Repairing top seals and rear wells

[shadowman1977]

Today i am gonna be attempting to restore all the targa seals and clean under them as i see the seals are dry and dirty where they meet the body, especially the very top rear seal on the body.
Using lithium grease to treat the seals after a thorough soaping and light cleaning.
I also had some rust issues in the rear wells so i bought two plastic well inserts from the J.Y. and will fasten them in somehow.
Anyone done anything like this with success?

 

[#04]

Uhm, if you are seeing rust in your rear wheel wells, then the problem is larger than you think.

That rubber coat in the wheel well gets perforated by stones and it rusts underneath the coating, often times leaving the coating as a good disguise of missing metal.

Mine took 2 patches per rear wheel well.
Then since the welder was out, nuts were welded in, and modified Q45 rear guards were installed,

 

[shadowman1977]

I just removed all the rust and had new steel welded in last week. I removed a good amount of undercoating around the 4 spots, (probably same area as yours) primed, and than used construction sealant to fill any gaps since the welds were only done from inside. I than re undercoated it. I just dont want the problem to pop up again, plus i wont be driving her in nasty weather.
Thanks for the idea to weld the the nuts in. I can still do that.

 

[shadowman1977]

I have successfully stopped the leaks in the top rear targa seal!!! If anyone has this issue let me know. Its a pretty easy fix and costs next to nothing.

 

[#04]

I drilled holes large enough to get the nuts of the inside, using a long bolt to hold them while I welded them in. I planned on using an Allen key fastener, with the slim round head, for the tires sake

 

[3p141592654]

I drilled holes large enough to get the nuts of the inside, using a long bolt to hold them while I welded them in. I planned on using an Allen key fastener, with the slim round head, for the tires sake

Say what?

 

[shadowman1977]

Good stuff, love that idea!

 

[gp-7mgte]

I have successfully stopped the leaks in the top rear targa seal!!! If anyone has this issue let me know. Its a pretty easy fix and costs next to nothing.

I would like to know as I am about to change my seals soon

 

[noel]

How!?!?!??!?!

 

[shadowman1977]

Inside the top rear seal corners ,(if that is where the leak is coming in which is the trouble spot) there are steel brackets molded into the seal at each corner. Over time they bend, loose shape or rust. The driver side bracket in mine was pile of rust, totally gone. So i removed both, siliconed the seal back together where i removed the supports, washed with dawn and lubed the whole seal with lithium grease white,(left to sit for a half hour than wiped off gently)cleaned behind the seals all around, re-installed the seal except for sliding back together the side seals and than i siliconed behind the seal where the brackets used to be, popped the rest of the seal together and put the top on as quickly as possible to seat it and remove the excess silicon if any.

 

[shadowman1977]

If the side seals against the door glass are at fault you can just remove the seal up to the window edge and add shims to the back of the mounting/slide bracket to help sealing against glass

 

[shadowman1977]

Here is a close up of the problem areas, the factory sealant lets water by over time as the seals shrink/warp.

 

[noel]

i have a targa top.......

 

[shadowman1977]

So do i

 

[noel]

o i see yea I'm going to take a good look at this later and ill get back to you