Rusted trunk anyone???

[mike561]

I used to have an 88' caprice with this same problem and it seems its pretty common to happen on alot of 80s caprices as well. i notice the under part in the trunk tends to rust pretty bad (right around where the trunk lid hinges are located, under the long panel at the bottom of the back window), creating a water leak in the trunk, and it of course is happening on my 83 also but just not as bad as my other one was, a few drips here and there, not giant puddles though. anyone else have that or at least hear of that happening? it seems to be pretty common...

['97ventureowner]

I've had this problem on many of my vehicles dating back to the 70s. It is partly caused by poor design and debris getting trapped behind the trim, rerouting the flow of water around your vehicle. Some of the water gets trapped and eventually causes rusting.

[silicon212]

I've had this problem with other cars, though not with my current car. On the Caprice, there is that piece that screws onto the top of the deck area between the rear window and the deck lid - this is just trim. It's the area beneath it, the actual car body, that tends to rot if, as '97ventureowner noted, there is a collection of debris underneath it which will allow water to 'bank'. Of course, this is exacerbated in areas where they salt the roads to remove ice, the salt spray winds up there and then in the debris where it eats away unnoticed.

You can repair this with some fiberglass resin and a few sheets of fiberglass mat - just make sure you remove all of the cancer first, and sand the surrounding area down to the metal with 80 grit sandpaper to give the scratches that the resin needs to adhere to.

[mike561]

yeah it looks like they tried repairing it already with that bondo fiberglass stuff. im going to remove that panel though to see how bad it is under it and see what can be done, ill let you know how it goes, hopefully it isnt too bad.

[463]

Mike: it is worth a look in the rear wheel well. in my 86 caprice at the 12 oclock pos there was what looked like a factory hole that was pluged at gm had fell out and was letting in road spray in ontop of the wheel house in the trunk. so it got a good clean and siliconed shut and spray under coat in the wheel wells. also had your leaks but not as bad.

[mike561]

No i havent checked under the wheel wells yet, but that seems like a good thing to inspect. but yeah my leak is'nt as bad as it was on the first caprice i had, the one now just has a few drips, my other one would have a lake.

[capriceowns]

I agree with mike on the wheel well could be leaking. my plug didnt come out theres a rust hole there almost big engouh to put my had through.

my car spent 20 years in michigan with salt. lol.

cant hurt to check your wheel well to