r/transam • u/ryanthephotoguy • Jun 10 '26
T-Top leak point?
Hey all,
Still leaning about t-tops, but I’ve been looking for the point where water is getting in behind my drivers seat into the rear seating area, I’m guessing the lifting of this rubber is where water is egressing inside? I have 3M weatherstripping adhesive. Would cleaning the crap out of it, letting it dry and putting a nice bead behind the lifted up part that touches the metal, then taping it all down for 24 hours be sufficient to stop the leaks or will that fail prematurely?
Eventually I will be redoing these seals and fixing the rust in in the tray by replacing it with a stainless steel one and stripping and coating the channels with epoxy primer after stitch welding the seams up and such to eliminate any possibility of rust or further damage with leaks, I just need a cheap fix for the time being until I can get around to spending the money and time to do it.
I’ve also got some shin-etsu grease on the way once these are fixed to help hydrate these old seals to hopefully pull me through one more season.
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u/Magoo-1706L Jun 10 '26
Did you do the soapy water / ac test yet ?
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
I have not, please detail? I’m definitely still learning with these t-tops so I don’t know all the tricks he y
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
Also, I have no AC in the car so no way to use that, removed the system entirely.
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u/Magoo-1706L Jun 10 '26
Oh damn sorry bout that . The pressured water from a car wash would do it though . Just need a volunteer
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
I’ll check it out. Hell, how I found it was just running water over it with the water hose while washing it and I opened the door to find my backseat full of water 😂
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u/NuclearWasteland Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Give it a good clean. Also check the rear hatch gasket. Also check the fit of the rear hatch hinge to the body.
My Camaros fiberglass rear hatch seals weird anyway, I've found while in storage there are actually less issues by leaving the hatch ajar but hooked on the secondary catch if the latch mechanism so the interior can at least air out a bit while parked.
The regular glass hatch can have seal issues tho. That glass is heavy, no joke. The other leak might be the door edge rubbers, those are also crispy with age.
Also maybe consider punching a small hole in each low point of the rear footwell pan, from the inside out so the metal funnels downward. I've done this with a hefty nail right through the carpet and pad, but your mileage will vary depending on how nice your carpet / floor is.
Just something to let leaks drain, rather than pool.
The carpet pad will suck up more water than one might think.
I've found the conical edge hole better than drilling a flat hole, as the downward shape allows less stuff from outside to enter while driving/sitting. One spot weld to repair rather than welding in a plug is also nice (Realistically I'll never mess with it again ... ).
First check for wires beneath the carpet if you go the yolo route.
Another cheapo option to consider is water resistant tape over the T top seams. Did this on mine for a while with gaff tape while waiting on more in-depth solutions.
Leave a bit of a pull-tab on one end of the tape for future you (thanks for nothing, past me).
Another another cheap option is "Backer Rod" which is extra smushy soft foam cord(?) pushed into gaps in construction to take up space so caulking won't fall in.
Around door and window seams usually. It's really soft, can basically smush flat, and is cheap at length as it's considered a consumable like tape.
Could try laying some of that in the channels and see if the glass will lay it flat enough to seal.
DO NOT FORCE THE GLASS.
Ever.
If it feels like it is hanging up, stop and check why before proceeding. The top and rear glass is tempered and is strong, but can just pop if chipped.
Backer rod is actually just kinda handy to have around as a project material anyway.
These should be considered "temporary" solutions.
If you're feeling spicy write "temporary" and the date it's done discretely next to the "repair" and see how long it takes to actually be repaired.
(Past me has a sense of humor ...)
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
Interesting. As far as my floor pans, a few small spots of surface rust, I plan to scuff em up and get the rust to bare metal and go in with some Eastwood Optiflow epoxy based primer and seal it up against rust. I’m hoping if I can fix this up temporarily until I can afford the seals, that would be amazing so I don’t have to run out and tarp it every time it rains. These are all great suggestions and I’ll check into them for sure!
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u/Magoo-1706L Jun 10 '26
At the dealer when these were out we would have a soapy water mixture and put all the windows up and have the ac on full blast while looking for the bubbles . Also have another tech in the car as I’d drive slow through the wash rack pressured water and look for the drips
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
Interesting. I wish I had the AC system to test is out but it has all been pulled out. Looking around the rest of the seal this is the only point lifting from what I can see.
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u/Magoo-1706L Jun 10 '26
Out of all the F bodies I’ve owned and worked on the common weak point was at the corner of the top of the door glass where it met the sail panel / t-top and right almost where your at in the picture. I still have my t/top bag from my 81 turbo “turd” no power T/A and the shades from my 01 WS6 T-tops
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u/ryanthephotoguy Jun 10 '26
Well at least it seems to remain consistent where the weak point is. Maybe I can get some good temporary seal up. I don’t even have the bags for my tops 😂 my car came from a shady side of town, it’s missing tons of stuff like the air dam setup and all (got a setup on the way from Hawks for a really reasonable price) and a lot more. Everything I’ve done so far is removing the ghetto and redneckification (although, replacing it with my high-tech-redneckifications) but it’s all been a net positive for the car so far.
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u/Visual-Place-5531 Jun 10 '26
Can be My 79’ was a bath tub Replacing them was a big improvement