Happen to me too, sounded like Midgets having wild monkey sex on the roof
OR SOMETHING ??? hehehehehe (but that was on the 02)

Well I found out a few things just now, #1 is the Antena base "is" leaking
and I got A LOT of water down in the Pass Side Door Jam "floor channel"


Mike here's what I can tell you (Thanks Rich (Hostile) for the step by step)...
It takes about 90 seconds to get it down with a Power Screwdriver

Remove the 3 screws holding the Dome Light on, unclip electrical
Remove the 2 screws holding the Sun Viser on (Both Sides)
Remove the 1 screw holding the Sun Viser "thingy" (middle of both visors)
Remove the 1 screw holding each of the close hanger holders on (theres 2)
Remove the 2 screws holding the Pass Side "Oh Schitt" handle on
Pull the A Pillow modling off the Pass Side
Pull the gasket out of the channel around both doors
Pull the Seat Belt Holder "Plastic Piece" out to allow room to remove liner
BAM IT'S DOWN, truthfully took maybe 3 minutes
(I have a 99 so no roof console)




Here's that Seat Belt Plast Piece, just pull it out enough






(I didnt take the DS Window Post Plastic Piece off, I have a tri gauge pod)
So I dropped it from the pass side

 

See the rust around the Dome Light Cut Out



Thats from the Antena Base on the roof thats no longer in use



If you notice from @ 10:00 - 12:00 thats a drop of water
(easy to see all the rust, it's DEF leaking)


BUT there's also water as you see behind the hole ???

 

I actually DONT see any water around the rear window



OR the front windsheild



This is the antena base from the roof view (I coated it in silicone yesterday but it obviously didnt help, when I took the Dome Light out it was filled with water)

 

This is the view looking down at it, the wings with the teeth are the inside piece, (east to see the rust, water was def coming it here).
May not be all my problems, but def one of them....



I found this water as a Fluke
I removed the Old Antena Wire and it was under that molding


The harness was actually completely under water up to this point
You can see it's half under in this picture


Hard to tell for sure, but it does look like the water is running down to the back lip and then coming out at the Pass Side Back Edge
Look @ 1:00 Back Right Corner and you can see how wet it is
I cant believe that came from the window, so HOPEFULLY in my case it's the Antena only ???



Now I'm going to go knock on my neighbors door and see if I cant get him to fiberglass the hole closed from inside the cab (for now)

Hope that Helps Bro, I'll report back any new findings.....

 

Man Rob that sucks, are you going to get that hole welded up?

 

man rob thanks for all the pics looks like im gonna have to rip my headliner out and wait for it to rain and sit there till the leak springs i dont know what else to do!

 

Rob, I can't believe how bad the previous owner treated this L. You have really turned it into a beauty in the short time you've had it. Props.

 

Where is that wiring harness? If it's in the rocker panel wouldn't it be a good idea to have permanent drain hole or would that be encourging a place for corrision and water getting in from the bottom.

Even thought that wire is well insulated I don't like the idea of it sitting in water.

Glad I never had that problem with my old 99. I wonder what year they changed the seal. Hope that doesn't happen to my 04

Seems like it's always somethin Aye.

 

Seriously, I don't think I will ever understand the logic behind cutting up a vehicle like that. I'll also never understand why some people spend so much money on a vehicle and have no pride in it. I dunno, goodluck Rob! -Mat-

 

Glad to hear the mystery is solved. I guess some of the detective work would have been easier, if we all knew there was an "additional hole" in the roof! Almost reminds me of the days when putting in your own moonroof was the craze, and 3/4 of them were installed with 20 tubes of clear silicone! Yuk! Anyways, its good to hear you've nipped that one in the bud! Now , let us know....whats next???

 

mines not fixed lol i guess mines a different beast

 

I agree, I agree I agree, even I wouldnt cut a hole in the roof of a Lightning

Ed was a great guy he loved this Lightning and put alot into it but keeping it clean seemed to not be priority.
I honestly think this Lighting has NEVER ONCE been waxed (and it may cost me a paint job as a result).
I tried to compound out an area and all it did was scratch the clearcoat more, Sal has a guy that can polish
it out with a machine and thats the plan before I go for paint. BUT If I do go for paint, I'M GOING BIG ; o )

There was no excuse for the bottom of the vehicle either but I think I saved that with a day of sanding and
rubberized undercoating The Grill Looks Awesome now that it's painted, Headlights and 3rd Light
are next, and TG the interior had a full seat cover on it, you should have seen what they looked like

The Rims were "all stuck on" due to powder coating the holes and that was the main reason for taking them off,
I witnessed Ed not being able to get the rears off at JDM day 05 and it stuck in my head. Rich was with me when
we got them swapped and the guys had to use sledge hammers on each of them to get them off : o ()
That would have been fun trying to change a flat roadside, "YIKES"

The good news is the Motor, Exhaust, Trans Mods, Suspension Mods, Fuel Mods, and Intake Mods were all BRAND
NEW and I bought the truck for less than the PSP bill to build it, (it had just about 3K on it when I got it)

I'm into it @20K now and if it stays together at least I wont lose 50K on it "if" I ever sell it (BUT HAVE NO PLANS
TOO)
I SHOULD HAVE NEVER SOLD BLACKY @(&$^%@($%@)$%@)$@$......

G
There is actually a big rubber drain plug right there in the middle of that channel under the pass side foot plate,
right where the water was. I was thinking the same thing, SHOULD I PULL THE DRAIN PLUG ???

EDIT
Last night my neighbor came over and decided to NOT use fiberglass to repair it. Instead we put a Galvinized Steel
Plate on from inside the cab using some super duty Underwater Epoxy he shoots out of a 3ft Gun.
It was actually raining when we did it, after I finish me coffee I'll go out and see if I have a DRY INTERIOR
(please please please) ..... ???

 

bwahaha. You should of never sold blacky and I should of never wrecked bluey! Glad I'm not the only one a little less pleased with their new L over their old one. Or actually you can consider your new one the old one since it's a 99 and your old newer one was a 02....lol. Please post more problems and distress with your new old truck and make me feel better...lol.


No I'm just kidding, lol, glad to see someone actually taking proper care of their vehicle the RIGHT WAY. I seen the post what you did to the underneath, very good job on that, and I agree, there was no excuse for how bad it was, especially the money that was put into it.

Well I have a 04 with 16,xxx miles in almost acceptable condition so I think it will be allot easier to restore to like new then yours.




Just bustin ya!

 

Thanks emig5m that was some nice words (Thumbs Up)
I THINK ??? hehehehe

I did learn from my mistakes and like on the GT where I picked my Mods wisely, (went straight to a Procharger
and Intercooler within weeks of owning it), hence adding 60% power with a simple Saturday afternoon Bolt on
Mod.

Like that I made my plan of attack on this FAST SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE ; o )
This is one of the reason I always answer those "what should I do Post" and beg them to go straight for an
aftermarket Supercharger. Yes this 99 may be beat up a lot more than my MINT 02 was, and yes it's older
and has more miles on it, but it's actually been pretty fun doing the detail work so far and it does show in
the look AND FEEL ; o ) I had it out this morning for quite some time and man I got to tell you this MONSTER
has the kind of power I've always dreamed of. It's got to be kissing 700 HP at the flywheel and that is just
***** hardening on the street, something my 02 NEVER HAD (insert HUGE smile here) lol lol lol hehehehe.
I've had a lot of power before but until I had the Big SC and massive low end Boost and TQ that goes with it,
it just wasn't the same.

Well the good news is it rained last night (not poured but rained) and all was dry this morning, WOO HOO !!!
Either way no reason to leave the headliner out now that the hole is filled. What better to use than a piece
of Galv Steel ? (ok so it's an electrical plate, hehehehe) We used that super duper underwater epoxy
stuffy my neighbor had and did it from the inside by placing a nice flat surface on the roof and taping it down.
Then we used A LOT of epoxy and did it from the inside.



Then I siliconed all around the edges of that




It's actually low which is what we wanted


My neighbors a Body man for Jaguar and he wont leave me hanging,
Will smooth it fill it some more and then paint it soon enough.

Cleaned up it already looks good to me, who the hells gonna see it, the birds ???

 

Headliner was cake to put back in




All back to normal



UNTIL THE NEXT RAIN STORM ????

Time to go wash and wax it, maybe go for another ride