I did the same thing too on all of my repairs. As a matter of fact, I just threw out my 16" long scab piece I had in the garage this past weekend.

It made me feel better that it wouldn't be as prone to shrinking again if I had the spacer chunk in place.

I'm guilty of using adhesive to hold my weather stripping in the corners. Although, I've never seen any evidence of water, before or after getting in. I must be lucky.

I suppose when I go to my car after work, it'll be full now that I've said it.

Water soaked through the carpet? Was the carpet underneath the carmat wet? I check my rear floor a lot to make sure it'* dry.

Good to hear (no pun intended) that you're getting a handle on it.

The story continues. I'm basically ripping everything loose from the B-pillars to the rear, both inside and outside.

I'm done with the left and the trunk now, moving around to the right side. Why? All the water is in the trunk or rear footwells. B-pillar back will get it.

Here'* the latest:

Spoiler wasn't leaking but after what I found earlier, I'm not giving it a chance:







Double layer of protection, and preventing the annoying drips after rain or washing when you open the trunk and the water under the spoiler takes a few minutes to drip....drip.....drip.......


1/8" bead all around, 1/4" in from the edges.





Guess what? The original (previous) owners had a leak on the right rear. Look what I found under the roof-edge gutter above the rear door:

Old RTV.

And that was the worst 'leaker' side.





And here'* what starts the mess, and should have been fixed before squirting rtv in the gutter:



Been through all that on the left side already. I'll finish this up tomorrow night. Bummer, I have to drive 100 miles to a funeral and back tomorrow, and was hoping to drive the beater instead of the Zilla. :(

omg! this makes me worry about my 93! I only want it green on the OUTSIDE not on the in too! :?

Mine has good seals around the doors (or so it appears) but the inner trim is doing that sinking in thing in the corners (extremely unattractive)

I really hope the next time I see my car doesn't start with me having to tear it all apart because its water logged.

Not to MENTION how bad that grime is on the underside of the spoiler! holy crap.

good to see you found this now instead of some time down the road (so to speak)

also...is there a certain product to apply to door seals that hydrates and protects better than just something like rubber/plastic protectant (armor all)?

This is funny.

The inner trim shrinking away? Like this?

That trim IS the door seal. That'* the primary source of leaks.

Open the door, and I bet you can ALMOST see daylight through that gap.

I use a slicone-based light oil for my door seals. Keeps 'em from freezing shut in the winter. I don't know of any product on the market that will keep the seals hydrated and prevent shrinking.

Look in the bathtub pic wj. That'* the 'inner trim' you speak of And the outer door seal. It'* all one piece, and goes entirely around the door opening on the inside and outside. Shrinking causes wind noise first, then water leaks shortly after.

I only have a problem with water collecting around the reflector area on the back of the trunk lid. When I open my trunk, water drips in on the right and left of me right where the cargo net connects to the trunk floor. Not a huge deal, just annoying.

Thanks for the info on rear leak areas

Btw Bill you are one crazy guy, so many pictures of car parts in different household areas

I wanted to share with BC members, a product that has been successful for me in sealing water leaks in my H-Body cars.

GB Duct seal

http://doitbest.com/Electrical+Condu...sku-509663.dib

The only door seal on my 96 SE that pulled away at the top was the drivers side. I did like Vital and installed a little 1" junk yard piece at the bottom inserting the center tube rubber into it. It never leaked but it looked bad pulling away at the top.
I did have a trunk leak on the SE for about a week before I found it.
Water was coming in under the trunk lid seal. When standing at the trunk with it open it was the top left corner of the trunk seal where there is an irregular seam in the sheet metal.
Alls I did was pull the seal back and RTV it. No more leaks.
They could be challenging to find.