Ian Macky <imacky@us.oracle.com> asked:
>What do people do to seal the front edge of their convertible top? On my
>TR6 it's a metal-to-metal joint and leaks horribly... isn't there supposed
>to be some kind of weatherstrip stuff between them? What do the rest of you
>do?
My TR7 had five different rain leaks when I bought it at age 15 months,
so I have become very experienced at fixing leaks....
One fix was to replace the OEM top with a Robbins top. One problem I had
with the OEM top was that the foam weatherstripping at the top header
rail would stick to the frame on the top of the windscreen, and leave
little pieces behind, looking ugly and degrading the weatherstripping
effectiveness. I was surprised to have the same problem with a brand-new
top. Waxing the frame (it is painted) did not prevent the action, but
the combination of waxing the paint and spraying the foam with silicone
worked perfectly. I would recommend keeping the silicone spray off the
parts of the top that show using newspaper--the overspray I got when
applying the silicone to the folded top was a problem.
Another problem I had with the Robbins top was that it didn't seal well
to the windows. I made some very effective gasketing at the window/top
junction with cut up pieces of bicycle inner tube affixed with RTV. I
found that weatherstripping cement did not hold, but the RTV has been
great for a few months now. Perhaps that technique could help you.
Of all the I-hate-my-car episodes I've overcome, the leaking in the
rain problem was the one I hated most. I would recommend after fixing
the problem you know about, that you give it a lot of hose testing.
--Joe Gorin joeg@sr.hp.com
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