Project BRG: Rain Rain Go Away

25 November 2022

As we covered in the last post, the Roadster's soft top unfortunately leaked water during a hard rainstorm. There were two obvious leaks, one from the soft top seal, and one from a hole on a stress point that we temporarily fixed with electrical tape.

To fix the hole on the stress point, along with a couple of light cuts, we bought some Selleys Shoe Fix glue, and we used an old piece of faux interior leather we cut into a small patch.

After sliding the faux leather into place, I coated it with glue while also putting glue in through the hole on the top.

Hopefully it works in real life. Passed the bucket test though!

I placed a piece of faux leather in the same spot on the other side as well so the stress point doesn't make another hole in the soft top. For those wondering, the material came from the skin of the 300ZX rear interior panels that fell off due to sun damage.

Unfortunately, while doing this, I found out that the carpet behind the seats was drenched. Although I initially thought it was the hole on the soft top I patched up, I later found out it wasn't.

Once I opened the trunk, it turned out that it was also drenched. After ripping all the carpet out to let it dry, I eventually diagnosed that it was probably the rain rail.

After throwing a bucket of water at the rain rail, I found a small dripping leak from the driver's side end of the center of the rain rail piece.

After tightening, loosening, and trying every single tightness on the bolts possible, using the correct torque pattern, checking the rubber flaps on the sides, and checking for debris, it still seemed to leak. At this point, I went to check the condition of the rain rail, and sure enough, it was cracked.

There were several cracks along the rail causing the leaks. Luckily, the Roadster is basically an RHD Miata, so working on it is very easy. Since the bolts were already out, all I needed to do was nudge the back of the soft top off and the rail just popped right off.

Just look at the condition of this thing!

Installing the new one was just as easy. Just line the rail up and slot it into place, make sure the soft top is sandwiched in, and then tighten up the metal pieces from the middle to the outsides. After tightening the bolts down a bit more each time, it finally passed the bucket test and the interior and trunk would no longer be flooded. All that needed to be done now was the seal on the soft top. Since one thing was done, it was on to the next. The last step to water-proofing the Roadster were the soft top seals.

After a bit of googling, I found out that you can just realign them so that exactly what I did.

The passenger side was a pain to align, but in the end it was worth it.

Since the seats were out while doing the rain rail, I thought I'd vacuum and interior and give the leather on the seats a little love.

I gave the seats and door cards a clean with Dura-Seal Leather Cleaner, followed by Dura-Seal Leather Protection Cream.

My seats were already in good condition so there was no real cosmetic difference, but it's good to know they will stay this way for a little longer.

In celebration of the Roadster now being water-tight (for now), I thought I'd give it a wash, followed by claying it, then giving it a cut-and-polish, and lastly a layer of wax.

The paint definitely looks shinier now, along with being a lot smoother.

To finish it off, we gave Garage5 a visit to get a couple of brand-new door moldings as mine had turned white and were cracking.

Also got a couple of free goodies. Thanks Garage5 for great service as always!