Hello,
My 86' IROC has had water leakage issues (from weather) since I purchased, hoping to gain some information regarding known and possible leak locations. So far, I know of 2 possible issues:
The water collects where some weather stripping seemed to be old near the rear of the middle bar (technical name). It then runs down the plastic piece directly behind inside which drips near the doors. I used some sealer, I believe silicon (whatever it was it is waterproof obviously), and filled it in, but the leak continues. It looks pretty bad now and needs to be redone properly now that I know that did not solve the issue (pic below)



Pic of where I originally sealed



Close-up, it looks really crappy, although it isn't noticeable from any normal distance I will probably redo and make it black
Just realized how awful that looks from looking at the pictures...
Anyways I think the area was not fully sealed underneath the actual bar, so I pumped in more sealant and will test it out once it has set up.
My 2nd known possible issue is that the passenger window sometimes does not come all the way up against the weather stripping, making a closed seal. I think it's because this piece seems to be broken:



The black piece seems to be broken



My guess is stuff like this pushes the window outwards, preventing a good seal

These black "covers" were like this when I bought the car, are they supposed to mount more securely onto the door? They come off very easily and underneath the door looks like this:



I'm guessing that the piece is supposed to clip into this somehow

So my only questions currently are are there any other common areas that water can leak in relating to the t-tops and are these issues something I should try to fix or would I be better off replacing those black covers and weather stripping?

Thanks.

 

A couple suggestions for you based on my experience with my t-tops

* There is a factory t-top leak troubleshooting guide that may help

* If your seals are worn, deformed, or cracked you will have a constant fight.

* If you put new seals on give them time to break in, everything will be too tight until the rubber relaxes. Like the doors take more effort to close.

* My seals are new but they will still leak if I am not careful how I put the tops on. Just a little sideways and they will leak.

Cheers

 

The black door panel top rails have nothing to do with keeping water out of the car. The window guides that bolt to the doors are what keeps the windows pushed against the weatherstripping. The top rails attach to the door panel with speednuts, and aren't supposed to be removed separately from the door panels. It appears that yours were ripped off, tearing the door panels. Not much you can do other than replace them for $130 and try to transfer your inner window sweeps since they don't come with new ones, or try reattaching them with that really expensive chrome-looking duct tape used in homes.

As far as the leaks, the only real proper way to do it is remove all your old weatherstripping and t-top bar and start over. You may have rust holes in your sheetmetal at this point, cracks where you can't see them without removing/destroying your old weatherstripping, etc. Best budget kit is this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-92-Cama...lYmd37&vxp=mtr

If you can't afford the weatherstripping kit, then continue with black silicone, but don't expect great results. Best way to find where the water is coming in from is to sit inside the car and have someone spray the car from outside with a water hose.

 

You are wasting your time with the silicone. Buy some new seals, do some reading here, and fix your leak the right way. With the amount of water you have leaking, don't be surprised if you uncover a rust issue under the weatherstripping when you do install the new seals.

 

 

It looks like you ripped the door top rail off the door panel card.
They are both supposed to come off the door as one piece.

Neither has anything to do with your t-top leaks.

As posted by others you prob. need a new set of t-top seals.
I guess if u don't have the cash for a new set you could TRY
and dig out all that old caulk and re-caulk all the joints.
Maybe it will help cure some or all of your leaks.