OK, summer is over and it does rain in Southern California sometimes so
while I'm waiting for my new stop light switch from SS, I decided to
tackle my Alpine water leak problem. Last winter in a downpour on the
freeway, I ended up with literally 2-3 inches of water on the driver's
and passenger floorboards and since I don't have the option of parking
the car when it rains, I need to fix it. I like rain on occasion, but
not in the car. The soft top, by the way, is pretty water tight so
that's not a problem.
A few months ago when this happened I had posted the question to our
lists and got some excellent tips which I'm now trying to put into
action. I do get a bit of a drip from under the driver's side dash (not
much) and I'm going to seal the washer and wiper pieces to stop
anything there.
Tonight I installed a new driver's door to window outside seal (the
piece that goes the length of the top of the door). It's a SS piece.
Install went very easily. However, it does not make a complete seal.
When the window is up, the rubber does not seal along the complete
length of the window and "bows" out a bit at a couple of spots. Also,
where it runs along the window "wind wing" glass chrome piece, there is
also a signifigant gap where water will flow down. Is this a defective
design on this piece of trim? Did the original seal completely?
I took the door panel off today (driver's door) to see what's inside.
The insulation piece that's stuck to the door inside is peeling off a
bit so I'll glue that back on. However, the plastic sheet that I've been
told channels water away from the inside bottom of the door is only
evidenced by a small piece coming off the bottom of the window channel
(where the window sits in it). The rest of it must have disinigrated
over 32 years. I can't figure from where to where this sheeting is
supposed to go. Has anyone done this job? That being said, water
leaking down the window is going to end up at the bottom of the inside
of the door but I can not see any evidence of drain holes for this.
Where is that water supposed to end up and exit the door? This sure
seems like a silly design! Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to
just design a window seal that prevents water getting into the door in
the first place?
Since the "interior flood", I've added a strip of aftermarket rubber
trim to the body an inch or so below where the stock door trim closes
onto the body when you shut the door. Now I don't see the ground at the
front of the door which seems to be a common problem, plus this should
stop water from splashing up into the door and the car. Not having a
rain since, though, I don't know if this will solve the problem there.
Sorry about going on and on but hopefully some of you can offer some
additional advice.
Thanks.
Steve Sage
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