Need custom weatherstripping solution for hatch..

[dkraven]

At some point the PO of my 944 must have closed the hatch on something that slightly bent the frame on the left side midway and even with new hatch seal and a new gasket that goes under the spoiler I’m still getting leaks because the rubber seals won’t seal, even with the hatch pins tightened down as much as I can and still have them latch. It seems water runs under the spoiler, down over the soft rubber gasket attached to the hatch itself, and then under it (because it won’t seal) and over the regular hatch seal.

Ideal solution is fix or replace the bent hatch. Can’t afford to do that right now. So trying to come up with something not TOO janky to seal things up.

Ideas?

[Dano944]

IMHO the seal and gasket leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to sealing out water. My gasket/seal was leaking right where.the under-glass gasket ended at the left side, and water leaked in right there. I peeled back the under-glass gasket and used auto gasket black adhesive and that seemed to work. I’m sure you’ve already cleaned out the spoiler drain slots. My other fix that helped a bit (but not 100%) was to lay window weather stripping all along under the hatch edge. You will see that there is a nice flat edge that runs under the hatch that aligns to the body gasket, and the weather stripping fits perfectly there.

[djnolan]

Can you post a pic? Maybe you can add some filler to help the gasket seal better.

[wwdwgs]

OP, if your gasket is dry, wipe it with AT-205 (re-seal), This chemical swells the rubber and makes it pliable. Works well on exterior door weatherstripping (vertical thin strip).

[Monkey Wrench]

maybe you can protect the car with plastic so it wont stick , and put silicone ( or a sealant better than silicone? butyl or something that cures faster than butyl maybe?? )

just use it on the problem area, close the hatch till it's dry then maybe a week later open it, trim off the plastic. and any excess.. the objective being to fill ( build up ) the void in rubber contact just where the bend and the issue is , not everywhere..

[djnolan]

i used some foam weatherstripping to seal the back end of my hatch due to air leaks and pulling in exhaust fumes. i comes in rolls at home depot, etc.

[dkraven]

Originally Posted by Dano944

IMHO the seal and gasket leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to sealing out water. My gasket/seal was leaking right where.the under-glass gasket ended at the left side, and water leaked in right there. I peeled back the under-glass gasket and used auto gasket black adhesive and that seemed to work. I’m sure you’ve already cleaned out the spoiler drain slots. My other fix that helped a bit (but not 100%) was to lay window weather stripping all along under the hatch edge. You will see that there is a nice flat edge that runs under the hatch that aligns to the body gasket, and the weather stripping fits perfectly there.

Was thinking of doing this, and what @djnolan suggested. Yes, the design is odd, like they were trying to fix a problem rather than creating it to not have a problem. How much of the end of that gasket did you end up gluing down? Water will find a way, and it certainly does.

@djnolan, what exact weatherstripping did you use? It looks angled in the photo.

I started out wanting to avoid a hack looking job, but at this point I just need it not to leak!

As far as photos, I've had a devil of a time uploading to pelicanparts, not sure why, but the image uploading process keeps stalling out.

[wwdwgs]

dkraven,
if you have problems uploading pictures here, find some free cloud service, upload them there and give us a link.

[djnolan]

Home depot has a variety of sizes and types of foam insulation in rolls.

[Bulldog9]

Embracing my full shade tree, hill billy/redneck mode (though I am from NYC) Why not buy some soft weather stripping with stick on adhesive and apply it to the hatch itself? It may fill the gaps and give a complete seal.

[Dano944]

Originally Posted by Bulldog9

Embracing my full shade tree, hill billy/redneck mode (though I am from NYC) Why not buy some soft weather stripping with stick on adhesive and apply it to the hatch itself? It may fill the gaps and give a complete seal.

I used the weatherstrip on the underside of my hatch along with automotive gasket seal from a tube. It fixed the leaking on the right side, but the existing rubber gasket on the left side still allowed water to enter. I purchased a new gasket for the underside of the hatch, and wiring to bring my car in for other services before that new gasket gets installed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. But hey, I got 90% of the leaking stopped by using weatherstripping and gasket seal.

[dkraven]

Basically did what you all suggested. Spent some time identifying exactly where water is getting in and used pieces of weatherstrip to add depth to the sealing surfaces. Also used moldable glue, known as "sugru" to seal up this one spot at the end of the spoiler gasket where water can run in. Makes me wish someone would make an aftermarket "skirt" to go under the spoiler and down over the hatch for a one and done keep water out solution.

[Dano944]

Originally Posted by dkraven

Basically did what you all suggested. Spent some time identifying exactly where water is getting in and used pieces of weatherstrip to add depth to the sealing surfaces. Also used moldable glue, known as "sugru" to seal up this one spot at the end of the spoiler gasket where water can run in. Makes me wish someone would make an aftermarket "skirt" to go under the spoiler and down over the hatch for a one and done keep water out solution.

First off, this design was very poor. Secondly, I bought a new under-glass gasket, which I will have the service shop install. In addition, I bought a bag of replacement screws that mount the gasket. These screws are so old, I know I’d have problems removing them. I’d rather trust having the service shop do the work as they work on many old Porsches and understand old mounting screws.
Hopefully a new gasket will fix my leak. As I mentioned, I used weatherstripping and gasket sealant, with a 90% success. The last 10% is that problem area you mentioned where the under-glass gasket ends and allows water to enter and leak over the bottom hatch gasket.
After doing this, I swear I could write a fixit manual on fixing this problem, and I should send it to Porsche.

[wwdwgs]

Dano944,
Porsche will not care what you'll send to them - old model - no real market for it. If they would care, they'd make hatch frame out of titanium.

[dkraven]

No Porsche wouldn't care, but man I wish I was a better designer because there's definitely need for an aftermarket solution. I ended up using Sugru, a moldable glue, at the ends of the gasket where water runs in, and then added a little bit of weatherstripping on the underside of the latch pin rubber seal thing and so far it's holding up.

Thing is, kind of cracks me up how we're having to put together a solution from bits and pieces because that's kind of what Porsche did. Why are there so many different levels of seal on the hatch and latch area? Just needs one well designed piece of rubber to seal and shed water, something like a skirt coming off the spoiler so water can't double back at any point and sneak in underneath.

In the mean time, hopefully my cobbled together bits of rubber will do the trick!

[Dano944]

Originally Posted by dkraven

In the mean time, hopefully my cobbled together bits of rubber will do the trick!

Hopefully it works! My solution is still pending. The other head scratch design is the drain tubes on the bottom of the hatch latches. OK, we have a tube to drain water, but the actual latch is designed with 2 pieces that bolt together. Water goes into the latch and supposedly drains out the tube, BUT the latch has no way to contain all the water that collects inside. If too much water collects, it overpowers the drain tube and simply leaks into the rear cargo area. Personally I don’t think the designers had any clue about how to properly contain water and keep it out of the rear cargo area. It’s like the final quality check person found water leaking everywhere and Hans said “Hurry, chew some gum and use it to create a gasket”. Now I know why Porsche repair shops don’t want anything to do with repairing the 944.

[Monkey Wrench]

funny mine sat int he rain 12 years here in rainy Vancouver and water never really got in, I had a bit of moss on the floor, but no real signs of leaks.. kind of expected considering it was just left there..
the hatch didn't seem to have an issue..

the obvious answer here is just to make them in one piece from transparent aluminum ;-)

https://4dproducts.co.uk/transparent-aluminium-see-through-metal-is-now-a-reality/

[wwdwgs]

MW, if rear hatch would be made of this transparent alum, it would cost more than a new 944.

[Monkey Wrench]

Originally Posted by wwdwgs

MW, if rear hatch would be made of this transparent alum, it would cost more than a new 944.

Ok I guess we are on to plan B then ;-)