While trying to fix leaks in my 77 T-tops I replaced the seals and gave them the hose test. Water poured in so I pulled the head liners and birdcage interior moulding to get a good look at what was going on and tried it again. The water was coming in through the birdcage above the windshield. I pulled the Stainless steel molding shaped like a T and found remnants of a seal along the top of the windshild. I'm guessing the windshield was replaced by the previous owner and not done correctly. The window trim is very loose and I can see how the water is getting in. I also pulled the weather stripping on the towers and the trim pieces. These came right off and remnants of sealer where on the back. I know I have to replce the top seal and put sealer behind the tower trim pieces but what about the two pieces on the end that my visors mount to. I took out the screws but they dont seem to want to come out. Any advice? I'm afraid if I take them out I'll open a huge can of worms but I want to fix this problem correctly. Good news is that the birdcage looks rock solid with just a little dirt and no rust at all. Oh, my center spine is painted silver. Is this the original car color?

 

I can't offer any help, but I have the same problem occuring on my 78. I am going to try and check it out this weekend but was curious about the seal you mention on the chrome T-bar. Is this seal under the T-bar? Between T-bar and windshield trim? I know my windshield isn't original either. If you found any answers, I'd appreciate hearing about it and if I figure anything out, I'll be happy to let you know.

 

I also have the same problem. I thought it was the t-tops but it is coming form somewhere around the windshield. I have been putting off taking it apart.

 

I'm pretty into it now and as you can see I am not getting much help but here is what I did. My upper windshield trim was already a little loose so I was able to get it off by slipping a putty knife between it and the chrome piece. I discovered 8 clips cemented into the windshiled adheisive that hold that piece of trim and the T-top trim. I also pulled the windshield tower trim because I wanted to repaint them all and replace the weatherstripping anyway. Then I carefully pulled all of the screws out of the T-top trim and you have to drop the interior pads on the windshield top and spine of the birdcage to get to the screws. Then you have to drill out the pop rivets that hold the back portion of the T-top trim down. Then lift the back portion up, there is weather stripping and sealer back hear, and wiggle the whole thing out of the clips I mentioned earlier. The weather strip on the T-top chrome is mounted on the bottom along the windshild edge and the back where the spine meets the halo. Mine was pretty wasted and the clips were loose. I believe it is supposed to create a seal along the knife edge created by the plates that make up the birdcage frame that the windshiled mounts to. I dug out the clips and epoxied them back in. Then I cleaned the hell out of everything that looked like a seal area with a putty knife, wire brush and goof off. I painted the area of the birdcage above the windshield after I cleaned it. Then I put 3/8 thick by 1/2 wide weather foam weather strip on the T-top trim where I found it. I couldn't find this strip anywhere so I just bought some from Home Depot. I got a tube of roofing sealer as well and ran a bead along all of the sealing surfaces that I could think of. Then I ran a bead along the inside edge of the T-top trim on top of the weather strip and put this trim piece back on. The pop rivets are 1/8 dia x 1/2 grab type. I probably did this completely wrong but I'm pretty sure it is not going to leak any more. I really never take the car out if it looks like rain but I have gotten stuck twice away from home in sudden storms. The thought of that water getting to my birdcage gives me the *******!

 

I just did this.

www.public.iastate.edu/~drestko/Corvette/

Welcome to hell.

If you are a savy welder, you can fix it. Catch it now while it is only in the corners.

www.public.iastate.edu/~drestko/Corvette/After/

The T is always painted the same color as the rest of the car originally.

 

Wow, now I'm really going to get the ******* when it rains! Nice repair though. Like I said, my frame was in beautiful shape which is why I am going slow with this and re-painted it all anyway. I re-cemented my T-tops last night because I obviously didn't use enough glue and then filled the outside seams with RTV sealer for good measure. Then I put them on the car to dry to fit. Tonight I hope to get the windshield tower trim and weather stripping on. Then tomorrow I'll give it the hose test again.

 

I had a very simalar problem except mine was actually leaking around the windshield seal. On an 81 the seal is a silicone or rubber like substance that basically glues the windshield in. After calling every glass shop in the phone book, none of them would pull my windshield and reseat it and guarantee they wouldn't break it. Not wanting to take the chance with them I figured the worse I could do was to break it myself. I got a foam type cutter, which basically is a heated wire. I worked the wire behind the windshield, heated it and cut the seal. Sounds easier than it was but I was able to get my windshield out, reseal and reinstall without breaking it. My car is a daily driver so it sees a fair share of rain and car washes. I'm high and dry now and before when it rained it seemed like it rained harder inside the car than outside.

 

One more thing, small leaks are pretty easy to find. Use a squirt bottle of soapy water and an air hose. Spray the soapy water where you think the leak is and air hose to blow in the area. The leak will show itself easily.

 

Yeah, you need sealer under the stainless T cover, front & back. The 2 end peices (where the sun visors fit) have screws in the front & you probably won't be able to get them out with the WS in. Some have been able too, but I suspect they had a WS that had been replaced w/o the proper spacing under the WS. There is not supposed to be any water under these covers, so use sealant liberally. These WS are cheap, so replacement is not that big of a deal ($150 in San Antonio & they came to my house). It's better to pull a WS & replace questional seals than to replace the WS frame/birdcage. The bottom of the WS should have 2 rows of WS adhesive, to prevent water infiltration, my old one only had 1 row & I had water infiltration.

 

I never did get the two end pieces off but I put more then enough roofing sealer along the front edges that meet the bircage and then a bunch on top before I put the t-shaped piece of trim on. Then I RTVed the seam between the two just for good measure. I only got one winshield pillar piece on last night but it looks pretty good so the second one should go pretty fast.