicon sealant that will not ooze - it is quite thin and will inject well into the suspicious area, but I am not aware of a product packaged with an injection device. It is possible that glass shops now have it in an injector device, but the stuff they used before must not have been silicone based - that doesn't move once it has set up.
You will find the right stuff in a "toothpaste" tube at the auto parts store with the other LockTite products, just look for "Black Silicone Sealant and Adhesive". You'll have to devise a way to get it between the gasket and the metal (which may have rusted leaving a hole) or between the glass and the gasket if the gasket has shrunk away from the glass. If you have a few popsicle sticks or tongue depressors, you should be able to pry the gasket away far enough to squirt some silicone sealant into the crack.
If this doesn't cure the problem, you will have to take the car to an old time glass shop (where the guys have gray hair, since the newer cars don't use the old method of retaining glass anymore) and have them remove the glass and gasket so you can clean out the debris and repair any rust in the area, then have them re-install the glass with a new gasket.
If, on the other hand, you think there is a possibility that the heater core has failed, you can determine if that is the case by disconnecting the heater hoses (just plug them into each other with a short piece of pipe and a pair of clamps) to bypass the heater, that will stop the leak if it is heater or heater control related.
