Berlinetta water leaks and weather proofing

[gouldalan]

Hi folks. Have sorted my Berli's waterfall from front of hardtop but removing hardtop and fitting foam rubber to front and rear of hardtop. However, I now discover it drips water from somewhere under the dashbord ard onto the carpets in front of drivers and passenger seats! Should there be sealant at the bottom front of the windscreen where it abbuts the rear of the scuttle top? Doesn't appear to be anything on my Berli and not sure what the original builder did or didn't do. Seems a lot he didn't! Cheers, Alan

[listerjp2]

I have spent 7 years trying to trace leaks, it's the way of the world with kit cars. I have grown to accept it.

[MOC Chair]

Hi Alan, yes there should be sealant along the bottom edge of the windscreen. Berlinettas are generally more watertight than Cabrios and Roadsters but as Adrian says water leaks tend to be a way of life with kit cars.

[davidraw2024]

In my Roadster I found a small amount of water would reach the top of the bulkhead in heavy rain which eventually found its way into the car. Accepting it seemed unlikely I would stop it completely I opted to control it. This solution may sound very "Heath Robinson" but it has proven to be very effective. I drilled a drain hole through the bulkhead in the offending area, I then took the top from a rubber 13amp plug and used its captive thread to bolt it tightly to the underside of the bulkhead covering the drain hole. I sealed a tube into the flex hole of the plug top which exited through the front of the bulkhead allowing any water to escape. This actually looks more purposeful than you might expect and as it is completely out of sight it will never be seen anyway. The idea came from seeing the drain holes and tubes fitted to the sunroof of an Opel Manta that I had at the time and it would seem many cars have bulkhead drainage systems. If you can't beat the source this is another way around the issue.

[gouldalan]

Thanks folks.