75ZT Community

Has anyone tips or experience for sealing body panel joins and specifically the side panel to roof join as here:-
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID001747

I placed a tarp on a roof rack and that stopped the rain getting into the car during the last 24 hours of heaviest rain. IN the weeks since I have had this car I notice more moisture high up in the drivers side rear D pillar between the boot and rear passenger door.(carefully push hand in and poke tissues in)

And the past owners spent money and effort on this clean new feeling 86k miles car but have failed to cure a sunroof drain leak when new parts on the drains can be seen. So while working and double checking the sunroof drains I want to seal the join between the side of the car and the roof. How would I pull up of slide out that black strip? What sealant would fit larger leaks?

Capt Tolley is for hair line cracks. With my limited knowledge I may try some white spirit to thin underbody type black waxoyl so it runs into cracks and a careful application with a smallest paint brush

Might be worth removing the blanking plug in the roof trim strip to check for the presence of a bolt in the hole underneath - the 4 holes for securing the roof bars should all be plugged with a bolt.

Thanks WillyHeckaslike. I am just trying to check. On my previous facelift saloon the blanking plugs would fall out. On this face saloon, they are in very tightly indeed and so not got them out yet as I don't want to damage them.

You might already know but just in case, the plugs have a couple of notches which you align with slots in the hole to remove or refit them. To remove a plug just turn it to align the two and lift it out, refitting is the opposite of removal. Aim for a turn of ~ 90 degrees to lock or unlock though depending on how loose the fitting is it can vary. To prevent loss of the plugs some who don't intend to use roof bars might use sealant or maybe something stronger to seal the plugs in place, in which case they might not turn to align the notches with the holes. In this scenario they will have to be prised out as carefully as possible.

After having had one stolen from my car while it was on the drive I removed them all and replaced with some generic plugs off Aliexpress. The replacements were slightly oversize but that allowed them to be carefully shaved down with a sharp knife to give the good tight fit that I wanted. Had to experiment with a few different orders off Aliexpress to get the nearest size as none of the sizes mentioned on the car forums was suitable, though some were given for soft rubber plugs which might be better able to accommodate any slight difference in tolerance. I specifically wanted a polythene-type plastic which I feel will be more durable especially on a car which is not garaged, but I guess it's horses for courses and some have fitted rubber plugs from the likes of Halfords which will be easier to fit - and easier to remove which is not what I and many will want.

Thanks WillyHeckaslike, The tips on these sorts of things are very helpful