Rain water getting in

[cjones60]

Hi
I have been working on all the rain water leaks on my plus2 (s130) over the last week or so and have fixed all the under dash leaks (pedal box, cable grommits etc) the foot area is now dry after heavy rain, the doors on both sides still have water ingress, some of the drips appear to be from the base of the quarterlight windows and rain water is running down behind the door trim (on both sides) see image (if it loads clear enough), also there is a gap in the joint in the door seal strip at the bottom, is this the best place for the joint? should the water get past the quarterlight - or should it run down the middle of the door? I was thinking about covering the car through bad weather but I understand this is a no no with Elans, thought about just covering the roof to the door handles (including quarterlights) any thoughts? thanks Chris.

[elanman999]

Chris,
To seal the quarter light I lifted the frame and put some silicone sealer in the gap.
+2's also leak from water running down the A pillar which then comes into the car at the lower door seal, just forward of the seat front. Originally the was a seal on the shut face of the lower portion of the A pillar which made the water run forward to miss the door seal, this seal is missing now on most +2's and I dont know if it is obtainable. I used a piece of arrow shaped trim from Woolies on my car and it seams to do the trick. Pic attached. The original seal was pop rivetted on, I have stuck mine on and I am have trouble to get it to stay on!
Best of luck.
John

[terryp]

Chris
Regarding car covers , you can read a lot on the forum about not to use them but I'm not so sure.
I used one regularly on my old Lotus Elan +2 for approx 1 year with no paint deterioration at all. I then found that the cover was disintegrating itself but I spoke to Specialised Car Covers and after a fashion (!) they replaced the cover with a newer version. Then with my new Lotus I started using it and I got a couple of bubbles round the rear hinges. I stopped using the cover and built a garage! I don't really know whether the cover had anything to do with these bubbles, but I got to have a garage anyway, so it convinced my wife!!
There are two main issues , wind and condensation. If the cover is of the fitted type and well tied and clean then it will limit any wind damage. Condensation can occur but whilst it does dry out through a breathable membrane, it does not dry out quick enough. Having said that if car is used regularly it does allow everything to dry out. I beleive that a cover will only accelerate any problem that will happen eventually anyway.
Your top hat idea would be good but tying it down to prevent wind damage may be a problem?

All the best

Terry

[cjones60]

John/Terry
Thanks for info, I am going to do both, Woolies have the arrowhead Neoprene sponge exstrusion
and I will order some and bond it on, I also have a hood cover that I used on an old MGB that has elastic ties
with plastic hooks that will attach to each wheel arch should be able to withstand wind, I have new carpets
that I want to fit (from Coverdales) these include the sections at the bottom of the door trims, took me
ages to graft these on and I don't want to repeat the job next year, the carpets that came out were rotten
but this was mainly from water running down the pedal box and also coming in the handbrake cable and wiring
loom bulkhead holes, i fixed these first. Thanks for your help - Chris

[stugilmour]

Chris/John:

Great pic of the secondary door seal. We had a thread a while back, but I was unsure of how/where to install it. Understand the exact seal is, as you mention, unobtainable. However, I did get a suitable replacement from Sue Miller, so that is an option if you can't find one that will fit.

I had checked a while back for the quarter light seals, and they are unobtainable. I contacted Sports Car World, and they claimed to have them as a re-manufactured part. Apparently they cut them to length for all three seals to the glass. With Frank's untimely death my order sort of got sidelined. I therefore don't now if their remanufactured bits are correct profile, as it sounds like the three seals are different profiles. Anyway, if you want/need the seals for the quarter light glass, they may be worth a try. I don't believe the other UK suppliers have them; Susan Miller mentioned they are in fact unobtainable.

http://www.sportscarworld.com/

While looking at the quarter light seal issue, several posts indicated it is actually correct to have this black Plasticine-like stuff over top of the lower quarter light glass seal on the inside of the car. I thought this was just a kludge on my car by the PO. I ended up deciding my quarter lights were OK as they don't leak through the gob of still flexible black stuff, although it doesn't look that great. Carefully done silicone sounds like a better approach.

Here are the links to the previous threads regarding the secondary seal & quarter light seals for reference:

elan-plus-f13/best-options-for-fixing-rotten-window-frame-t18306.html

elan-plus-f13/what-this-for-t18522.html


HTH

[elanman999]

Stu,
Thanks for the info, I'll have to give Sue a call. As I say my seal works OK but does need re-sticking every now and then.
Cheers
John

[stugilmour]

Sounds good John. The secondary seals Sue supplied look very similar to what you already have. I get the impression she just cuts a generic seal to length anyway, as slight length difference between the two seals. Was pretty helpful to me though as mine were missing, I had no idea of the length and profile, and British car parts in my area are not commonly available.

I have not installed the seals yet, so not sure if I will end up with the same adhesion issue you have with yours. I think they will need to be glued on as well, or somehow remove the riveted strip and attach to the seal with glue and rivet the whole issue on the car. Hoping to get my body back from the body shop in a month or so and tackle the seals in earnest.

[elanman999]

Stu,
The problem I am having is getting the glue to bond to the paint. As you say the answer may be to bond the rubber to a metal (alloy) strip then pop rivet this to the body. One thing for sure is that if this seal is missing and the car is out in the rain then the carpets get very wet.
When you mount the seal the lip on the door needs to go underneth the seal. I mounted mine on double sided tape for a test run.
If you need any more pics PM me.
Cheers
John

[hgw_andree]

Hi,
the secondary seal can be bought - for the baby Elan at least - from Paul Matty in its original form.
I did that some month ago. If it helps I could take a picture of the seal built in.
I think there is not much difference between the two Elans in that respect.
Alll the best
Gunther
Elan Sprint 73