I have just about had it with t-tops in general. It has already done damage to the metal inside the car that i'm repairing right now. thank *** i ripped everything out cause the carpet was soaked.

I have all new t-top weather-stripping. I put them in properly and took my time. The t top bar didnt but up to the the front and back tight so i used silicone thinking the water was getting in from there but still leaks. Well now it turns out i think the waters getting in from where the t-top glass itself buts up to the bar. So i forced paper under the glass to push it up tight and still leak.

I hate t-tops, if i always have a persistant leak i think it would come down to getting a hard top car thats how pissed off i am about this. any help or suggestions"

 

3 pic rule

 

wouldn't you want to force the glass down rather than up, cuz upward you're just pushing the glass up against the metal strip in the middle rather than the rubber that is underneath the inner part of the glass. I don't think you'd make much of a seal when pushing glass up against metal. I could be wrong tho, let's see what the rest say.

 

yes, this is true hmm.

 

When i wash my car i slip a thin piece of rubber material between the glass and the center bar on the OUTSIDE of the car. I don't get any leaks. Also, there are adjusting pieces on the sides of the t-top opening to make the glass tighter or looser. Did you use waterproof adhesive when you put the new weather strip down? What brand did you use?

 

pictures would help if you have any. But no I didn't put any type of adhesive since i was going to take the stripping out to paint the whole area.

 

That would be your problem right there.

 

My ttops leak too but I havent tried to fix them. I was very mad at the begining but then I got over it. I just cover my car up when it is going to rain so it doesnt get wet. I know it is a PITA to that everytime but I love ttops waaaaay to much to get a car with out them. I have owned 3 3rd gens together and 2 of them have been with ttops. I wouldnt have another non ttop car after owning the hard top one. You probably just need to pay someone to do it, that is probably what I will do when I fix mine. Sorry that I can not tell you how to fix yours, but ace16a is right about the adjustments on the ttops...that might help. Good luck.

 

.

 

i replaced my ttop wheather stripping and used 3m wheater adhesive and the damn things still leak. i love ttop cars and i would never get a hardtop. i keep the car covered when i am not driving it with a weather proof coverand a full sheet of thick plastic that i drape over the top of the car for added protection. it works well but it is a pain in the ***. i just figured that it must be from the body flexing so much before the sfc where put in.

 

heres a fix that cured my t-tops from leaking, the metal strip on the outside edge of the t-tops is where my leaks were originating, I cant honestly say what type of sealing material is under it because I didn't see mine repaired, but after they took the pieces off and re-glued them or whatever mine completely stopped leaking. I was also told over tightening the adjuster for the pins will also cause the t-tops to distort and not seal. this seems pretty logical since the design is any water that does seep by the outer seal is then channeled between the rubber seals down the side of the door glass. another area which cause the biggest leaks if water finds it's way under the weatherstipping, when I had my new seals put in they used an absurd amount of weatherstripping adhesive everywhere the weatherstipping touched the body. they also wire brushed the paint off where the adhesive was so that the adhesive stuck better. Yet another cause of leaks is using amorall on the weatherstripping WHY I don't know but I was told this too Alot of work yes but it stopeed my leaks and my car never had subframe connectors

I think if you took something that left a mark and applied it to the weather stripping and latched the t-tops down you would see a good outline of where the seals may be causing a problem

 

yea my t tops leak to. I'm about to to get some new seals. I would never get a hardtop thirdgen. Theres nothing like cruisin around on a hot summer day with no t tops.

 

Well i found where the water was getting in and put a lot of silicone in it. I'll take a pic and show where tomorrow. It was at each corner on the far sides.

 

everytime i think i fix it, the next day after a rain i notice alittle bit of water. This is no good. I think the problem is that the glass isn't tight enough down , where the t-top bar is. As if the t-top bar has risen over the rears and isn't keeping the glass toward the center compressed down tight on the stripping so its air tight. Any suggestions? i hate t-top

 

Did you pull the center bar and seal it to the body? There is a GM bulletin describing in detail how to correctly seal it, along with tips on installing the weatherstrips. All of my leaks came in through underneath the center bar, and ended up everywhere, including the back seat. PM me and I can fax you a copy of the bulletin.

 

I just don't get these damn t-tops. I hate them, their causing rust to my car which is bull****. I'm not sure why, but I thought water wasn't supposed to get under the t-top bar. Here's this picture where previously I was saying there are holes at each corner. Directly at the ends of the t-top bar which i arrowed in blue is all open under there and also at the top, but i siliconed that sadly i had to. If water gets under there it runs along under neath the stripping like a channel and builds up where each outside corner is arrowed in darkred. I put silicone heavy in every spot where red is marked. I don't get it. I didn't want to go crazy and use the right sealer for everything yet because, what if i do it wrong. But I also want to paint that area since the painter didn't, I don't know why he didn't. I guess the only way water could be getting in is from the t-top bar. It has to be somewhere at that area.

 

were the t-top bar has silicone

 

here's the pic where i had to silicone in each corner. This is the left front. Now when the water gets under the t-top bar is runs along the channel under the strippping then gets to these corners. Should water even make it that far to get to the channel? where is water aloud to go.

 

 

With reference to your picture with the 4 large red arrows. You have to use caulk in the areas that the red arrows are pointing to. For some reason or another there are gaps behine there and water will leak in if you don't fill them with caulk.

Have a look at this post of mine and see if this helps you any.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=274551

Robert

 

I saw that one pic you had on there , which helped a lot. Now we need one of those for the center bar.

 

Did you remove the T-Top bar? Mine was rotted so I tore it off with my teeth and simply threw it away. When I put the new one on I used a lot of silicone sealer to seal the underside of it up the bolted it down. I then put the weatherstrip adhesive in the chanels that the rubbers go on and put the rubbers on.

 

Wait you didnt use any adhesive when you installed in? How the hell did you get it to stay on I dont have a t-top car but if i didnt use adhesive on my hardtop it would be all messed up.

 

Hey guys i'll tell ya bout my experiance with leaky t tops. The wife had a 84 z28 with t tops. They leaked pretty bad when it would rain (theres nothing like goin down the road with the windows up and still havin rain hit ya in the face ) Any way the way i was able to fix her leak was to get the tape that you are supposed to use when you put a cap on the bed of a pickup truck. It was like 1.5"s wide. I got this at Pepboys for under $10 so i thought it was worth a try. When i got home i cleaned the t top glass with rubbing alcohol around the outside edge where the rubber seal touches, where i was going to install the seal tape. Then i put the tape on the edge of the t top around the entire perimeter where the really dark black part is so it would cover up the tape. The only time you would see the tape is when the t tops were off the car. I was pretty skeptical when i did this because her t top seals were in pretty bad shape but i never had to change them. And they never leaked again. I hope this helps you guys out If you want a pic let me know.

Later
Matt

 

I had the same issue..nothing worked until I removed the t-top bar. With the bar off, and of course the stripping, put a healhy amount of silicone under where the bar sits, then place the t-top bar on top of that , and then put down the stripping, again with more silicone around it...this should work for you.