Lake chimaera

[s p a c e m a n]

I've sealed up all of the usual suspects under the bonnet, but I cannot figure out how it's getting in around the drivers side of the windscreen. I can't find any possible route, apart from osmosis through the fiberglass. Water ends up sitting in the tiny gap between the glass and dash and rolls out over the top when I go around a corner. Any pointers?

The leather is now coming off

[portzi]

Can you take another picture as l can't make it out?

[s p a c e m a n]

The water is sitting where I've put the red arrow, I don't think that it's dripping down the screen as there are no trails left there. Properly confused.

[jojackson4]

Windscreen seal?

[portzi]

Me too. If you pour water in that area do you see it disappear? Instead of running off the car? Just a thought,

[s p a c e m a n]

The windscreen seal looks perfect and is so tight that I struggle to get a thumbnail underneath it, it was the first thing that I looked as I thought that would be the culprit, if that is the only option then I'll attack it with silicon too. It takes so long for the water to get down to the dash and is such a small amount that I haven't been able to figure it out by pointing a hose at the car.

[portzi]

It has to be the windscreen seal? As you say if you have already pointed your hose in that area, or even at the top of the windscreen seal, could it be running down. A real TVR puzzle?!!

Edited by portzi on Friday 22 November 20:03

[rickprice]

Nit getting in the top where the targa fits, and running down the inside of the pillar?

[s p a c e m a n]

Wooo, I'm sort of getting there

I took the windscreen seal out, cleaned it up and stuck it back. It was stuck down all the way around and I have no idea how it was getting in there but it seems to have solved it. All of the other bits up the front have been done too and now the front half of the car seems watertight, well I don't get a drip on my legs any more anyway.

I'm stumped on how these are supposed to be held down now though and I'm fairly certain that it's the cause of the dampness behind the seats. The 3 on the back are bolts that go through into the boot, but the ones on each corner have no holes behind them

Am I wrong to just make some holes going through to where the door lock mechanism is, were they fitted another way?

[loud430]

mine just have long self tappers in there...also worth checking the Velcro holds the roof down tight on that corner & waterproof the roof there, I have sat in my mates car & watched water drip straight down the carpet behind the doors where it soaks through the fabric.

[rickprice]

I had a long-standing problem of water behind my drivers seat.

Waterproofed hood, checked velcro, it went on and on…

Finally decided to lift the whole hood off once and for all.

This revealed the fact that there is no real lip under the hood; the top of the fibreglass has a small lift but little els and in my case the wind was simply blowing water over.

I laid a long, continuous bead of silicone around the rim, and then when it had just about gone off, dropped the roof back on.

Voila, as they say. Dry.

Removing the hood is not as daunting as it sounds - might be worth a try. You will need an assistant to hold the bolts in the boot as you unscrew the allen keys in the car.

Rich

[A900ss]

rickprice said:

I had a long-standing problem of water behind my drivers seat.

Waterproofed hood, checked velcro, it went on and on…

Finally decided to lift the whole hood off once and for all.

This revealed the fact that there is no real lip under the hood; the top of the fibreglass has a small lift but little els and in my case the wind was simply blowing water over.

I laid a long, continuous bead of silicone around the rim, and then when it had just about gone off, dropped the roof back on.

Voila, as they say. Dry.

Removing the hood is not as daunting as it sounds - might be worth a try. You will need an assistant to hold the bolts in the boot as you unscrew the allen keys in the car.

Rich

This makes a lot of sense to me as I am getting water into my car.

I park my car facing downhill and the water gutters around the boot and boot hinges are always full of water when it rains so the water must go somewhere. On the overspill it is going to flow towards the bottom of the roof and the roof sides due to the slope I park on.

I parked my car facing uphill yesterday to see if it makes a difference.

[s p a c e m a n]

She is now sporting a couple of lovely self taping screws with some little washers to make it look pretty and I've been out with the vax and sucked the carpets dry, it's supposed to rain again tomorrow.

The velcro is fine both inside and out, it was the only thing really keeping the corners down without those screws and the previous owner had just sealed the roof before I bought it last year, I got half a bottle of renovo thrown in with the car. Just read the destructions and it says to apply it to a clean and dry hood, that won't be happening for a few months then

The lack of a decent lip is a good point, I had forced some bits of rubber into the corners where the screws were missing to try and divert the water whilst I had a play around with the hose ages ago. I thought that there would be more of a lip at the back and that it would taper off towards the ends, If it's still getting wet in there sealing it up would be the logical next step, I've got to find something to use the rest of the sikaflex on anyway

[rickprice]

The photos from Steve Edwards excellent conversion give an idea of the lip present (or otherwise) on the car body:

http://www.steve-edwards.com/images/pdf/hardtop_as...

I do not have the hard top conversion, although it is very tempting…



Rich