T-Top Water Leak Fix
 

OK I know many of you out there have this same problem. I know this because of the 4 T-Top cars that are between my friends and I, I have done this fix successfully with 3 of the 4 cars.

This leak happens in the rear of the door by the seat belt, water comes down the interior trim and into the back seat well or floor. Take a look at this picture to see where the leak happens

Attachment 31153

Now I have found that the leak is caused by the foam rubber seal under the weather strip has gone bad and no longer seals the water out. Here is what you will need to get this simple job done:

7MM nut driver or ratchet
1/4in Standard screw driver (found this works best)
#2 Phillips screwdriver
about 2" of urethane butyl tape
either some Form-a-Gasket #2B(non hardening) or some weatherstrip adhesive.

Remove the plastic interior trim. You only need to remove the little one that is held in with the 2 screws. Remove the 7mm bolt that holds the weatherstrip on. Carefully using the 1/4" screwdriver scrape the foam rubber off the body of the car while pulling up on the weatherstrip. When you are done it should look like this.

Attachment 31154

Attachment 31155

Next you need to clean the old rubber and adhesive off the body of the car. The cleaner the better but if you can get it at least like in this picture you will be fine.

Attachment 31156

Attachment 31157

The weatherstrip is going to be messy too so clean it up too:

Attachment 31158
Dirty!

Attachment 31159
Clean!

Now time for the butyl tape and adhesive. Roll the tape into a ball and warm it up so it can be spread out nicely. Once you get that done flatten it out on the same place as the foam rubber. Use and ample amount of adhesive on both ends of the butyl as shown in the picture.

Attachment 31160

Last but not least you need to finish the job up. Reinstall the weatherstrip and replace the 7mm bolt. Take some more of the adhesive and trim up the weatherstrip where it meets the body like shown.

Attachment 31161

Let it dry a while and you should have the leak sealed up nicely. So far so good for me and the jobs I have done. I live in Western Washington where we get more than our fair share of rain and not a drop in the rear of the T-tops

Massey

Nice..thanks for this Massey!

I'll keep this in mind when mine starts to leak, luckily they haven't yet.

You said "Yet" Now that you said it, it is going to happen... and no I am not setting a curse on you :P

Massey

Nice write up, someone should make this a sticky.

Nice write up. Can you tell us how long this repair lasts? Is it something that we have to redo every year?

I live in eastern Washington and while we don't have the rain, we have more snow. And I think that the slow snow melt from the warm days allows the water to seep into the car.

Luckily, I have a garage where my Z gets to spend her non-driving time. My trucks are jealous, but they understand.

Have any solutions for the front part leaking? Or would it be the same? I've siliconed the crap out of them and it doesn't help. It rains just as much inside my car as it does outside. It's annoying. Not to mention I get rained ON while inside. They leak bad. Always have since I got the car.

I would imagine a similar repair would work for the front too since there is foam rubber seal on that part as well. I have not needed to address that part of my T tops yet. So far the oldest repair has been about 6 months on my car and all is well. it can take full pressure hose while washing and not pass through the seal. Now full hose on the side glass is a different story but we all know that one.

DR try adjusting the bracket that the pin goes into, going down does not always fix it, if you go down too far you will push the lower part of the gasket too far out and that will actually open it up making the leaks worse. I know it sounds odd but it is true.

Massey

I'll have to try looking at it again. I was just going to give in a buy new weather stripping (it's starting to rot and tear all over the car now), but I can't find any cheaper than like $300 for both sides.

$300 for both sides I would hope is new or remaned and not used. If it is new it would not be a bad price. Again the adjustment of the top is key to getting a leak free car.

Massey