Water Leaks - Known Knowns and Known Unknowns
Discussion
What about this for a catalogue of bodges? This saturated block of wood was supporting the battery tray.....
This was screwed to the bulkhead with two long self-tappers with no sealing. Getting it off was fun! It had to be chopped out with a chisel....
I don't know where he got the wood from, but it had several old nails in it!
There were another two holes 10mm to the side of these holes, presumably from where the pillock who did this initially positioned the tray in the wrong place. So water was percolating down and through these holes as well.
And just in case these weren't enough, to make sure plenty of water could get in, there were a few more....
A total of 11 holes! All now plugged and sealed with P40
So as far as the left side goes, that's 11 known unknowns dealt with today plus the 5 yesterday. That leaves the known known of the leaking door seal plus any unknown unknowns which won't become known unknowns until I pour some water into that area tomorrow. There's also quite a large known unknown on the right side, somewhere under the heater inlet. What fun
This was screwed to the bulkhead with two long self-tappers with no sealing. Getting it off was fun! It had to be chopped out with a chisel....
I don't know where he got the wood from, but it had several old nails in it!
There were another two holes 10mm to the side of these holes, presumably from where the pillock who did this initially positioned the tray in the wrong place. So water was percolating down and through these holes as well.
And just in case these weren't enough, to make sure plenty of water could get in, there were a few more....
A total of 11 holes! All now plugged and sealed with P40
So as far as the left side goes, that's 11 known unknowns dealt with today plus the 5 yesterday. That leaves the known known of the leaking door seal plus any unknown unknowns which won't become known unknowns until I pour some water into that area tomorrow. There's also quite a large known unknown on the right side, somewhere under the heater inlet. What fun
The block of sodden timber will be replaced with a light weight plastic spacer block* and a new battery tray made from a sheet of 3mm alloy plate. What you can see in the photo is a plastic template.
)
- A Blue Peter Badge to the first one who can spot where the plastic spacer block came from
)phillpot said:
... Jewson's?
Give the man a cigar It's dawned on me that the drainage holes aren't a good idea. If I leave the lower edge solid I'll be able to seal the block/spacer top and bottom so it will be easy to make the holes through the bulkhead for the securing bolts (stainless of course!) completely watertight. Oh well, another £1.09 out of my pocket money next week
That would be an excellent suggestion if the crack ran vertically and the resin could percolate down into the crack. Unfortunately I think this crack runs horizontally. I'm going to have to fix the battery tray first so I can get the engine running and get that part of the bulkhead nice and hot to dry it out, and then go from there.
I think I'm also going to have to remove the heater air intake scoop to get at the seam from the outside.
I think I'm also going to have to remove the heater air intake scoop to get at the seam from the outside.
phillpot said:
....looks like you've already tried chewing gum?
...
Plasticine. A temporary plug in one of the more obvious holes to rule that out as the ultimate source of the leak. Unfortunately it wasn't that obvious/simple!...
A bottle of Tolley's on order. Watch this space to see if it works.
Edited by v8s4me on Tuesday 17th January 00:10
SIKAFLEX 221 would be my first choice for this type of job.
Finally got the air scoop off ......
I can't see a crack around the area corresponding with the leak on the inside. The favorite culprits are the little hole where the lower scoop screw was, the big hole with the Plasticine plug and the hole around the fan
inlet.
This whole area was covered with sodden sound insulation material which can't have been helping.
Hopefully the Tolley's will be here tomorrow so we can give that a try.
The hunt continues.......
Finally got the air scoop off ......
I can't see a crack around the area corresponding with the leak on the inside. The favorite culprits are the little hole where the lower scoop screw was, the big hole with the Plasticine plug and the hole around the fan
inlet.
This whole area was covered with sodden sound insulation material which can't have been helping.
Hopefully the Tolley's will be here tomorrow so we can give that a try.
The hunt continues.......
After thinking I'd sorted out the left side I found another two holes hiding underneath the expansion tank. These were easy to find because of the icicles hanging down into the foot well
After plugging those it was back to the right side to try and find the hairline crack. After a bit of poking and scraping I found that the fibreglass was wafer thin in the corner of the moulding...
I've come across this before ie corners where TVR didn't put enough matting and resin in. Water may have been weeping through here since it left the factory. Anyway, the only way to fix this type of thing is to make a proper hole and then fill it using resin and matting and then tidy up with P40 when the matting has hardened.
I've just poured three buckets of water over these areas. There's nothing in the footwells at the moment but lets see whether or not we have any more icicles in the morning.
While the resin was drying I finished off the new battery tray...
After plugging those it was back to the right side to try and find the hairline crack. After a bit of poking and scraping I found that the fibreglass was wafer thin in the corner of the moulding...
I've come across this before ie corners where TVR didn't put enough matting and resin in. Water may have been weeping through here since it left the factory. Anyway, the only way to fix this type of thing is to make a proper hole and then fill it using resin and matting and then tidy up with P40 when the matting has hardened.
I've just poured three buckets of water over these areas. There's nothing in the footwells at the moment but lets see whether or not we have any more icicles in the morning.
While the resin was drying I finished off the new battery tray...
After thinking I'd sorted out the left side I found another two holes hiding underneath the expansion tank. These were easy to find because of the icicles hanging down into the foot well
After plugging those it was back to the right side to try and find the hairline crack. After a bit of poking and scraping I found that the fibreglass was wafer thin in the corner of the moulding...
I've come across this before ie corners where TVR didn't put enough matting and resin in. Water may have been weeping through here since it left the factory. Anyway, the only way to fix this type of thing is to make a proper hole and then fill it using resin and matting and then tidy up with P40 when the matting has hardened.
I've just poured three buckets of water over these areas. There's nothing in the foot wells at the moment but lets see whether or not we have any more icicles in the morning.
While the resin was drying I finished off the new battery tray...
After plugging those it was back to the right side to try and find the hairline crack. After a bit of poking and scraping I found that the fibreglass was wafer thin in the corner of the moulding...
I've come across this before ie corners where TVR didn't put enough matting and resin in. Water may have been weeping through here since it left the factory. Anyway, the only way to fix this type of thing is to make a proper hole and then fill it using resin and matting and then tidy up with P40 when the matting has hardened.
I've just poured three buckets of water over these areas. There's nothing in the foot wells at the moment but lets see whether or not we have any more icicles in the morning.
While the resin was drying I finished off the new battery tray...
Edited by v8s4me on Wednesday 18th January 23:24
This is the area I repaired yesterday.....
Unfortunately water is still getting through somewhere along this seam. I've also found the corresponding corner on the other side of the tub is also porous. Proof, if any was needed, that TVR skimped in the corners, on this body at least.
On the upside, all the other little holes seem to have been found and plugged
I've noticed that there is nothing along the front edge of the scuttle so all the water from the screen cascades down into the heater air intake scoops and the rest of the bulkhead at the back of the engine bay. Are they all like this? Or should there be a moulding along this edge to direct water to the edges of the engine bay? Something like [url]THIS|http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/pdf/P43DR.pdf[url] maybe?
Unfortunately water is still getting through somewhere along this seam. I've also found the corresponding corner on the other side of the tub is also porous. Proof, if any was needed, that TVR skimped in the corners, on this body at least.
On the upside, all the other little holes seem to have been found and plugged
I've noticed that there is nothing along the front edge of the scuttle so all the water from the screen cascades down into the heater air intake scoops and the rest of the bulkhead at the back of the engine bay. Are they all like this? Or should there be a moulding along this edge to direct water to the edges of the engine bay? Something like [url]THIS|http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/pdf/P43DR.pdf[url] maybe?
Good suggestion and I have tried this. This method did show up a lot of obvious holes but unfortunately not areas of porous glass fibre if it has a coat of black paint on it. Also if a hole is clogged with dirt the light won't shine through, but the bloody water will still get in.
Good idea though. Please keep them coming.
Good idea though. Please keep them coming.
v8s4me said:
....Better luck this time.....
Or maybe not! It's better but still leaking so I'm still chasing down the source of the leaks through the hairline crack in the right bulkhead. This time I started working from the inside out. With a range of sharp pokey things and small drill bits I worked along the crack to try and find where it started. I had assumed that because of where the water was seeping through the crack was somewhere along the right angle join in the pictures above. Apart from one porous spot right in the corner the crack actually ran at an angle away from the corner joint and emerged as indicated by the red line in this photo....
Once the "track" was found it was opened up in stages and filled with thin layers of P40. This is one of the opened up "tracks"...
The new pink filler either side of the hole show where other "tracks" have been filled.
4th time lucky?
In between waiting for layers of P40 to dry, a little drip shield for the holes for some wiring and the clutch cable....
A cigar to anyone who can work out what this high tech component was originally intended for
7th in the end!
After last night's storm it looks like all the repairs to the tub have worked with the exception on the door seal on the driver's side. This is a brand new seal and it as tight as a ducks ar
e all the way around. Nevertheless, water seems to be getting inside the channel and working its way down inside the space between the 'U' section and the lip on the tub and dripping out onto the inner sill and pooling in the foot well.
Strangely, the old door seal on the passenger side, which I haven't changed yet, didn't leak at all last night whereas up until now that has been the worst side
I've fitted new 'waist' seals to the windows but there is still water inside the bottom of the doors.
Any suggestions?
After last night's storm it looks like all the repairs to the tub have worked with the exception on the door seal on the driver's side. This is a brand new seal and it as tight as a ducks ar
e all the way around. Nevertheless, water seems to be getting inside the channel and working its way down inside the space between the 'U' section and the lip on the tub and dripping out onto the inner sill and pooling in the foot well.Strangely, the old door seal on the passenger side, which I haven't changed yet, didn't leak at all last night whereas up until now that has been the worst side
I've fitted new 'waist' seals to the windows but there is still water inside the bottom of the doors.
Any suggestions?
adam quantrill said:
..........Oooh that's not good - still water will get brackish and you might get midge or mosquito larvae growing in it.....
OK, so it's off to the GP tomorrow to get jabs for malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, Saint Louis encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, Eastern equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis and Zika fever. If only fixing the so
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