Hello all,
Been doing a lot of lurking and reading but this is my first post. I recently picked up a 54' F100 and am starting to get some stuff done. I currently live in NW Florida and it rains nearly everyday. After each rain I see water inside the doors on the truck. I purchased new felts because I thought they would be like the ones on my 68' Mustang and have a rubber seal on the outside. Unfortunately I can't seem to find anything to keep the water from coming inside the doors. Is there something you all have done to keep the water out? I have to think that there is a cure for this! Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Semper Fi!
Kris

 

Welcome Kris. You make a very good point, and I honestly don't think I have ever seen a more modern rubber-type anti-rattle strip that would block out water. Considering how the originals mount (and how easily the replacements can pop out of the original holes with those little clips we all love so much), I would imagine the rubber types would be too heavy for how they're mounted. But I'm not that experienced with the alternatives. In the meantime, you seriously might just need to throw a tarp over the windows during the monsoon season. And definitely keep those drain holes open in the bottom of the doors.

 

Welcome to the forum, Kris,
You'll never keep the water out of the doors, because they were never intended to be dry inside. Even modern cars don't seal 100%. Even with that, you shouldn't have standing water inside them. It sounds to me like your drains in the bottom of the doors are clogged, which is why doors rot out from the inside. I would recommend opening up the inspection panel and cleaning the dirt and debris from the bottoms of the doors, and make sure your drains are clean, clear and functioning properly.

 

Once you have cleaned out your door interiors, there are also different types of coatings and or paints designed to be applied into hard to access areas, to protect from rust. You could check the Eastwood web site, I remember seeing some products like that.

 

The inspection covers are off and that's how I was able to see the water. The drains are not clogged (mostly rusted out really) but it just seemed excessively wet in there. I cleaned out the doors thoroughly when I got the truck and used some Ospho to stop the rust for now prior to painting with Rustoleum. I guess I was just shocked when I put the new felts on that there was no seal to keep out the wet. I'm thinking of ordering a set of seals for the Mustang and trimming them to fit. Anyone else have any other ideas or is this just one of those things we love about these trucks? Thanks all!

Kris

 

I used to get a big black garbage bag and slip it over the top of the door and then close the door. It's a temporary thing but it worked for me. That was on a 67 Opel Kadet wagon though with pretty small doors too.

 

Felts are fiber and are meant to keep the window from rattling...they are not intended to keep out water. As already offered, clean the inside of the doors and seal them well. Keep the drains at the bottom open. If you insulate the doors use a closed cell foam that won't trap water. Modern cars have a plastic weather guard inside the door to isolate the rain/water from the electronics.

 

Just my thoughts, these truck doors were designed to allow water to enter the door and drain out the bottom. As said before keeping the drain holes open will help slow down rust. I don't think there is a cure, just the nature of the beast.

 

I have used this beltline weatherstrip on other cars before, not sure if you could make it work on your truck or not.
http://www.steelerubber.com/beltline...rip-70-1120-61

 

Thanks all! I guess I have alot to learn about this ol' girl. Ill try and come up with something. She is not perfect right now so its a good time for trial and error. Love the site and looking forward to learning more.

Semper Fi,
Kris

 

IMHO you are obsessing over a non-issue. Do you try to keep the outside of your truck dry when it rains? As everyone else has said the drains holes in the bottom of the doors should be at least 1/4" diameter (more typically several 1/4"x 1/2" ovals) at the lowest points in the door. Ospho is a good product to neutralize rust before painting, but it isn't meant to be a permanent surface coating. A much better choice would be a moisture cured urethane like POR 15 or Super Rexthane. These products do not need a primer coat or complete rust removal. In fact it bonds tighter to surface rust than new metal. They envelop the tight surface rust (remove any loose rust with a green scotchbrite pad or wire brush followed by a thorough vacuuming with a brush attachment to remove the loose rust and other loosened debris). Super Rexthane ( a Sherwin-Williams industrial coating product) especially pulls moisture from it's surroundings to cure and is recommended for use on interiors of steel water tanks for municipal drinking water storage. They are single component products that can (should) be brushed or rolled on. 2 coats applied per directions will produce a much more durable and weather resistant finish than typical exterior automotive finishes.

 

My '05 F150 has the slickest door bottoms on it I have seen. Ford finally fixed the door bottoms correctly in '04.

Instead of crimping the bottom of the outer skin tight, they left a gap. Maybe 1/16". Then the bottoms of my doors are slotted right down to the edge of the inner door lip. That way water always drains from the bottom of the seam, and then runs out the aforesaid gap. That is how I will be doing my door bottoms on my 56 as well.

 

Looks like I'm gonna hit up Sherwin Williams! Thanks for the info.

Kris

 

If you need more info on the super rexthane, let me know. It's in the SW industrial coatings division. 1 part ready to use coating, adheres to most materials: wood, concrete, steel. Impervious to water, most chemicals, hot tires once cured. Dries to smooth semigloss. Recommended for concrete cisterns, steel water tanks, jet hanger floors. I used it on my concrete garage floor since it could be used on fresh concrete (>30 days) epoxy required 1 year concrete curing before application. I believe it can be tinted.

 

Can you show us some pics of that?