Cascade Crew

[Schultzy89GTA]

Any recommendations for t-top/window seal kits based on your experiences? I have heard a lot of conflicting info on the topic and I know some of you have even put new seals on but still had leaks afterwards. If you could post up the brand(s) that you have experience with and how well things sealed afterwards it would be appreciated.

My car had zero leaks for the first several years after I got it. Once it started leaking a little I guess it gets worse fast. I normally park it inside so I don't notice but last weekend she stayed out in the rain and let me know that I should probably consider doing something about it this year.

Thanks,

-Schultzy

[Xophertony]

there are two mostly useless tech articles on TGO. they do not have any pictures but do offer some good advice if you can figure out what they are talking about.

http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/ttops.shtml
http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/ttopleakfix.shtml

the advice i would give you would be to fit your new seals first without any glue. just to see how they go in there. they are a bitch to get in right. and i used original GM ones. also use way more silicone then you think you need. especialy on the corners. i flooded that stuff in there and i still have leaks

you will notice on your current t-top seals that where they mount to the body @ the front and rear corners there are little plastic bits molded into the weather stripping. when i installed my new driverside weather stripping it did not have these. i tore them out of my old weatherstripping and did my best to insert them into the new seal. however... when i did the passanger side 4 months later, the new seals did have the plastic bits. so if you buy GM seals be sure they have the plastic bits, they are suposed too!

as far as off brands go i have never heard good things about any of them. i have heard alot of bad stuff about "soffseal" or "softseal" (i have seen it spelled both ways) brand seals. one guy said his original worn out seals sealed better and were softer then his new set of softseals. i think year-one sels them.

[Quasi-Traction]

That's why I'll never buy a T-top car.

But speaking of seals....I need a good set of seals to go around the roof pillar (which I guess is where the window glass meets the roof, A and B pillars) Saw the Softseal stuff in JEG's (they have the best price on it) but if theres other options I'll at least check em out before I go ahead.

My hinge repair kit came for the driver door today. Go figure its the same day I figure out that I'm going to have to replace the passenger door because you can't switch regulators between power and crank windows, so before anything gets done, I'll order another set of hinge replacements and get my weatherstripping situation figured out, then go from there.

Igntion switch/buzzer switch and Turn signal cam have been fixed in my column, but there's a broken tooth on my tilt mechanisim gear, and i don't know how to fix it, so I've finally caved, I'm taking it to Terry (a friend of the families who's been rebuilding GM tilt columns for 20 some-odd years).

The race is on to have it done before Cows.....maybe if I'm lucky I"ll show that a V6 Car can do a burnout (even if its a right-tire fire)

[Xophertony]

[Quasi-Traction]

And this years "Crewbie Tech of the year" award goes to Tony G.

Thanks man, now I just have to frustrate myself in other ways to make it work. I'll probably use bolts instead of rivets though, just a little drilling involved.

[Xophertony]

cool. the replacement electric motors come with self tapping machine screws. i used hella big rivets when i replaced the electrics in the 89. they worked great. the only reason i would not want to use bolts/nuts is that you have to be able to get at both sides to remove them. the rivets made it real easy when i screwed up and had to remove it . you can rent big ass rivet guns at places like "ace hardware". i bet home depot too. good luck with whichever way you decide to go.

[Schultzy89GTA]

[BigDaddyVu]

I was told the only reason the seals leak on those t- tops is the heat from direct sunlight and the pressure of them locked into place causing them to be permanantly squashed and losing there retention.

[Al Hasse]

I've had mine replaced twice. Had one major leak fixed on the current seals, but they still leak occasionally toward the rear and drip down on my seat belts. Major leak was up front where the seal met the center bar, leaked into a small hole and travelled across the top of the windshield and came out where the window rolls up to meet the seal.

[Quasi-Traction]

yeah, you're right, all that is fun.........but I'd get a Convertable before I"d get a T-top car.

[iansane]

Me too.

Although I need to look into all new seals, window felts, etc.

[Xophertony]

and maybe not driving around in the rain with the top down

[iansane]

Well I could always just rhino line the interior and where a poncho...

[Xophertony]

[alloy]

After reading this thread...........I definately decided not to Rhino line my car, and see if I could find some way to slow down or stop my t-tops from leaking.

I pulled the tops off and stood them up against the wall with the locking side down, and sprayed water on the area where the metal covers the glass on the side. I found that the water would just disapear right under the moulding and run out from the ends of the plastic trim part underneath the top.

So, I cleaned and dried the tops out and run a small bead of clear silicone between the glass and the trim part trying to force as much under the metal trim as I could. Aftet that I cleaned as much of the silicone off as I could just leaving maybe a 1/16" bead showing between the glass and the metal trim part. If you look from six inches away you can see the bead of silicone if you are looking right at it, but from 2 feet you can't even notice it.

This morning I went out and my left seat belt was dry!!!! My seat was dry, and my left arm didn't get soaked on the way to work. I have zero drips from the left side now, and have slowed down the right side drips maybe 80%. Not to mention when I came out tonight after work I didn't have all my windows fogged up from the inside as usual.

[BigDaddyVu]

my head liner is rotted and i found surface rust under the carpet in the foot wells