Rubber floor mats

[RICH MUISE]

On another website, I was reading a thread about someone wanting opinions on a rubber floor mat in his roadster because it occationally got rained on. He was thinking the rubber would be better under those conditions than carpet. A few of the replies he got brought up the fact that since rubber can't breath, any moisture that gets under them basically gets trapped there creating the enevitable rust problem.
I got to thinking about our '57 custom models that came from the factory with the rubber mats and wonder how much that contributed to rusty floorboards so often encountered. We all know about the cowl drain tube problem..that probably was compounded in the cars with the rubber mats.
Just a thought for the day.

[clusterbuster]

Amen Rich. I had to replace darn near the entire floor in my Custom 300 4dr. No more rubber mats for me. By the way, where are the cowl drain outlets located? I would like to check them out for potential blockages. Thanks.

[Ecode70D]

   "  A few of the replies he got brought up the fact that since rubber can't breath, any moisture that gets under them basically gets trapped there creating the enevitable rust problem."

     Yeah....And guess what I have in my custom for the sake of those words "as original".
     That's right  rubber mats.  I'm going to have to be very careful to check inside the car after it gets washed or gets caught in the rain.
      Those rubber mats are a sobering thought.
Jay
   

[RICH MUISE]

Cluster...Glad you asked...I was hoping somebody would. This is a frequently discussed topic here, but needs to be, which is why I mentioned it. It's not a blockage thing..it's a rotted rubber problem.
The cowl drains are on each end of the cowl where it funnels into a round tube shape that terminates about an inch from going beyond the kickpanels to the outside. You can see them up under the dash high into the top corner. To that metal tube shape on the cowl is connected a flanged rubber tube meant to funnel the water to the outside of the side kickpanels. This tube is connected to the otside of the kickpanel with a metal flange and screws, and is connected to the cowl with a hose clamp. The obvious problem here, and thus the poor engineering, is rubber ages, cracks or breaks and leaks. any water getting into the cowl vent will mostly just drain into the cabin of the car.
This is an easy and cheap fix when the fenders are off..not sure if it's even doable with fenders on.
The new ones are readily available at any of the major distributors.

[gasman826]

The carpet and insulation holds water and takes forever to dry out.  You got water...you got water!  Constant vigil is the best advice.  The original floors had little tabs cutouts to hold the insulation.  Do they act as vents to air out the bottom side or just another opportunity for water to wick into the carpeting.  Everyone is so into winter storage maintenance under the hood but little attention is given to the interior.  A huge job but pulling the carpet/rubber floor mats might be worth looking into.  If no moisture is found, maybe not necessary but how do you know unless you pull the floor coverings.  Moisture could occur without a leak...just condensation.

[RICH MUISE]

All good points Gary.
I got to wondering about the cowl drain tubes after I posted above, and was wondering if anyone has been able to replace them without removing the front fenders. It seems like you'd be fighting rusty screws in an area you'd have to be a contortionist to reach....I would think just to get your hands in there, you'd have to be in the engine compartment.

[gasman826]

Anybody have a guess on the life span of the rubber drain tubes.  I have new ones to put in but had considered using steel, PVC, other some other material to make a more permanent repair.

[57dohc]

I don't think it would be possible to replace those rubber drain hoses without removing fenders.  I've always wondered why ford did it this way;  The metal tube could have been easily extended to the outside of the cowl.  If vibration insulation was the reason, a rubber grommet around the tube would probably accomplish the same thing.  That being said, It should be possible to epoxy a extension tube on to the existing cowl tube and run it thru a grommet.  I might consider this as I some the rubber products coming out of china (assuming they are made like most everything else) are of poor quality.