Hi, I’m planning to replace the rain rail on my 95 mk1 in a couple of weeks as the original one is split and leaking.
I’ve bought a new IL Motorsport rain rail and 26 stud seals. I plan not to rivet the roof to the rain rail and tape the holes in the new rain rail with gorilla tape or something similar.
When I removed the old rail and tried to repair the splits with tape I got confused about the position of the Belt Moulding Weather Seal rubber lip. With reference to the diagram below, in the red box area, it says " and the rubber lip is turned up before fully tightening the centre retainer " Mine didn’t seem to have a rubber lip as such, just the bottom of the belt moulding that I was able to fit the rain rail behind but there was no way it would bend up as shown in the diagram. Am I missing something here?
Also when looking at the diagram I’m at a bit of a loss to see how the rain rail is supposed to work. Once all the retainers are back on and tightened up surely they will compress the top of the rain rail forming a sandwich with the roof in the middle, and sealing it at the top so no water can get into the rail. Does anyone know how the rain rail works? I thought the idea was water ran into the bottom of the rain rail and then ran round to the drains behind the seatbelt tower or am I wrong. Also what is the Window curtain ( item 7 ) as mine doesn’t seem to have this.
I’m beginning to think the diagram is not exactly the right one for my car, and maybe I’m over thinking how this all works. What do you guys think?
Well I’ve never turned the rubber lip up when fitting a rain rail and I’ve done two, on a Mk1 and Mk2. I don’t see why you should have to turn it up, just make sure of course that the rail goes up behind that lip when refitting.
Yes, that’s exactly what I thought which I why I’m thinking the diagram is for another model/car. The diagram was lifted from another post on here so it’s not my own research to be honest.
I can see why that diagram has confused you, it has made the job more complicated, particularly with the descriptions.
I seem to remember that the rain rail simply tucks up behind the beltline and cannot be fitted incorrectly.
You are correct with the purpose of the rail which is simply to catch the water from the outer surface of the roof and transport it to the two drains behind the seat.
It works remarkable well when undamaged and installed correctly.
I have installed/ re-instaled a couple of these successfully without attaching the top to the rail.
When you have fitted it, fully test before putting carpet, etc back.
" You are correct with the purpose of the rail which is simply to catch the water from the outer surface of the roof and transport it to the two drains behind the seat.
It works remarkable well when undamaged and installed correctly. "
Thanks Rob, but I still find it a bit baffling, if the top of the rain rail, with the roof clamped between the two top edges, I would have thought made a reasonable seal, therefor would not allow water to drain down to the bottom of the rain rail and then to the drains. As I say, maybe I’m over thinking this.
Dave
Looking at the diagram again there seems to be another greyed out piece between the rear of the rain rail and the roof. If this was another washer or something I could see this would cause a gap between the rear section of the rain rail and the roof, allowing water to drain down to the bottom of the rain rail, and hence to the drains behind the belt towers, but there seems to be no referrence to this.
Any thoughts?
It doesn’t form a watertight seal Dave. The material at the base of your hood where the fixings pass is thicker and when it is all tightened up there is adequate room for water to absorb/flow its way into the rainrail. This works without using the 26 seals so with the seals, even more room.
