I've discovered a fair ammount of rust on the inner body panels just in front of the drivers side door hinges on my '72 Elky. It looks like water and leaves are trapped in this area, at the lower corner of the firewall which then causes rust to appear on the lower rear area of the front fender. I know this is a common problem area, but does anyone have a permanent fix for the water drainage? I've looked in, around, and under this area and can't find any way the water would be able to drain. This is the inner channel that runs from the base of the windsheild (where the wipers are) down each side of the passenger compartment that meets with the firewall. I don't want to repair all the rust and not fix the cause. Any ideas?
Thanks alot!

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Almost original owner of '72 Elky SS - 415cu Motown,AFR 210's, Hyd. Roller;
Baer 13" discs front/rear, 17" x45ZR tired "Grocery Getter"
-- also an '87 German Corvair (Carrera Targa - "The Heartbeat of Germany")

You've already mentioned the cause. Leaves and organic debris building up in there and maintaining a source of moisture over a long period of time causes rust. Even through paint. Paint breathes and lets some small amounts of water thru it. Just repair the area and coat with POR-15 or Eastwood's stuff. You'll be OK as long as you don't park outside under the trees.

I just had my whole front off.You should have seen the dirt and leaves.I had to run a vacuum hose down in the passenger side(where the blower motor is mounted)to get it out.Like Jimmy said,I had the inside bottom of my fenders media blasted and then coated with POR-15.I also put it on the lip that the fender mounts to.As far as how to drain the water,you might have to get creative on that one!Good luck

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72ss (clone)
Mark's Website (http://home.triad.rr.com/steelewebsite/chevelle.htm)

Our last fight was my fault: My wife asked me "What's on the TV?"
I said, "Dust!"

I drilled 2 3/8 inch holes up from below into the cavitiy on my 72. The fenders have to off the car of course. I don't run it in bad weather or leave it parked out under trees if I can help it, but figured the holes would let a good bit more water out than the "dimple" channels that were designed in. I also cleaned patched, and used eastwood's rust encapsulator on the area. When I put her back together I have vent screens for the cowl vents that I'm installing.

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70 and 72 Chevelle
ACES # 4051 MCC # 448
TC # 1549 81/70 Cruisers

The water that runs into this area (cowl) is supposed to go directly into the rocker panels and drain out the bottoms of those panels. The idea was, that while driving, air entering from the cowl vents behind the hood would circulate into the rockers and dry the whole area. Unfortunately, as mentioned, leaves and other debris quickly accumulated, and rust started to set in.
I had done a post about cleaning the cowl area about a year or two ago in Tips and Fixes. Try a search with either cowl vents or RT.
Hope this helps,
Rich