As some of you know, Mazzie has undergone quite a restoration recently so I expected a few teething problems. I fitted aftermarket rear lights and new mazda gaskets…still leaked! So dremel removed the offending part and some sealing mastic sorted out the leak on the NSR. Or so I thought! One of the small grommets that hooks the rear panel in place was letting in water. Anyway, mastic and sorted .
Nothing in main cabin - bone dry…new mohair roof had new rain rail fitted…lip correctly fitted over rail. Main roof drains clear…rear parcel shelf bone dry…pouring water on the rear of the roof simply drains through the drainage system
Open boot, condensation on boot lid, wet lower parcel shelf panel, soaking wet right wing behind battery and as far as I could feel…need to get the endescope out and have another look in that cavity. Is there any clear paths from the outside to the inside of the rear wings? inside of NS rear wing bone dry…
Frankenstein bolts seem dry - new plates and new gaskets fitted during rebuild
Aerial seems to be water tight
Blasting water at the boot seal seems to be watertight and nothing into boot
I suspect I’ve missed something somewhere! The car was water tight before the restoration. I’ll have another check tomorrow and spray more water
Could it be simply condensation due to the seasonal weather changes?
Any ideas would be appreciated. I might see what happens when I fit the hardtop
New genuine Mazda rubber version of the rail rail fitted. Checked before fitting. Parcel shelf bone dry. I’ll be using a hose pipe on that area/part of the car later today to double double triple check…
I have another thought…any water that leaked in previously might be creating condensation that’s why so much of the surfaces are wet. The weather has just changed so condensation may be the result of the leak I found from the rear light gasket problem
i do have a partial roof cover there the tabs go into the boot over the seal I wonder if that is wicking water and dripping into the boot?? Something else to check…
hose pipe out I guess again until I find something…watch this space!!
So, 3 weeks on and I can report everything is now bone dry. No water ingress or condensation at all in the boot area. It’s obvious to me now that the rear lights and the body clips on the rear panel must be checked on assembly as these are the key areas where leaks occur. The items I mention are all parts that I disturbed during the diassembly and reassembly so anyone taking undertaking this work should pay particular attention to these parts.
Re a couple of comments above, I bought a half cover recently with two straps that you feed inside the boot for security.
After a few weeks I found a lot of water in the boot, clearly been dripping from above as the top of a box and a book under the straps were wet too.
I took the tabs out and folded them under the cover and it’s been perfectly dry since. So I’m afraid the security tabs on the roof cover do seem to let rain water seep along them into the boot. I suppose you could put a couple of bowls or whatever in the boot to catch drips if you think the cover might blow off.
Not a big deal and otherwise the half cover has been great for keeping Madga dry where it should be in heavy rain.
I had exactly the same problem recently with rainwater collecting in the boot. Found over an inch of water sloshing around in the passenger side lower boot (under the removable plastic ‘bin’) and lots of condensation on underside of boot lid.
First checked boot lid seal, rear light seals and aerial - all seemed OK.
This suggested rain could be coming in through the small gap formed where my roof half-cover’s weighted tabs go across the boot lid seal. As Fluffy said above, don’t put the cover’s tabs IN the boot itself.
Have mopped up all the water I can, removed carpet and all trim in the boot and now drying them, using a tray filled with cat litter (aloe vera scented, no less!) to speed up moisture absorption.
Next heavy rain will tell whether the roof cover’s tabs were to blame, or whether water is coming from elsewhere…
