General question about soft tops.
My mk3 seemed fine when I bought it a few months ago. The roof was in good Nik but could do with a clean. So I decided to treat it to a conditioning spray. The fabric was cleaned with fabric shampoo sponged and dried with clean cloth. Then sucked dry with an upholstery attachment on a vax. Then left to dry on a dry sunny afternoon. The conditioning spray in an aerosol can, bought from motorbitz, was liberaly applied all over until the can was empty. When dry water appeared to run off.
BUT. After a few weeks maybe a month the effect has reduced. Now after a lot of rain the inside has lots of water dropping down. I thought condensation but much worse. Like a tent only tension stops water coming through. Had to leave roof partially open to get rid of damp steamed up WindowsâŚ
Q has the spray made it worse???
Have bought a Maguire kit for ÂŁ25 to try and cute it⌠It has been raining a lot latelyâŚ
Use Fabsil to proof the roof.
Whatever youâve got on now I would wash off. Use a mild detergent, something like a weak mix of baby bath/shampoo, any marks or mould again baby stuff, a mild mix of Milton fluid.
I do the above and all I do is treat the roof every 6 months. When I wash the car body I spray the the roof with the hose lightly and just wipe it over with a large microfibre cloth and leave to dry.
As an afterthought, the condensation, check you havenât had a leak to the insides, wet carpets maybe?
I agree with MickAP. I have tried a number of products and have found that âFabsil Goldâ is easily the best. Very easy to apply (brushed on so no problems with overspray etc.) and works really well.
Another vote for Fabsil Gold, try not to get it on the glass!
The chances of water coming through a fabric roof is practically nil unless you actually have holes in it. This sounds much more like condensation from water in side the car evaporating and then condensing on the cold roof. Either of the 2 normal trouble spots need to be looked at. The rear hood drains maybe blocked which will result in pools of water behind the seats or in really bad cases all the carpets being soaked. Or the scuttle grommets are leaking - look for water dripping from under the fascia and soaking the front carpets on both sides. Both are easy fixes if you look in the archives. The worst problem is drying out the interior particularly now itâs cold and damp outside. You may need to remove the carpets etc to indoors and dry them out completely.
Donât just check the driverâs side carpet and if dry assume allâs fine there, itâs the passenger side that is more prone.
As said, there is a very good chance that this is your problem as it is so common.
The foam gaskets that seal the âgrommetsâ or plastic inserts appear to be made of biodegradable material and fail accordingly.
The basic construction of âMohairâ/Sunfast/Stayfast/Sonnenland/Twillfast roofs
Sunfast/Stayfast are the cheaper grades, Sonnenland is the grade used by Porsche etc.
I suppose for a while the woven outer layer protects the elastomeric neoprene rubber layer, but then the elements gradually break it down, annd effectively pinholes develop in the rubber layer. I suppose dirt engrained in the weave doesnât help. This is why Mohair roofs loose their ability to keep out water, while apparently, externally, maintaining a good appearance.
Fabsil is a silicone based waterproofer. I suppose when its applied, effectively its plugging the gaps in the weave of the woven layer.
It addresses the symptoms, but not the underlying cause. In reality, though with a new mohair roof, cleaning is absolutely essential, over âreproofingâ.
Great reply I love a Techy explanation. My mk3 is now like a sieve. Here are a few shots taken this morning. Supprised that the boot kid was also dipping.
Carpets are relatively dry, not soaking by just a little damp feeling like condensation.
Also took picv of product bought it is Auto Glym not Maguires.
Help its like a monsoon in there.
I remember there was a little damp under the carpet in the boot when I bought the car. I put that down to condensation. Left carpet out to dry drove it around with top down seemed ok thought they must all do that.?
Uh how do I upload pics to a reply ? Canât find anything obvious this morningâŚ
Thanks on it nowâŚ
There is an icon at the top of the reply box, almost in the middle, that is labelled âuploadâ. Click on it and follow the instructions.
eg:
When you want to add pictures you click the reply button then you will see the picture icon at the bottom of the reply box, second in on the right on this screen grab below. This will take you to you files, pics etc, just chose the one you want and hit upload, simple.
If on a PC, ctrl-C any image you want, whether thatâs something you have seen online, or on your own drvie, ctrl-v to paste. It wonât accept very large files. Easiest set up I have seen on any forum, bar none.
Random (or not so) image off my drive
Random from my Google photos account (which most people find difficult to share)
Random image off the net
The last pic hows watermarksbon seat and my fake Alcantara bolster repair. Need to copy this to a previous post different post
Another place that water builds up is in the sills if the drains are not cleaned out occasionally. Itâs not as common as the scuttle or hood drains but if you have water build up in the sills you will have a dry carpet but effectively a big bowl of water open to the inside air of the car. Mucho condensation.
Get a cable tie and poke at the sill drains. Theyâre marked on the outside by the ribs on the bottom of the sill. Give the cable tie a good wiggle in the holes
Your roof inside looks exactly like mine did when I first bought my NC. Looked into the roof drains and they were full to the top with water. Firstly I used a fan heater to dry this inside out and then one trombone cleaner bought and roof drains cleaned, problem solved. I then cleaned the roof and reproofed with the Autoglym kit and water beaded off nicely. Subsequently I now reproof every year with Fabsil Gold solely because it is easier to apply with a brush, however I do think the Autoglym reproofer lasts longer, after 3 years rain was still beading off.
Paul
Looks like you have an issue with water ingress somewhere (probably one of the suggestions above), but to be honest, my mk3 was like that when it had to live out one wet winter - Iâd previously changed the drain tubes and just assumed it was due to the water draining properly through the roof drains (which are inside the car of course) causing the condensation. Regular ventilation of the cabin and boot (when it wasnât raining) seemed to deal with it.
Hope you get to the bottom of it.
Phil
