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So I brought myself a hardtop off eBay for £170 which i was pleased with, did the 3 hour round trip yesterday to collect it and really appreciated the difference it makes on the motorway!

Got in the car today and could hear water sloshing around, when I took the hardtop off I was serprised to find that there is a lot of water actually inside the hardtop, I have no idea how it got in as the seal look ok and none is actually coming out again either to indicate the problem.

Any ideas?

Nothing is ever easy!!

Can you tell whether the water is above the windscreen or below the rear window? Struggling at the moment to think where there's a double skin.

It seems to move around, but is mainly in the side pillars behind the plastic

Can't recall side pillars and I only took the hardtop off the car last Friday. Will take a look at mine at the weekend.

The bit that’s between the rear window screen and the side window, on a car with a roof I think are referred to as A pillars. There is a plastic cover on the inside.

Mine did the same and I was unable to trace and fix it so I drilled a small hole on both rear pillars at the bottom, water came out and Ive had no problem with sloshing in the past 3 years since.

Yes that’s what I was thinking of doing, but was concerned how it got in there to start with...

beefio wrote:Yes that’s what I was thinking of doing, but was concerned how it got in there to start with...

I couldnt trace where the water was coming from as there isnt really anywhere unless it was around either window seals but they are a tight fit.
The roof is a moulded unit so Im pretty sure no damage would occur with the drain holes in place, Ive had no problems since doing this and the holes dont look out of place.

beefio wrote:The bit that’s between the rear window screen and the side window, on a car with a roof I think are referred to as A pillars. There is a plastic cover on the inside.

The A pillar is the front one, by the windscreen,
B pillar is behind the front door so between the doors on a four or more door car.
C pillar is either behind the rear doors on a car with four or more doors or behind the rear window on a two door car with rear quarter lights.
Finally you sometimes get D pillars........

So I was gluing my hardtop lining as it had completely sagged and when I unscrewed the front finges and turned over the hardtop the water inside it began to run out the holes so I left it to drain out.

Thinking about it, the water can only have got it through the window seal as there is no other possible entry point I can see.

Is it possible to remove and re-fix the window seal in order to resolve the issue?

Do you need speacial tools?

I was thinking of drilling drainage holes in the bottom of the roof but looking at it that could result in water draining in to the car while the roof is on if water is getting in via the seal, which is no good so I have decided not to do that and will just try to fix the seal if possible...

Anyone?

Really want to get the window out and reseal it before the weather really turns.

Is the window/rubber seal actually sealed with a sealant?

What should I use, if there is no sealant currently then I probably need to add one to stop the water ingress, as the deal alone isn’t keeping the water out?

It is a while since I've studied a hard top but I would expect the rear screen to have a good old fashioned rubber seal - Rimmers list one....

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID019065

I would replace the seal and that should cure the problem.

A "bodge" would be to try Capt Tolley's sealing fluid. It's a very old dodge, and is basically a water/latex emulsion which wicks into cracks with capillary action and sets.
You have to keep adding layers until no more seeps into whatever crack/void there is. Both sides of the seal need trying, ie body to seal, and glass to seal.