37 Ply rumble seat rain gutters

[ADNewton]

Thanks Bill,

A couple of years ago I was in a hardware store and purchased a garage door handle thinking it looked like it would work.  It did!

I guess that the rear of the rumble seat is just going to leak if it gets wet.

Thanks again.

[Wm Steed]

My '39 Plym conv cpe has the rumble seat option, the last production car to have one.. As it has been previously stated by Jim B., the rumble seats with improper drainage and a lack of maintenance cause a lot of rust out problems.. The entire rumble floor and most of the tail section had to be reconstructed in my '39'
I am not to sure about the '37-38 DPCD convertibles, reputedly they are the same other than the cowl forward. The '39's which only applies to the Plyms because only the Plyms had RS cars, had a lower seal that was attached to the lower portion of the deck lid via a series of small screws, the heads of which were spot welded to the lower edge of the deck lid.
This "water seal" apparently failed very quickly.. Of the few '39 Plym conv.s I have seem, I have never seen a seal on the lower edge.. This seal is almost impossible to duplicate because the rubber is crimped into the small metal channel, making contact to the lower edge of the body when the rumble lid is in the closed position. I have a couple of sections of the water seal from my car..
Originally there were hoses that attached to the lower portion of the drip rail, extending down to the lower portion of the body..
These drain hoses are quite large.. The drain hoses for a washing machine is a perfect replacement... I have pix of the hoses in place..
It is very interesting to note that the DPCD and Ford open cars of the '30's, generally all had bodies built by Briggs Manufacturing. The rumble area of the DPCD/Ford cars are the same, using the same weather seal around the lid, with the exception of the lower seal which Ford did not use... I bought the seal for my car from Bob Drake. The locking handle is the same DPCD/Ford, which is the same as a modern garage door locking handle. Bill    

[ADNewton]

Thanks, these answers make sense with whats on the car. 

Enjoy the Holiday Weekend!!!!!

[Lew]

For what it's worth, I had a rumble seat Ford that had similar issues. There was a drain trough at the top of the lid and 2 side channels. There were drain holes in the rear of the rumble area floor pan which needed to be kept free of debris and there was always moisture between the floor mat and floor pan.

[TodFitch]

I am no expert on rumble seats but I've heard that one of the design defects on 30's Mopar rumble seat equipped cars is the lack of a good seal and drain at the back bottom of the lid leading to water intrusion and subsequent rust out. If I've heard right, then there may be no seal or drip channel there at all.

[SD Glenn]

Hang in there. Somebody on here will take a picture of theirs and post it. maybe.
SDGLENN

[ADNewton]

Thanks Jim,

But what keeps the rain out of the rear of the rumble seat and the body.. There is not a channel or anything to keep the water from going between the the rumble seat and the body.The only  channel that could have a nipple for drainage runs down each side of the rumble seat about 2/3 the way, it stops before it reaches the rear. My guess is because the rumble seat has to swing down and it would hit any channels designed to catch water.

[Jim Benjaminson]

This is why rumble seat floors rusted out!  There should be a drain hose from the rear of the rumble seat lid (on the body, not the lid) that vented thru the floor of the car.  These, of course, feel off over the years and weren't replaced.

[ADNewton]

I have a 37 P4 with a rumble seat, what keeps the rain out of the rumble seat area?  I have two rain gutters down each side, but they both turn down before they reach the back of the rumble seat.  Along the rear of the rumble seat there isn't anything keeping the rain out.  What's missing?

Thanks!!!

P.S. Great website!!!!