Reseating the targa roof seal mounting..

[HiAsAKite]

Will confess, in 13 years of TVR ownership this is the first time a part of the car has actually fallen off in my hands...

Taking the targa out of its bag, the roof seal strip, including the metal spacers and seal rail all fell of the targa.

Turns out that the "thread" in the targa top,that the self tapping screws that screw the rail and spacers into the targa top has given up, and the screws no longer have anything to screw into.

This is a little frustrating :-(

Mu usual trick of padding out the thread with a piece of cut matchstick to act as plug doesn't look like it will work, as it turns out the targa is hollow, and the plug etc would disappear into the roof.

I could just glue the spacers and rail in, and then put the rubber seal back into the retaining rail, but I'm loathe to do this unless there really is no other option

So - suggestions how to restore the thread so I can screw these back in? - best I've come up with so far is try to put some "soft" wood glue on the screw holes, let it set, in the hope that I will then be able to screw into them and it will hold.

Pictures attached:

You can clearly see the holes, than no longer hold the screws, along with the 2 spacers, seal rails



Below the rest of the rail, plus see you can see the rubber seal strip on the floor where I've removed this. Have managed to order a replacement strip from RaceTech

[sixor8]

If the rubber seal covers the screwheads, you could just drill fresh holes in a different place.

Failing that, 2 part epoxy mix resin or one of the brands of 'liquid metal' poured on and allowed to set may enable new holes to be drilled.

A run of silicone sealant when reassembling would help too.

[TvrJohn]

i sell these alloy channel strips and new seals,

just drill some more holes, no issues

[QBee]

You do know that the rubber seal pulls out of the metal rail, allowing you to use thicker screws?

[blaze_away]

I would either...

1. Get a glass fibre kit and fill the holes with new glass fibre and resin then redrill and refit

Or

2. Remove the rubber seal from the channel exposing the screw heads, remove the screws and redrill holes in alternative positions.

[Classic Chim]

Add a thin line of sealant while your there filling the old holes if you go for re drilling.
I found hot water and washing up liquid via a spray bottle made getting the rubber back in the Chanel very helpful.

[HiAsAKite]

Thanks folks. Appreciate all the replies for what might feel like a trivial question.

Will try 'refill' the holes so I can redrill & rescrew. If that fail will try larger screws.

Would like to try and avoid drilling new screw holes if needs be, but as has rightly been pointed out, this all covered by the rubber sealing strip once it is back in.

Thanks for the tips on lubing the rubber seal to get it back in - I've the old one (which has seen better days, but is still perfectly functional), but also ordered a new one so may as well replace while I'm at it.

[blaze_away]

HiAsAKite said:

Thanks folks. Appreciate all the replies for what might feel like a trivial question.

Will try 'refill' the holes so I can redrill & rescrew. If that fail will try larger screws.

Would like to try and avoid drilling new screw holes if needs be, but as has rightly been pointed out, this all covered by the rubber sealing strip once it is back in.

Thanks for the tips on lubing the rubber seal to get it back in - I've the old one (which has seen better days, but is still perfectly functional), but also ordered a new one so may as well replace while I'm at it.

Bigger screws is probably a no-no. You will have to drill the hole in metal bigger and a bigger chamfer for the head to recess into, all not possible as screw heads are already near enough same size as gap in the channel the rubber slides into.

[HiAsAKite]

Just to give closure on this.

Applied a small amount of wood glue (on the basis that it glues slightly soft, and is less likely to be brittle and just crack) into the screw holes to give a little purchase to the original screws.
Enabled me to screw the spacers and rails back in, and susprisingly the original rubber seal slide straight back in without difficulty..

So all resolved for the moment - hopefully will hold :-)

thanks for your suggestions :-)

[blaze_away]

HiAsAKite said:

Just to give closure on this.

Applied a small amount of wood glue (on the basis that it glues slightly soft, and is less likely to be brittle and just crack) into the screw holes to give a little purchase to the original screws.
Enabled me to screw the spacers and rails back in, and susprisingly the original rubber seal slide straight back in without difficulty..

So all resolved for the moment - hopefully will hold :-)

thanks for your suggestions :-)

Thanks for "closing the loop", should help others with similar issues and hopefully the fix will hold, if not I think the other options offered might help if it doesn't.

[Belle427]

Is there room to use rivnuts and countersunk bolts for a more sturdy fixing?