C2 Convertible door water leaks

[Neal K.]

A Happy New Year to all.
I am finishing up on the final details of the restoration of my 67 convertible. Today we washed the car and noticed that some small amounts of water had collected on the sill plates underneath the doors. On the passenger side a small amount of water worked its way on to the carpet at either end of the sill plate. The door seals all look good.
As far fetched as this may sound I was thinking of sprinkling talcum powder on the door jams and inner sides of the doors and look for water tracks to help me identify the sources of the leaks. I know that there are slots for water to drain out at the bottom of the doors. I am going to check and make sure that those aren't blocked but am doubtful that that is the cause since the water is on top of the sill plates which I think is higher than the drainage slots.
I am confident that I am not the first to experience this problem.
As Always I am most appreciative of everyones input.
Neal

[Neal K.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

I am refreshing my thread in the hopes that someone out there has some suggestions on how to diagnose/trace back to the source, convertible door water leaks.
Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Neal

[Mike E.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

I think the reason none of us responded is that we are all in shock that a Corvette would leak water!

[Harry S.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

Also, if you fix the leak, be ready for a point deduction during judging!

[Michael G.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

Yeah, leaking was such an expect event, that I think PV now includes pouring a gallon of water on the top. If most of it doesn't leak in the drivers lap, its a fail.

Most of us solved the leak problem by never getting our cars wet anymore. I drove my black car through a half mile of a thunderstorm last Summer; I might as well have ridden it out on the hood...

Sorry, I know we're not helping.

[Neal K.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

I am chuckling out loud as I read the responses.
Having owned the car since 1969 I am no stranger to the leaking. Water in the floor pans from the doors and on my lap from the convertible top.
I used to have plastic garbage bags handy to put on my lap so I didn't get out of the car after a down pour looking like I couldn't wait to make it to the bathroom.
All kidding aside, and the heck with the judging points, any suggestions on how to diagnose the source of the door leaks. Although I plan to drive the car when the forecast is favorable, the weather is unpredictible here in South Florida and those unexpected rain storms just spring up on the fairest of days. Water soaked carpets get moldy and musty quickly. So that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Neal
PS I enjoy the humor so feel free to keep it up if you don't otherwise have any leak detection suggestions.

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

Neal, your powder trick may be the way to go if you can get it to stay on the weatherstrip. I would coat the door jam surround with some cooking oil and the w/strips with powder and close the door and then open it. and look at the w/strip there should be a out line on the weatherstrip. anyway you get what I after it may take a little clean-up after but should not be that bad.

[Steven B.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

Neal, I used to apply glycerin (available at the drug store) to the weather stripping then baby powder over it to prevent water that came in my '68 Impala fastback from freezing in the cold and tearing the stripping. As I recall, when I lived up north, I could see where the water ran in. I would give it a try.

I did have one especially bad instance of water leaking in my '57 between the windshield header and soft top header (and hardtop header, also). I had installed some $13.00 J.C. Whitney red carpet in my '57 in the summer of '65. I also had just installed some 3" wide comp. belts. The belts were laying on the carpet after I had washed the car, including the soft top. I hopped in for a Saturday night spin wearing my white jeans. Well, you can guess --- when I got home I had a red stripe across the top of my jeans, from pocket to pocket 3" wide. The worse part is I was so naive I was afraid to ask my Mom (I was 16) to help with the pants because I thought my parents would think I had a good time, so I slipped into the house and put them in the washer right away. I always liked Corvettes more than girls.

[David L.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

My 1966 convertible does not leak because I never drive it in the rain and when I wash it I am very careful when I rinse it. I never use a nozzle and have the hose only trickling out just enough to rinse off the soap.

Dave

[Kirk M.]

Re: C2 Convertible door water leaks

My 67 convertible leaks a bit during rain storms but not as bad as it did when I originally got it. I drive my car a great deal and have gotten caught in huge thunderstorms in north-central Ohio (driving home from Nationals) and several times in the mountains of WV. Here is what I have done.

I replaced the front bottom bead (correct NCRS diameter which is actually smaller than most repros) on the convertible top. What I think I did that was different was that I spent a great deal of time looking at original tops and close-up pics of original tops. I also closely measured the angle and fold-back at the window junction. When my top was judged they discussed the "set-back" of the bead but backed off after some discussion. I believe this does two things 1) it allows the front bead to compress more when the top is closed and carefully placing that foldback deep enough successful seals the junction at that point between the top bead and side window rubber seals.

The next thing I did was make sure that the side window seals were as tight to the windows and each other as possible. In reality, my passenger side seals are a bit too tight. If the top is up and the window is up (like when it rains) I actually can't put the side window down. I am storing the car with that window up this winter in hopes that the seals will compress a bit allowing the window to be rolled down while driving. If not, I will slightly adjust the top this spring to release the window a bit.

Now, after all that. I still get steady but slow drips above the pass visor and in the corner where the top bead meets the driver window seals. I also get a slow drop in the pass footwell that is from old dried out seals around the windshield. However, I can drive continuously in a heavy rain storm with just a couple of small towels and actually stay dry. I actually worry about my windshield wipers catching each as they pass and binding more than the slow drippy leaks.

Not sure any of this helps.

Kirk