navywolf

I replaced my B-pillar weather strip about a month or so ago. This immediately fixed the dripping on my shoulder when driving in the rain and seemed to slow the drips at the front of the door since things were a bit tighter.

Yesterday I managed to get the A-pillar weather strip installed and also the lower piece that sits between the dash and the door (below the A-pillar piece).

All seems great until I go to reinstall the targa. I have a large gap between the the roof and the new weather strip. I'm not talking large, like it will let in a little air or water, I'm talking large like you can nearly put a finger through! I took a few pictures. (the first is the rear bolt hole, looks fine; the second is the gap from inside the car; the last is the gap from outside)

Where did I go wrong?

I can still align the rear holes and tighten the back of the top. That helps it drop a little bit, but still not enough to engage the threads on the front bracket.

Does the front adjustment, under the molding, allow for you to move it up and down? The videos I saw seem to align it on the horizontal plane, not the vertical.

Could definitely use some forum help!

65Z01

That gap looks like there is something solid keeping the top from coming down in the front...
if the targa is just resting on the new A-pillar WS, there should be no see-through gap.

If the WS tucked properly into the chanel of the A-pillar?
Have you tried pressing down on the front corner of the targa to engage the front screw?

navywolf

Concur. The top seems to be resting on the little metal corner piece (bottom picture, at the corner of the windshield). This piece is on the targa roof and doesn't seem to have an adjustment of any kind, at least not visible.
I believe the weather strip is tucked properly (based on my first and only time doing this). It all seemed to fit per the posts and videos I found. Like others have commented this seems to be a little thicker than the original product. It was purchased through Wilcox, so while thicker I still expect it to be within tolerances.
I have not tried to compress things and engage the front screws for fear of damaging the top. It's 18 years old and already has the spider web cracks running through it. To me the gap looked to large to just press it in.

navywolf

Bumping this up.
Anyone else want to weigh in?
Didn't have time to play with it yesterday, so I will this afternoon when I get off work.

Cruisinfanatic

with it up like that, there is no way the bolts are even engaged. You need someone to push down hard on the top while you screw in the bolts.
My weatherstrip is a yr old now and still a pain to tighten down

samsonb

You need to re-adjust your top. For some reason most here don't EVER do this when they should when they put in new weatherstripping.

New weatherstripping = re-adjust your top.

hooked073

anytime you replace the weather strip you also need to do a top reinstall procedure. this can be found in your service manual or here http://www.melrosecorvette.com/c4-co...-installation/ it is importent to follow these steps

samsonb

Yeah, no one seems to do this and then they complain about their top being too tight after putting in new weatherstripping.

Though the OP's problem looks like he didn't do something correct as the front of the top should drop down.

FASTAZU

May just be me but it appears the corner tab is bent down holding the corner up so it won't seat properly.

navywolf

Thanks all.
I used the link from Hooked and after working the rear bolts, the front dropped down. It's all tightened up again. Didn't get to check for leaks yet, but at least it's fitting correctly. I still need to adjust the side windows too.
I knew there had to be a step by step somewhere to adjust our tops.