Moisture mystery in trunk - help!

[Terry S.]

I was cleaning my coupe this past weekend and found that my trunk carpeting was a little damp. I pulled up the three wooden panels and found the first two to be dry, but the deep third panel was covered in mold. There was very little standing water, and it appears that the center rubber drain plug seal is intact.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/31154838@N03/


I've owned the coupe for about a year, and I live in a fairly moderate climate (North Carolina). The car is currently covered in a carport and has a NOAH cover overtop it through the week, but it is not in an enclosed garage. There is no sunroof, and it's a '72.

It had some work done on the differential mounts several years ago by Crayford Coachworks in Marina Del Ray while the car was in Southern California with the PO.

What is the most likely source of the accumulation and what can be done about it? The trunk lid seals and rear glass seals appear intact and the trunk lid sits straight and even. There was no moisure near the tail lights or side lights, only in the very deepest part of the trunk. The rear seats in the coupe are dry.

So far, I've beached and scraped the affected wood panel, but I'm going to remove the elephant skin, dip it all in bleach, sand the wood, and consider either: 1. placing several coats of spar urethane over the plywood to seal the wood and any possible spores, or 2. cut a new piece of plywood and recover with the current elephant skin.

thanks for your help!

 

[Terry S.]

Grand Concours at the Westover in North Carolina

Here's a photo of the coupe at this past weekend. The weather was ideal but this was a new venue for the event, so it was pretty quiet. There was another coupe (piezopaul) - a CSL - but had to leave a little early. There was also a nicely restored 02 touring as well. Hopefully, there will be more coupes next year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nashukie/2919538551/

 

[dave v. in nc]

Low tide in the garden of good and evil...

Hi Terry, Sorry we had to bail at the last minute on the event at Grandover. Too bad, as my car has the ability to make others look much better...You know physics better than I do, and my guess is the moisture you describe isn't condensation; and unless you were out in our last un-named storm cruising around with something coming in from below, that there is a trunk or rear glass seal issue that allowed water in quite a while ago. It doesn't take much. Spill a half glass of wine in the kitchen and its like the aquarium went south, right? First, chuck the plywood; once you have mold/mildew in any wood, it will always stink and come back, unless you move to Arizona. Fabreze is good stuff for some smells, but replace it. I can help you with some good furniture grade stuff if you need. Sealing is not a bad idea, but shouldn't be necessary if there are no other issues. Too late tonight, I'll give you a buzz in a day or two.