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T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
Looks like I'm going to have to reseal my t-top bar -- all my t-top weatherstripping is still soft/pliable and coming off clean, but I'm pretty sure that the foam sealing blocks and pad underneath the bar will be more or less destroyed at this point.
As I see it in the t-top water leak manual, it looks like there's 2 flat-ish square shaped blocks that lay down under the bar horizontally, and 1 fatter, rectangular pad that sits vertically between the t-top bar and rear roof.
Does anyone know where I can buy any of these? Someone suggested this website for the sealing blocks https://americanmaterialsupply.com/c...-rubber-sheets, but they have a ton of different thicknesses. No idea where to get the foam pad either.
Re: T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
Alright, well apparently no one knows where to buy these things, but I re-sealed my t-top bar and replaced all my weatherstripping anyway, and figured I'd share some insight in what I found.
The sealing pads that came off my car SUPER thin (less than 1/8 inch), so I decided to make new "pads" out of 3M Strip Caulk. If I had this to do over again, I probably would still try to source some foam pads and cut them to fit. I don't think the strip caulk is going to hold up to the Georgia heat as well as the foam pads did for the past 28 years. The first photo below shows the underside of the front of the bar, and the second shows the underside of the rear. I probably could have re-used these pads, they were still surprisingly soft and pliable. I kept them just in case I have to do this again.
This is a BIG, BIG job, and I had to do it twice as I attempted it without new weatherstripping the first time, and it leaked just as bad as before. Removing the weatherstripping, all related adhesive, re-sealing the bar, and properly re-installing everything took me about 9 hours each time I did it. It then took about 6 weeks of repeatedly removing and re-installing the weatherstripping, adding more strip caulk in places, adjusting the t-tops up and down, waiting for it to rain to leak test it, and adjusting the passenger's window to get rid of all leaks and wind noise. I ended up having to adjust the rear of the driver's t-top literally as far down as it would go to fix the last leak, which shouldn't have needed to be done with new weatherstripping, but I guess my car's body is that twisted up.
I had initially planned NOT to replace the t-top panel side seals as I had already replaced them when I bought my car 3 years ago, but the Metro ones that I bought were about 2 inches too short on both sides, and would not even come close to making contact with the new t-top body seals. I ended up buying matched Fairchild side seals, which work great with the Fairchild t-top body seals.
One last thing that I wanted to note that seems to be contrary to everything I've read on here: the Fairchild body seals are NOT the same as the final design from GM, which is what was on my car (late production '91) when I started. I didn't have the first GM design seals to compare them to, so they may be somewhat of a hybrid of GM designs, but the new Fairchild seals were missing the internal drains that were at the top of each of the 4 corners of my original seals, which was rather disappointing. They did have gutters on the vertical part of the rear pieces, but once again I'm not sure if this was on earlier designs as well. Nonetheless, I wasn't about to spend $800 just on GM weatherstripping for a car that I paid $1,500 for.
One last thing I would have done differently would be to properly refinish the t-top bar while it was off the car. I sanded it down to bare stainless and repainted it with 4-5 coats of SEM Trim Black, but I really should have used a quality primer first, instead of just paint. The paint now gets chipped every time I take the tops in and out and looks terrible. I probably would have spent more time doing it the right way if mine wasn't already full of dents from hail damage from the previous owner.
Hopefully this helps someone, as just about every 3rd gen with t-tops leaks.
Re: T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
The trouble with things like the foam blocks and pads, is that you can get the material, but you usually have to buy enough to do about 20 cars. That's what I ran into with the window stop bumpers, T56 bellhousing bolts, and fuel tank strap foam. I've got about 200ft of this closed-cell strip for insulating the fuel tank. Wonder if it'd do the job on the T bar.
Re: T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
Originally Posted by Drew
The trouble with things like the foam blocks and pads, is that you can get the material, but you usually have to buy enough to do about 20 cars. That's what I ran into with the window stop bumpers, T56 bellhousing bolts, and fuel tank strap foam. I've got about 200ft of this closed-cell strip for insulating the fuel tank. Wonder if it'd do the job on the T bar.
Yeah I've got a giant roll of similar looking foam tape from re-sealing the drip rails. Probably 20 feet, I only needed about 30 inches of it, but that was the only way to get it. Judging by the photo though, that tape looks even thicker than what I have, which itself was about 2-3 times the thickness of the foam pads. Perhaps they've compressed with age, but my foam pads were really thin. It's no wonder that I had so many leaks from the headliner.
Re: T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
If those foam pads are leak preventers, I'm Peter Pan. That's nothing more than preventing metal on metal contact. Water goes through foam like a wash cloth. I put a 5" wide strip of black gorilla tape down the length of my t-bar and then run a bead of black sealer around the entire perimeter of the t-bar and sealed that center bar down, then added more black sealer in the front and back to prevent water from ever reaching the center bar unless the t-tops were out. Only place mine still leaks in a heavy pour is the back corners, which I think they all do no matter what you do. I'm determined to fix that too though! Other than that, I'm leak free on the 82.
Re: T-top bar foam sealing pads/blocks -- where to buy?
Originally Posted by LsxMatt
Subscribed. I have a hawks t top bar waiting to go in but had no idea there were these foam blocks.
how did the hawks t top bar workout? Is it flush with the glass? I bought one from jegs.... golden star..... have to return as there is a 3/8 gap from the glass to the bar in couple of places. I knew this was a possible issue so i mocked it up before screwing down, because i wouldve been screwed on my return.
03-02-2020, 02:42 PM
