The 'E' Type Forum

My car is an E type s1 fhc of 1967. When I bought the car and came back home under the rain I noticed water coming inside the car finding its way from the bottom of the doors to the floor. So ingenuously I decided to change all the seals to cure this. I will not elaborate on the new seal quality, design and the difficulty to put them in place as everybody who has done this job knows how painful it is. The result is quite disappointing: even at rest on a rainy day water keeps on finding its way to the car interior although in a little less quantity than it used to be. I?m sure some other fellows of the club had the same problem and hopefully found solutions or at least improvement. I would be very thankful to all of those who will share their experience and give their solution to this ?Titanic? problem.

Hi - this is a common complaint. I believe that FHCs can be made leak-free, Suggestions;
1) Make sure you have the drain channels attached to the bottom of the doors. More info here;

http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?t=347&highlight=

2) Make sure the inner door skin is fitted with a waterproof membrane (clear plastic sheet held on with double-sided tape is OK) as this stops water dripping off the window lower rails onto the inside of the door cards and running down to drip onto the sill. This was discussed recently here;

http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... door+drain

3) Check the drain tray at the front of the door is not leaking along its outer edge. See here;

http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php? ... door+drain

4) Check the drain tube from the drain tray into the main door cavity is there and is not blocked. If it is not there, that tray drains into the front cavity of the door rather than the main body of the door and can cause leaks. THis has also been discussed on here before, you could maybe find it via search.

5) Carry a couple of hand towels, and when it rains use them like draught excluders along the bottom of the door to soak up leaks and stop them getting down into the floorpan carpet areas (until you achieve leak-free nirvana, of course).

Good luck!

Make sure the plastic 'sockets' used to retain the carpets are pushed fully home into the floor and are sealing. Movement on the footwell carpet causes them to detach and sometimes the plug pulls the socket with it, in which case you have a hole for water ingress.

Thank you for all these information. I must say that all possibilities stated have already been carefully reviewed with no major improvement. Nervertheless there is an interesting clue: the water always come from the bottom of the dood, all along the trim (yes, there is a plastic sheet to isolate the trim pannel from the door). I remarked drops of water on the sill right under the window winder handle, this is where the door trim is clipsed to the door and I wonder whether water could find its way by the hole where the clip goes. I remember it used to be small plastic cups to seal these holes at the bottom of the door. I don?t have them anymore and this could be the origin of the leak.

I washed the car yesterday and guess what....water keeps on finding its way to the floor (although to a lesser amount than before) despite my efforts to close all the gaps and holes I found. Please tell me whether it is a common and well known problem on Series I FHC.

stretoo wrote:I washed the car yesterday and guess what....water keeps on finding its way to the floor (although to a lesser amount than before) despite my efforts to close all the gaps and holes I found. Please tell me whether it is a common and well known problem on Series I FHC.

I have been tracking down the same problem on my 65 roadster. With the door shut, I carefully poured water along the seal, let the drips subside then opened the door. The witness was the damp patches on the seals.

In my case, the 'fat triangular' part of the seal, wasn't thick enough. To overcome this, I glued a rubber strip on the door where it closed up against the rubber. (Alternatively, you could pack behind the rubber (with rubber) to make the seal thicker.

Thank you very much for your help! I think it's the answer to the problem although what puzzled me were the drops of water all along the door trim.
Best regards
Stephane

stretoo wrote:Thank you very much for your help! I think it's the answer to the problem although what puzzled me were the drops of water all along the door trim.
Best regards
Stephane

Could be the water pooling at the front of the sill and being blown back along the sill when the car is moving.

Let us know how you get on.

Slightly off message but I was puzzled as to why after washing the car water comes out of the front door drain holes when you open the doors. At first I suspected that the rubber sill seal was stopping the water coming out. I realise now that it is because the door is level when closed, but the lock end of the door is a few degrees higher than the hinge end when it is opened. Water can therefore pool between the drain holes and not run out until the door is opened.

Lesson learnt: always open the doors to help drain out all the water after washing or getting the car wet.

Nick

Having owned a number of classic cars, I've come to the conclusion that water leaks are just part of the character of your particular beast! My wife and I have absolutely wonderful memories of traveling between France and Switzerland in our 1967 2+2 with 2 year old Chloe in the back, and using Pampers disposable nappies to prevent too much carpet saturation! (they actually worked really well!). :)

Has anybody tried taking the door card off, hosing down the outside of the window/door and watching what happens and where the water end up. I have the same problem with water but have not looked at the problem to seriously.

Shoot me down if I am stating what you have tried many time.

do not like water, except in the radiator.
My BMW coupes (1968-75) cannot stand water. I simply don?t drive them when rain can be expected. On long jouneys, I tape the squegees along the windows. I wash my car with a pink liquid from Meguiars using wasable micro fibre rag. Haven?t washed them with water for the last 5 years.

1954Etype wrote:

stretoo wrote:Thank you very much for your help! I think it's the answer to the problem although what puzzled me were the drops of water all along the door trim.
Best regards
Stephane

Could be the water pooling at the front of the sill and being blown back along the sill when the car is moving.

Let us know how you get on.

After a long pause and a little discouragement I decided to tackle this problem again. Once again I opened and closed the door with a bottle of water to test the seal water tightness. After a while I came to the conclusion to start all over again from a sound basis. So I discarded the seal (although it was new) and installed a new one.

I used ?SADER? contact adhesive spray made by Bostik (I think it?s known as Bostik Fast Tak Contact Adhesive Spray in the UK) and a lot of masking tape for a clean job. Once the seal in place I closed the door until the next day?took back my bottle of water, tested the new fitting and? no more leaks!

Lessons learnt:

- Seals are not all of the same quality (by far)
- Quality of the seal, quality of the adhesive and the care to apply it are of the same importance to succeed
- Procrastination is the best way to solve a problem (at least with a classic car?)

For those who are also members of E-Type Club please read the excellent article by Andrew Turvey:

http://e-typeclub.com/members/tech_lib_5.htm

Thanks to all of you for your help and encouragements

Hi folks,
where does one get the 'best' soft rubber door seals? and how does one see Andrew Turvey's article ( on door leaks)without joining another club?

thanks,
David

Welcome David.

You'll find all relevant information in "The E-Type Knowledge Base", "Door Fitting Guide" 1 and 2 (bottom of the page)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8496016/doors.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8496016/doors2.pdf

Good luck!

hiya stretoo, i have had similar problems with massive?! amounts of water entering the foot wells during downpours and posted recently. whilst there could be a couple of issues including carpet plug holes and drain blockages, i believe i have found my problem in a search of posts here(have tried finding it again to link you but failed sorry) anyway the doors should have "door drain ducts) (2) on either door that channel the water down to below the bottom sill rubber that has slight indentations to accommodate them, and away from inside the car! i have emailed a couple of UK suppliers to get them if [possible... good luck.
i have just seen a couple of links that may have been sent to you that may contain all the above and more.... i will check it out also