Just got my targa seals replaced. Having some problems with noise and window alignmen

[UrQuattro]

Hey all,

so I finally had dan's correct front over the windshield seal replaced as well as replaced the rear seal - the one on the targa bar.

Firstly, before, there was that gap creates by the wrong seal at each front corner, but those gaps are gone now. Unfortunately, the wind noise is really bad and my 1/4 windows won't stay flush with the contour of the front seal and the front of the top.

I think that is mostly from the pressure being put on the windows from the new targa bar seal. Where my old seal had indentations that marked where the windows travelled and stayed held in by the side seals on the top, this new seal doesn't have any of that at all.

I don't know whether to be thankful that the seal is really firm on the sides or frustrated. Have other people who had these seals replaced had similar issues with the new rear seal pushing the windows out of their normal track of movement?

When I parked it, I made sure to have the windows up enough that I could close the doors and get the windows held tightly against the sides of the rear seal to hopefully start "training" them to have some give.

I also replaced the passenger side's side seal on the top itself as the one that was on there was pretty chewed up, and it was a big factor to why the car would leak. (the very rear of the side seal was deformed and was pinched inward against the targa seal, which also was deformed. This created what appeared to be a capillary effect and drew lots of water in to the car).

As it sits now, things look sealed. We are supposed to have some rain over the weekend, and I'm going to going to let it sit in the driveway uncovered to see if it still leaks during rain.

As far as the wind noise, I think that is most likely due to both the top being worn (the previous owner had it re-covered about 15 years ago, so I am gonna need dan's help on getting it rebuilt).

My plan in the meantime is to add some extra rubber door seal type stuff, the kind that you can get at your FLAPS that comes in a roll. I used it before, on the old front seal, and was able to successfully get the top to be very quiet, even at 90mph speeds. Right now, anything above 50 sounds like a hurricane.

I have the two manuals about how to adjust the windows, so next week once the weather clears up, I'm gonna get to work on them so that they track true.

Does anyone have experience with how long it should take to have that rear targa bar seal start to break-in and go easier on the windows?

Any other help and advice would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance!

Michael

[arbita1]

Maybe you need to try adjusting your windows now? You should email or call Dan.

[Jdub]

Good job getting the right seal in there. With our Targas (and the Coupe guys are just shaking their collective head right now...) we are burdened with the endless adjustments because we love topless. This is our cross to bear.

With love and putty the factory was able to get our cars out with a minimum of wind noise. But it didn't take long for things to start fraying at the edges. For certain you will need the webbing that supports the internal top structure redone so that the underlying plates are aligned again. Then, ensure that all (not just one side) seals are refreshed at the same time. From here, it is a matter of adjustment and time as the seal conforms to the top. What you do not want is the seal to conform to a top that is not rebuilt. Now that you have spent the money, use Dan's trade service to order a new top and begin your work there. Otherwise, you are adjusting for a "bad" top - work you will have to redo later.

One tip for us with older maladjusted tops. Use silicone grease along the seals where they meet the top to reduce both squeaking and some wind noise. Keep in mind that every time you fold the top you stretch the material at four points of the top (easy to see on worn tops) - these catch the wind. Latches can be adjusted to bite the seal harder by moving them up closer to the top, causing the top to move closer to the car.

Dan can help with this. Looking forward to hearing how this goes.

[UrQuattro]

Thanks for the reply. I know that I should be on the phone with dan right now to do the exchange, but I just can't afford it right now.

I REALLY REALLY wish that I could though. I just don't have a way to do it that I can think of right now.

The little extra bits that I'm gonna be adding shouldn't affect the new front seal, and I know that all work I do to make this top seal and work is going to have to be redone as soon as I can do the exchange.

The problem is that it will be at least 3-4 months before I can come up with that kind of coin for the top, especially if I can make this one functional and sealed against the weather and wind.

As far as replacing only one of the side seals, I did that because only one needed to be replaced.

A big problem that this car has had since my dad bought it in '00, is that the windows were set too high. So, when fully up, the window was so high, that when the door was closed, the window would not slip under and in the side seal, but would butt up against the side of it. He'll, the height was so mal adjusted that the window would lift up high enough to almost meet the underside of the rain gutters.

I never even knew that there was a problem until after my dad passed away a few years ago and I had saved up enoughto get the targa back on the road July '09. When I posted pictures on here, that is when it was pointed out to me.

BUT, although the height on the passenger side is also about the same adjustment-wise, since a passenger was so infrequently in the car, if you rolled down the window, and rolled it back up, it would actually meet the side seal correctly and fit in to the place where it was supposed to. So, it eventually wore out because of the extra stress, and the front of it, where it is thicker and extends down to seal with the 1/4 window, that area was torn off, and so, that's why I needed to replace it.

Since the drivers side never fit in to the slot until I started paying attention and would only roll the window up to a certain point (unroll I finally adjusted the height properly when I replaced the door panels), and that would allow me to close the door, pushing on both the door and the window ao that it would fit in to that seal.

But, my driver's side window has an issue. It has a lot of play in it laterally. If I have the door open and the window rolled up, I am able to move the window laterally a good 1/2"-1" if measured at the top of the window.

In contrast, on the passenger side, the window is held tightly in a position that keeps it held as close to the body of the car as possible.

I've looked in the driver's door, trying to figure out what the hell is going on, because if the window is rolled, say 1/2-3/4 of the way down, the amount of play is very small. But once it is rolled up, (actually, now that I think about it), I can move it laterally, and I can even lift the rear corner up and move the window around a lot.

It wasn't that big of a deal with the old seal, because once I started training the driver's side to fit in to the side seal ofthe top, if I were in the car, I could roll down the window and roll it back up, and it would end up fitting in to the side seal. But now, because of the much larger amount of pressure pushing out due to the new targa bar seal, i can't get the window to close completely at all.

And when I do roll the window all the way up, it ends up pulling out on the 1/4 window, causing that seal to not meet the window anymore.

I have looked through the adjustment manuals, and I have a couple ideas, but honestly I don't know what is wrong with my driver's side window.

All I want is for the thing to not leak like crazy, which it was doing, and I think that the new targa bar seal really will help with that, and I know how to make the top quiet by adding the generic weatherstripping to assist the new front seal.

But until I can figure out how to get the drivers door window more secured so that it is able to stay in a track like the passenger side, where it is mounted in a way that keeps inward pressure all the way up it's travel, then I have a real problem, and even an exchange top from dan would not fix that issue.

Michael

[RSTarga]

you need to take the door cover off to adjust your window frame to fit the new seal. Do you have the targa adjustment booklet? There are allen bolts at the rear of the door that adjust window angle and tightness to the seal. But first you need to adjust frame height and make sure your window stops are adjusted. It's a dog chasing his tail sort of deal. I left my door panel off until I was happy with the adjustment. Any gap will create wind noise. Make sure your top is flush to the windshield frame. Sometimes the clips at the front of the top get loose and allow the top to pop out of the clips.