Water leaking Leaking into footwells

[l10tus]

I have pools of water in both the foot wells, (unknown before - as the car has never been stored outside)!

It appears to be coming in / dripping from under neath the dashboard area, just above the blower switch / boot release button area, on the drivers side (RHD), so I have narrowed it down to the windscreen rubber failing, as there's no other possible point of entry visible around there? (Is there?).
lHS the screen rubber is also split, but not clear where the water is coming in from, other than above the underside of the dash area.

Upon inspection I can see the screen rubber is split in the lower L &R corners of the windscreen, so it appears to have failed with age, the splits are parallel to the glass, not across the width of the rubber.

Q: is this a "normal" failure point?
Q: is the screen bonded in?
Q: is it a "do it yourself" job to replace the rubber?
Q: any pitfalls I should consider?
Q: best practice? ( Don't say visit Windscreen company please!)
Q: is it a generic screen rubber?

Any advise appreciated,
Phil.

[miniman]

I’ve replaced the screen rubber, it’s available from Motaclan. You need to clear out the existing Sikaflex from the channel that the rubber sits in then bond the new one in.

Also worth checking the usual water ingress points under the bonnet where various pipes / cables go through the wing and bulkhead, the clutch cylinder cover (I think it’s the clutch) and the master cylinder.

I have been chasing leaks forever. A great tip I saw which I am going to try next spring is to put a disco smoke machine in the cabin and observe where the smoke exits to find the leaks.

[ATG]

From memory, I'd be looking under the bonnet at points where cables go through the fibreglass from the engine bay into the cabin. When looking at the engine bay, picture where the driver's foot well actually is and look for stuff running from the engine bay into that foot well.

Well respected technique for tracing leaks is to stand on your head in the foot well while an accomplice with a watering can pours water onto the fibreglass in the engine bay until you start to see water leaking into the cabin.

Wot miniman said. And I love the idea of using a smoke machine.

[sixor8]

I've had several TVRs with leaks into the footwell, and it hasn't been the windscreen, although I have suspected it. The fact you say it's dripping off the buttons suggests it may be, or perhaps through the windscreen washer jet apertures.

The most common failure for me has been the sealant around the brake fluid reservoir. It may look OK but a tiny leak allows water into the brake servo area and the water tracks back into the footwell.

[Johno]

Wiper spindles
Door seals - comes down window frame and rolls down to corners and into footwell
Bulkhead grommets - where loom comes in
All bolts through inner wings
Brake and clutch reservoir covers
Windscreen rubber

Simply anywhere there’s a home in the bodywork, it’ll get in.

[PabloGee]

From my experience, the water in the drivers footwell is typically from the brake fluid reservoir and/or the clutch cover on the inner wing - as sixor8 mentioned, but also Johno's list.
There are a couple of other grommets you could re-seal as a matter of course, including the ones that the bonnet release and accelerator cable comes through. I would suggest using ordinary black silicone sealant - I have done it with Sikaflex 221, but found that failed as it doesn't flex as much as silicone.

The windscreen rubber is not a generic piece, so if yours is relatively in tact, you would be as well to try to neatly fill the cracks with Sikaflex.
Alternatively, carefully take it off and reseat it - taking care to ensure it meets the roof properly (not too loose or too tight), and meets the window runners properly too.
When I took mine off to do this (it had been poorly done with clear silicone and looked bad) I couldn't see how it would allow a leak, and the doors are theoretically sealed against the body on the seal they meet.

The seal that runs around the door sills and over the windscreen is a generic profile, easy to get, and easy to replace - just need to ensure it is properly fitted to all the curves, and either riveted or self-tapper'd at the ends where it meets the roof hinge.
I got mine from ebay, cost around £25.

Not related to where you are seeing ingress, the other thing to check is the sill seal - does yours have two pinches or nicks along the bottom?
A factory fix to allow pooling water to drain away to the outside rather than finding its way inside.

[l10tus]

Thanks for all the valuable replies.

The car has not been driven for Months so none of the ingress is caused by "forced" water ingress.

The drips are from behind the lower curved portion of the dashboard, so too high up in relation to any that might be entering through the clutch brake cover sealants areas.

It could be round the wiper mechanism, good call! The washers on my car are tubes fitted to the wiper blades, so the exit holes through the bodywork wouldn't be in the correct place to allow water coming through 2 feet to the right and left of the central area - can't believe it's tracking that far across the car to drop on the switches mentioned though?

No, for me it's the screen, just wondered if it's a screen rubber that's glued in, or a proper "bonded in" screen with rubber trim piece stuck on top - noting there's quite a difference in description between the two methods?

Anybody know the actual method of holding in the screen???