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Drilling holes in footwells - to give water somewhere else to go.

BB d

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Nr Lewes
I've heard a few people suggest this - any experience/guidance?
 
I know of people who drill holes in the left footwell of the 2CV. (RHD, because of the camber of the road).
It’s not something I have done myself. I can understand the desire to do something/anything , because rectification is costly. Fibreglass just doesn’t work.
 
I did that on both sides in desperation, but it was always going to be a bodge. Where I drilled (at the footwells front) went though a double skin it felt like, which is not good for keeping rust away. Water didn't come in that I noticed, maybe because when it rained, the floor was always wet anyway :laughing:

For water-entry points, look around windscreen rubber & the drain channel across the back of the bonnet, plus any grommets missing from the bullkhead. Probably my windscreen rubber needed renewing.
 
The biggest culprit for water in the front passenger area is the ventilation flap at the front. The old (pre 1979) ones with a metal flap opening outwards were no problem, but the newer ones have a flap that opens inwards. Even with this flap pushed as tightly closed as possible, my experience is that water still gets in.
I have seen R4s with the front ventilation grill blanked off (on the outside) by covering it with a perspex sheet. No water ingress. No ventilation either, but open windows also work (and when it is raining you wouldn’t want them open anyway).
 
I had a problem with drips in the passenger footwell - the remedy was to seal round the edges of the external grille on the ventilation flap.
 
Bilge pump sound right.:D

Try to play with door aligning. Sometimes door rubber is not pressed strong enough and then allows water to go in.
Also water can run inside thru ventilation flap below windshield
 
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When I was young I read the stories of Mr. Fixit Fox, whose repairs were somewhat haphazard, to put it mildly....He once helped a guy with a leaking boat by drilling another hole, to let the water out.....

Why am I having a déjà vu moment from my childhood?
 
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