Hello all,

Unfortunately, I found my trunk leak. The left side lower corner of the rear windscreen has a fair bit of rust, and it's leaking into my trunk when it rains. I lifted the seal to peak, and it looks like it goes most of the way towards the pinch weld.

My question is, can I pop out the rear windscreen without destroying the seal, or is that a futile effort?

Perhaps I should source a new seal anyways.

Cheers, David

 

"If it were me" and considering the age of the car- I would "probably" spring for a new gasket. Then, you don't have to worry about saving the old one which is likely crumbly anyway and you can be much more sure of getting a good seal first time. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

Thanks,

I'll source out a new gasket, and try to find some paint that matches the colour. It's definitely a weld job, so I think I may be living with this one for awhile yet.

Cheers

 

I replaced my rear screen earlier this year for the same reason. Easy to remove with this tool

I managed to reuse the surround, the screen is held in by a polyurethane bead, approximately 10mm across the base by <>15mm high with a triangular profile.
I would suggest that you pay somebody to apply the bead and insert the screen, I had a local company do it, they spent quite a while preparing the edges to be bonded. They also have a gun which lays the bead on precisely. It was very easy to insert the retaining insert and chrome, either rubber grease or Vaseline.
Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Robman, that information helped me. Since the windscreen isn't held in by the weatherstrip, I may spend a day and remove the weatherstrip just to get a better look at the problem area.

I guess I'll be keeping my eyes open for a repair section as well

 

Definitely bonded. BTDT BTW that is exactly the same place mine rusted away.

 

Seems to be a common area (my dad's S3 also went in the same spot, but not to the extent of mine)

I've also got some rust in the forward section of the driver's side sill, and in the driver's front fender, just above the sill. All in due time I suppose, but Id like the trunk to be dry first.

 

If that area on the front of the car is at the junction of the lower corner of the windscreen and scuttle, mine went there as well, I couldn't work out why the REAR foot well was filling with water. Then I took the car through a car wash one day and heard water running. It was going in by the front and running back!
When you break the bond between the screen and the body you might find, as I did, as yo go down the vertical join there will be a section of bond that has not sealed well-if at all.

 

Nope, no rust up high in the front. Just the very front of the sill, and then maybe 2 inches above the sill on the fender. Pretty much where the (sunroof?) Drain tubes come out of the inner fender

 

I've been in the process of restoring my 88 VDP and had a similar issue with rust around the rear window. Once you remove the glass poke around along the channel where the glass sits,even along the top edge. There's a good chance if water has somehow seeped past the seal that you may have unforeseen pinholes there. Another note: when I tried getting a new surround seal for the rear window,it shows it using a combination of seals. It seems that the later cars (somewhere around 90 or 91) have a different chrome window insert that's a little narrower than the 88 and 89 models so it may be an issue when trying to reinstall your chrome surround trim into the rubber. I haven't gotten to that stage on mine yet so I can't say for sure but the chrome trim is different for sure by approximately an 1/8". Looking at the factory parts diagram it appears that there are three different seals that are part of the rear window weatherstripping. I ordered them in Uro brand but they appear to be different from the original style. I actually had to cut my original out in a million pieces to get it out because it was so dry rotted and decayed so I have nothing to go on but that diagram. Just be careful when removing that glass.

 

Well, I popped the weatherstrip out of that corner to have a peek. The extent of the perforation, is 2 holes about 3/8th of an inch in diameter (after poking with a screwdriver and a quick wire brushing)

Think a fellow could pack those holes with some sort of sealer, to at least slow the leak down untill I have time to fix it?

It's my daily driver at the moment, so untill my Isuzu has its new motor, I can't afford 2 days of downtime with the car

 

Short term yes, I would be inclined to spray with some rust converter in the interim just to try and slow down the attack. I would be inclined to use a fibreglass filler for a long term fix as it repels water, but is difficult to sand. for a shorter time frame use bondo.

 

I might just do that, since it's rainy season. Once the car is off the road, I plan to pull the window out, and weld in fresh metal

 

Go online and buy some "Milliput" - you might be able to find it locally if you have a Michael's nearby ...call them first to find out if they have it though, as in Victoria I can only get it from a specialist hobby shop.

Milliput is a 2 part non-sagging epoxy putty that sets up fast (few hours), is rock hard and completely waterproof when cured - plus it will give you better adhesion around the peripheries (where bondo etc first fails).

In the uncured state it is water based so clean up is dead easy.

I've used this stuff many times for all sorts of purposes and most recently as a finishing/surfacing putty after repairing small rust perforations around the liner clips of the inner wings of my VDP.

If you do the a nice clean repair/get rid of the rust/do a phosphoric acid treatment on the rusted area you wouldn't even have to revisit it with welding, this stuff will last longer than the car!

Larry

 

That's an interesting suggestion Larry, I'll have to look into where I can find that stuff.