vmaquera

I drove my 1981 coupe in a heavy rainstorm last weekend. All of a sudden I noticed that there were a couple of leaks?

1. Water was dripping over my left foot, as I was resting it next to clutch.

2. There was water on the carpeting in the same location on the left side.

3. There seemed to be water coming in around the rear side of the doors.

I have changed out the weather stripping, the previous owner had put some kind of sealant around the edges of the windshield.

Any ideas of where I can put more sealant?????

PS. In mild rainstorms, or when parked, I don't seem to have the leak problem. Only in severe rain storms......

Easy Mike

Seal the wiper trough area. I used 3M automotive undercoating in the rattle can. Worked fine; no leaks since. It dries dark brown, not black, but it's paintable.


FWIW: It's leaking all the time. You aren't seeing it until the rain gets heavy

There are rain diverters at the foot of each door by the sill plates. Yours were working overtime.

kapla74

is the nature of the beast!!!
I found no solution yet,,,
Is like trying to fix the hot feet problem,,LOL

spookytooth

If the previous owner put sealant around the windshield chances are that there is some problems there. I would call a mobile glass company to pull your windshield. Clean, inspect and replace. If there is no corrosion pin holes then you can look other places. My restoration started with the same problem. I took the car completely apart looking for a small leak. The last place I looked was the windshield and that was the source. It is a very common problem for these cars.

stock76

Congratulations and welcome to Corvette ownership. Leaks are a common problem, especially around t-tops and windows. You can fix or minimize the leaks if you have patience.....or just don't drive on days when it looks like rain.

snoopykissedlucy

On the leaking T-Tops note, I park my 1981 in a garage but have my 1976 outdoors full-time. I have a cheapie car cover on it but during a heavy rain storm, there's water in the cabin.

My thought is to place an extra plastic tarp over the car cover just before the storms. Any other ideas? Also, does anyone sell a one-piece T-top? to eliminate a leak potential?

tgcattle

I think it's called www.astrotops.com for the one piece t-top. Mine leaks too although I have slowed it down

snoopykissedlucy

New T-top weatherstrips $130 plus cost of painting the T-tops VS $389 Astro Top.

I'm on a budget but don't want rain on the new carpet and leather interior. Who votes for the Astro Top?

buhl

i know this sounds bad but behind your fender at the top corner between hood and door if you cut the corner of your finder off there is a fiberglass piece that has i think 3 rivets that go in the firewall and over time the sealent around this piece starts leaking and water leaks around the rivets you have to drill the rivets out and seal it up then glass your fender back on and paint lot of trouble.i have fix several most were in the 70s that maybe how the carpet gets wet my 80 does the same, about have to have a rain coat on to drive in rain good luck

MN81C3

My 81 in the rain was dripping water onto my left leg. I redid the t-top Weather Striping - still dripped. A fellow C3 owner had the same problem and to get rid of it, he gently pulled up on the top of the Windshield Molding and used a silicone sealant under the molding and no more leaks. I did the same thing and no problems.

vmaquera

Thank you all !!!! As always, the Corvette Forum pulls together.

Thanks to all.....

JimT

Geez, I would be concerned if mine wasn't leaking! Or I was in the wrong car. Good luck!