shrink
Member
Is this the same top on eBay?
Opel Speedster Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Transparent Hardtop New | eBay
Opel Speedster Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Transparent Hardtop New | eBay
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777dgt
Member
eeenmachine
Member
My wife got busy today getting our new top on. There's something we're not doing right with the install, as the finished install almost pulls water into the cabin. In particular, it seems like water at the corners is being channeled along the inside of the window, front and back, and in front of the seal.
As I said - I'm sure we're doing something wrong with the install - any ideas that might help us out?
Thanks!
As I said - I'm sure we're doing something wrong with the install - any ideas that might help us out?
Thanks!
eeenmachine
Member
Just used the garden hose and a spray setting - nothing forceful or voluminous. But it rains a fair bit over the fall / winter / spring here in Portland, so we figure we want to know ASAP, even when the sun is shining, about how we do with water 
Botbldr45
Member
:smile:I got my top in the first "group buy" and have had it on since April. In MD we have had a very bizarre weather pattern this summer with a lot of rain and wind. I have had NO problems with the clear top leaking.
If your top is like mine the front latch allows the top to be positioned "up and down" a little. If I remember correctly the directions state that you should position the front before screwing in the back by the rollbar. At first i fitted the front then noticed that it was higher than the windshield by about 2cm creating, what I imagined, to be drag and pumping water under the top. I was ranting around until my wife walked up and said, "Why don't you push it down." Well, after recovering from the Daaahhh moment she GENTLY pushed the top down, compressing the rubber seal a little, even with the windshield and I hand tightened the hex bolt in the front. Repeated on the other side then completed the installation in the back. I did have to put rubber washers under the back brackets to keep them pulling straight up and down rather than at an angle. Water does collect under the top over the window a little........ but since I don't drive in the rain with the windows open it doesn't matter.
If your top is like mine the front latch allows the top to be positioned "up and down" a little. If I remember correctly the directions state that you should position the front before screwing in the back by the rollbar. At first i fitted the front then noticed that it was higher than the windshield by about 2cm creating, what I imagined, to be drag and pumping water under the top. I was ranting around until my wife walked up and said, "Why don't you push it down." Well, after recovering from the Daaahhh moment she GENTLY pushed the top down, compressing the rubber seal a little, even with the windshield and I hand tightened the hex bolt in the front. Repeated on the other side then completed the installation in the back. I did have to put rubber washers under the back brackets to keep them pulling straight up and down rather than at an angle. Water does collect under the top over the window a little........ but since I don't drive in the rain with the windows open it doesn't matter.
When I put ours on I did the front first, per the instructions, and pushed down on each side while tightening, per the instructions. Then I did the back ones, snugging first one side, then the other, and back and forth until they were tight. It still leaks at all corners and in the middle on the passenger side. I don't have a clue what to do differently. Anyone have an idea? Anyone in the Portland area that might have a clue and could come by and help out? Adiggs and I would really appreciate it.
Gary1M
Member
I'm not sure if it is from parking in a new garage that gets pretty hot but the seal on the driver's side of my new glass roof has come un-adhered!
eeenmachine: Your garage wasn't the problem as my new top came out of the shipping crate with the same disconnected seal on the driver's side only. I had some rubber adhesive handy so I reattached it and let it bond overnight. Washed the car the next day and no water leaks.
It really is a very nice improvement over the hardtop that came with the Roadster!
Attachments
Kristin and I reran the water test this afternoon and got a few pictures of what we're seeing. As a generality, the water is leaking at all 4 corners of the top, a problem we've not had at all with the soft top.
First, two pictures showing something we just figured out this afternoon, and that has almost completely stopped the leaks on the two front corners:
Driverssidefrontcornerweatherstrippingoverlapcorrect-Edit_zpsd79683f8.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
(good positioning of the weather stripping)
Driverssidefrontcornerweatherstrippingoverlapincorrect-Edit_zpsd325d0c1.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
(bad positioning of the weather stripping)
I'm pretty sure now that we got the weather stripping overlapped incorrectly the first time we put the top on. If anybody can confirm or have an opinion on that, that will be helpful.
The bad news here is that at a mild water test rate, it seems to do fine. Crank it up though to a level where the soft top still has no issue, and water starts pouring in. My theory is that there is a channel along the front edge of the window that is carrying water away, and at high enough volume, it backs up and starts pouring into the car.
So that's an improvement. The rear corners are unchanged.
Here is how the top and car weatherstripping fits together:
Driverssiderearcornerweatherstripping-Edit_zpsd7d4c4ba.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
The water seems to be leaking into the cabin at that point with the arrow pointing at it. My interpretation is it looks like water is getting into the channel made by the stripping on the top, and instead of pouring out on the right side of the door stripping (based on this photo of the driver side), it's pouring out to the left side of the driver's side door stripping, and that puts that water into the car (it certainly seems to get inside that quickly and in that volume in the rear corners).
Another photo of that area:
Driverssiderearcornerweatherstripping_zps819e4e5a.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
Where we see the water coming into the cabin, from the inside:
Polycarbtopwatertest_Driverssiderearinsideleak_August252013-Edit_zps4b161e43.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
Another view from the inside:
Driverssiderearleakspot_doorclosed-Edit_zps54067892.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
Another view from the outside, door open:
Polycarbtopwatertest_August252013-6_zpsa9d7c022.jpg Photo by Kraylen | Photobucket
These photos are all driver side, but the performance is the same from both sides.
I am wondering if there is something wrong with our top. Any comments, thoughts, or ideas of what might be going on (including user error installing the top) are greatly appreciated. Unless we find something here quickly, I will also be contacting MrFiat or the maker soon to see if they have advice on getting this right.
It doesn't often rain hard in Portland, but it does rain a lot, and our intention is that this will be the primary top on the car at least 8 months of the year, and probably year round as we drive the car through those lovely Portland winters. We'll need to get this water intrusion thing licked, and I appreciate any help anybody can provide.
Thanks,
Asoka
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
@Asoka
I am sorry that you have water leaking. It shouldn't happen. If you want tomorrow I could call Maurizio (glass top producer) and ask him advice on this matter. Problem is that he is in Italy and I don't know how much he can help in this situation.
Maybe I could ask Maurizio how you can contact him?
I am sorry that you have water leaking. It shouldn't happen. If you want tomorrow I could call Maurizio (glass top producer) and ask him advice on this matter. Problem is that he is in Italy and I don't know how much he can help in this situation.
Maybe I could ask Maurizio how you can contact him?
Raffy - lets give it a couple of days and see if anybody here more local has some ideas. Actually, there's no reason not to find out how to get ahold of him, or if I should work through MrFiat (the importer here in the US we worked through), for help.
We're at that stage where we're trying something out, and not entirely sure we haven't missed something easy.
On a positive note - we've decided that with the glass top on, #969 looks like the batmobile. Driving the car r e a l l y slow just makes it look even more like the batmobile
It's a good look and I figure we'll sort out the water thing.Thanks for the help Raffy.
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
Heya Raffy - no I haven't, and I'm having trouble understanding some of the advice passed back. It appears my inability to speak/read Italian, and the details of the English translation, are leaving me in a quandary. When I'm not more asleep than awake, I'll post again with pictures of what I'm seeing, as well as the instructions I've been given - maybe you can help answer some questions I have about that translation.
7racer - you should ping David at MrFiat if you haven't heard anything yet. I do have my glass top and it looks amazing when its on. We can also get it off and on pretty quickly now, but we haven't been able to get any of the 4 corners to seal out water - yet! I'm confident we'll get it worked out, as everybody else has reported a good seal; I'm suspecting that we're not understanding something in the directions, at least partly because we haven't dealt with any Roadster hard top before, the installation of a hard top is new to us.
7racer - you should ping David at MrFiat if you haven't heard anything yet. I do have my glass top and it looks amazing when its on. We can also get it off and on pretty quickly now, but we haven't been able to get any of the 4 corners to seal out water - yet! I'm confident we'll get it worked out, as everybody else has reported a good seal; I'm suspecting that we're not understanding something in the directions, at least partly because we haven't dealt with any Roadster hard top before, the installation of a hard top is new to us.
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
Ok Asoka. I am available both to translate and to contact Maurizio (Glass Top producer). I am sure that all together we will work out your problem.
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