Lots of water in trunk

[billsr2]

My car has been living outside for a couple of months, not happy about it but them's the breaks.

After finding a good deal of water in the trunk, I assumed it was getting in through the 60 year old rear window seal as the trunk seal and gutter look quite effective. Had not ruled out the trunk seal but it has been replaced. After drying out the trunk & sealing the window with painter's tape, there was still more water in the trunk. The tail light gaskets are very good so this has been ruled out as well. Am I missing something or does this all point to the trunk seal? She is making it difficult to keep loving her!

Oh, the super awesome part... I have removed the painters tape. And with it came significant amounts of paint. Sigh.

 

[Footer]

When I worked in the body shop back in the 70’s (I was still flexible) my boss would lock me up in the trunk with a good flashlight and run the hose over the car. That worked most of the time to narrow down where the leak was. You might have to make yourself mighty little to fit in your Avanti’s trunk! Mike

[Stacey]

Footer, maybe you worked for me when I ran the Mercedes body shop, we used to do the exact same thing, stick someone into the trunk and wet the whole top and rear down and find the leak. Seemed to always work.

[billsr2]

It is definitely a leaky rear window. The hard part will be finding someone competent to replace the seal.

[ronmanfredi]

I had the exact same problem on my 82 model.  It was the antenna.  I removed the nut, cleaned everything really good and then applied some black silicone gasket sealant to the area.  After I tighted the nut down, I wiped off the excessive sealant until everything looked good.  Be sure to check the antenna drain hose and be sure it's clear if yours has one.  The water no longer is a problem in my trunk!