# trunk leaking & lid hits bumper



## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

I have a 1970 GTO and the trunk leaks. I used my phone inside the trunk and close the lid to see any light gaps. The whole edge (where it meets the bumper) has a light gap. The lid does not fit perfect one corner is up and another one down etc. For example the drivers side of the lid is down a little (both corners). and on the passenger side the front lip is up on the trunk and back by the hinge it is down.

If I try to adjust the latch (1/8"-1/4") then it will hit the bumper.

I don't know even where to start to try to get it to seal right. 
I would like to fix it right IF it does not require body work at this time. I don't mind adjusting something if necessary.

I am not a body man but everything don't seem to far out of whack to mess up the truck sealing this bad.

If the lip hits the bumper it sounds like to me the bumper needs to go down a little but then the corner is already down it will be even lower in the corner.

Any ideas on what to do to try to figure out what is the cause?

Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2wznx5doBM


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Are you sure it's the trunk seal that's leaking?? That doesn't look "SO" misaligned to cause a leak. Rear windows were notorious for leaking.


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## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

Rukee said:


> Are you sure it's the trunk seal that's leaking?? That doesn't look "SO" misaligned to cause a leak. Rear windows were notorious for leaking.


I am pretty sure (not positive) as the surface rust is all in the back of the trunk area not up front plus it has this light gap at the lip. Plus rust is starting to form in the seal ridge 

1970 GTO trunk light gap - YouTube


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

Rukee said:


> Are you sure it's the trunk seal that's leaking?? That doesn't look "SO" misaligned to cause a leak. Rear windows were notorious for leaking.


Rukee beat me to it...
I watched your video; the deck lid (trunk) does seem to sit a little low in the opening, so if you haven't replaced the weatherstrip it might be a good idea.

BUT, every one of these cars I've ever owned has had some sort of rear window leak. 

There are many ways to search for the leak, but at the factory they would use a little mist of soap & water sprayed on the outside of the body, then blow compressed air at the area in question from inside the trunk. When you see bubbles in the soap solution, you've found a leak. Check the entire perimeter of the window; they often leak in extended and/or multiple areas.

I also had one car that had a small leak at the roof-to-quarter seam, right behind the roof rail molding. The water would run down the inside off the quarter, into the trunk. You might want to check those areas as well.


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

michaelrj9 said:


> I am pretty sure (not positive) as the surface rust is all in the back of the trunk area not up front plus it has this light gap at the lip. Plus rust is starting to form in the seal ridge
> 
> 1970 GTO trunk light gap - YouTube


Based on this post and the video, I'd definitely put a new seal in there. Make sure you put it in correctly; it's easy to get them in upside-down.

And if the weatherstrip channel is rusty, it must be repaired before installing the new seal.


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## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

jmt455 said:


> Based on this post and the video, I'd definitely put a new seal in there. Make sure you put it in correctly; it's easy to get them in upside-down.
> 
> And if the weatherstrip channel is rusty, it must be repaired before installing the new seal.


The seal looks brand new soft- not ripped etc


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

michaelrj9 said:


> The seal looks brand new soft- not ripped etc


Is the deck lid hitting the bumper when you close it or is it banging on the latch?

With the proper seal in there, you shouldn't have the metal-to-metal contact that can be heard in the video.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

May be a STOOPID question here but did you rule out spring hinge alignment issues?


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## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

First of all thanks for all your suggestions.

The metal on metal was the latch Bottom part (not on the deck lid) was misaligned when I was messing with it. (Straightened that out after video)

Originally before I messed with the latch the gap from the lip to bumper was 1/16"-1/8" and it looks like there was a wear mark on the bumper where it was hitting before. The light gap along the lip was like in the video shown above. If I raise up the latch (bottom part mounted to car) it obviously ends up with a bigger light gap.

No matter where I adjust the latch I can still always press the lid down 1/8-1/4" more by hand (unless it hits the bumper at that point.)
I don't know if that is normal or if that has to do with this problem.

The seal looks brand new (but short 2" short so I will buy new once I can figure this out).
I had bought weatherstripping for my 1964 Impala from soft seal and it feels exactly the same when new. This seal is not glued down and I will glue down the new seal once I get it but the light gap still shouldn't be there
Right?

@ GTO_JUDGE I can't rule out spring hinge alignment issues because I wouldn't know where to start with out help 


Anymore suggestions?

Thanks

EDIT: Also before I messed with anything and took a video from the inside IF I would push down on the lid and it moved 1/8"-1:4" it seems like the light gap would go away BUT then it was hitting the bumper.


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

Yes, you'll be able to press the lid down a bit after it latches.
Do you have the rubber stops in place on the bottom, rear corners of the deck lid? They are round bumpers, about 1" diameter.

Also, what is the gap from the upper edge of the bumper to the bottom edge of the quarters? In the video, i looks like that gap is very small. That gap is usually 1/2" at a minimum. Maybe the bumper is too high...

GTO Judge asks a good question; if the decklid is too low at the hinges, it may need shimming to raise it to the proper height. That would affect everything.


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## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

jmt455 said:


> Yes, you'll be able to press the lid down a bit after it latches.
> Do you have the rubber stops in place on the bottom, rear corners of the deck lid? They are round bumpers, about 1" diameter.
> 
> Also, what is the gap from the upper edge of the bumper to the bottom edge of the quarters? In the video, i looks like that gap is very small. That gap is usually 1/2" at a minimum. Maybe the bumper is too high...
> ...


I am missing 1 little round bumper.
Here is better pictures of the gaps. Do they seem good or does the bumper need to be lowered? If so does the bumper adjust easily like losing up the bolts and moving it or does it mean the brackets need to be bent?

The lid is down in the rear by the hinges on both sides so I guess that should be the first thing that I need to fix.
If I'm correct the shims will go in back of the hinge on the bolt towards the back of the car or upper bolt when the lid is up.

Thanks


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

Looks to me like the gap at the leading edge of the bumper is good, but the bumper is tilted up at the rear, bringing it too close to the quarter and deck lid.

Yes, the adjustments are mad by loosening the mounting brackets at teh frame rails.
I'm not as familiar with the 70 bumper, but there should be 2 attaching bolts on each frame bracket, as well as a center bracket that must be loosened.

Get help; it's very difficult to do by yourself.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

If your corners at the rear shelf are down (below the line of the quarters and back shelf) you need to shim it up there at the hinges which should tilt the rear downward a little and take care of the seal. If your weatherstrip is good and just short, start at the middle top of the channel and stretch it a little bit down the whole length to the latch. same for the other side. When repro seals are new and over compressed they can force the lid up and out of alignment with the quarters, just an idea to save the seal as that does not seem to be the problem your having.


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## michaelrj9 (Jan 25, 2010)

Little update:

The gap along the lip I can't get any better.

I did however run water over the trunk (not on the back window) and it is leaking by the drivers hinge corner.

This is a pic of it. (it looks a lot worse in the picture) but as you can see the bent part where it over laps and looks like some extra sealer in the channel. 
Or it might be that body seam in that corner.

My question is how to go about fixing this?
What would you do?

Any ideas?

Thanks for all your help.


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