New Project VA485 - RPJ 7L

[Tony Burd]

That looks perfect!

VA276 arrived today for some welding, it's gone in pretty much the same places as VA485!

Blimey how many have you got on the go at the moment?

[James467]

That looks perfect!

VA276 arrived today for some welding, it's gone in pretty much the same places as VA485!

Blimey how many have you got on the go at the moment?

Seven!!!

[Tony Burd]

[Tony Burd]

Not much time today, but had a bit of time to remove the rear section of the roof:


Drilled out the spot welds (I am not very good at it, never seem to get it spot on).

The upper rear screen panel needs some local repair otherwise seems ok. The good thing is this area is covered by the trim.

[James467]

Drilled out the spot welds (I am not very good at it, never seem to get it spot on).

Neither do I!! The structure looks good though.

The rust is the same as Lee's car. I'm just going to replace that section.

[Tony Burd]

Those gutter don't look too bad on Lee's car.

The second picture above shows how much the roof moves when you chop it.

[James467]

Yes, the gutters are very good.

The intergrips will help with the roof movement, lots of them!

[Richard the old one]

Tony. I have been watching your progress on the roof with interest, as when I was tracing how rain water was getting into the boot of one of my Dolomites, I discovered that if I used a hose pipe to spray water onto the roof so that it just went into the gutter it found its way inside and then ran towards the back of the car and then passed down inside the D panel and dripped onto the inner rear wheel arch. Then it ran down into the boot and I suspect some also found its way to the front area of the rear wheel arch. I proved it conclusively by putting some masking tape over the roof gutter and repeating the test. It seems it is critical to seal the joint between the roof panel and gutter. Do you agree or have I got another problem? Could this be the cause of why many Dolomites suffer from getting rain water in the boot? I suspect it could also run forward and down inside the A panel and so cause rot below the windscreen.

I know that you will not be working on the front part of the gutter but I also found on another of my cars that I was getting rain into the car, because the A panel to the gutter was not sealed very well. See photograph - Roof gutter by front windscreen.

[Tony Burd]

Hi Richard

Yes it is certainly possible. If the joint between the roof skin and the gutter is not watertight the water will end up running along the inside section of the gutter either backwards into the boot or forwards down the inside of the a post. Here's a picture which I think you will find interesting it shows the inside of the gutter panel at the top of the D post.

[Richard the old one]

Many thanks for the photograph Tony and I hope it will help some other owners who are looking to find out how water is getting into their car's boot.

[James467]

It is good practice to seam seal welds like the roof gutters with a good PU seam sealer. The factory did do this, unfortunately the sealer tends to go hard and crack letting water back in which from what I can see causes windscreen scuttle and bulkhead rot all the way down to the front and rear sills like Richard found. Water can also leak through the holes on that saddle chrome trim peice on the lower edge of the c pillar.

So when you are done, just run a thin bead of sealer along the gutter, then run your finger along there to seal! I did this on VA138 for Shaun.

[new to this]

It is good practice to seam seal welds like the roof gutters with a good PU seam sealer. The factory did do this, unfortunately the sealer tends to go hard and crack letting water back in which from what I can see causes windscreen scuttle and bulkhead rot all the way down to the front and rear sills like Richard found. Water can also leak through the holes on that saddle chrome trim peice on the lower edge of the c pillar.

So when you are done, just run a thin bead of sealer along the gutter, then run your finger along there to seal! I did this on VA138 for Shaun.

James

What sealer do you use

Dave

[James467]

It's a PU sealer from Whoppee Motor Factors!!

Not sure of the brand, I'll need to go out to the garage and look but its brilliant!

[Tony Burd]

The factory did do this, unfortunately the sealer tends to go hard and crack .....

Yep I can see evidence of the factory sealant but it is comprised, dried and disintegrating.

[James467]

The factory did do this, unfortunately the sealer tends to go hard and crack .....

Yep I can see evidence of the factory sealant but it is comprised, dried and disintegrating.

A bit like the T25 seams Tony!!!

I've been looking at T25 Westfalias recently