Water ingress - Chassis/body connection
Discussion
In my continuing crusade against water etc etc in the grif I've noticed the following....
Water seems to collect at the rear of the passenger side seat runners. I've proofed the roof etc and am sure it is not coming in from the door or under the dash as this area is bone dry. On peering inside the front of the rear wheel arch, the chassis plate that connects to the body appears to be sitting proud at the top by 1/4" to 1/2". Does this bolt straight though the fibre glass body into the interior and thus be the elusive source of water ?
Water seems to collect at the rear of the passenger side seat runners. I've proofed the roof etc and am sure it is not coming in from the door or under the dash as this area is bone dry. On peering inside the front of the rear wheel arch, the chassis plate that connects to the body appears to be sitting proud at the top by 1/4" to 1/2". Does this bolt straight though the fibre glass body into the interior and thus be the elusive source of water ?
in my experience the chassis bolts go straight through the body into the cabin but should have a spread washer on the inside with a nyloc nut on the outside, so I would have thought it would be fairly difficult to get a significant amount of water in this way, the rear of the seat runners is apparently a common point for leaks on the Griffith (mine does this occasionally too) and the most common cause is the door seals - I've refitted mine more times than I care to mention in pursuit of dry footwells!!! (so much so that I'm getting new ones fitted.)
Incidentally Steve Heath's new version of the Griff and Chimeara Bible has a couple of good pictures of the Griff doors seals and the text is very detailed on common causes of water ingress.
hope this helps.
Andy.
Incidentally Steve Heath's new version of the Griff and Chimeara Bible has a couple of good pictures of the Griff doors seals and the text is very detailed on common causes of water ingress.
hope this helps.
Andy.
My main worry at the moment is the vertical chassis plate. On the drivers side it is flush with the inner front wheel arch, but on the passenger side it is sitting proud...allowing all sorts of crap including prodigous amounts of water from the wheel to go behind it.
I suppose my main questions at the moment are, is this bad ? Could water get in here that was kicked up from the road ? Must confess that I haven't been able to have a good look but will be investigating further over the Christmas period.
I suppose my main questions at the moment are, is this bad ? Could water get in here that was kicked up from the road ? Must confess that I haven't been able to have a good look but will be investigating further over the Christmas period.
My Griff did leak badly at this point when I first got it, the vertical plate in the wheel arch is at the seat belt reel attachment.My belt reel on the passenger side of the car had lightly corroded, and I got water pooling behind the seats.The water was getting in behind the plate and travelling along the fixing bolt and wicking through the carpet.
It was all very rusty when I got it all off with just a trace of sealant present.
The seat belts are bolted through the wheel arch and chassis lug with spacers on the bolt shaft to prevent crushing of the fibreglass wheel arch.You need to hold the reel bolt head and turn the nut off under the wheel arch as I remember, my car did not have a captive nut welded to the plate.
Remove it all and clean up everything, paint the plate and after assembly fill the void between arch and plate thoroughly with black silicon sealer, when cured apply waxoyl if you want.
Did mine three years ago and no more leaks since.
I changed the belt reels at the same time as I said mine were a bit naff. This all applies to an early 92 car, I have assumed they are all the same in this area.
Good luck with it.
Griffer
It was all very rusty when I got it all off with just a trace of sealant present.
The seat belts are bolted through the wheel arch and chassis lug with spacers on the bolt shaft to prevent crushing of the fibreglass wheel arch.You need to hold the reel bolt head and turn the nut off under the wheel arch as I remember, my car did not have a captive nut welded to the plate.
Remove it all and clean up everything, paint the plate and after assembly fill the void between arch and plate thoroughly with black silicon sealer, when cured apply waxoyl if you want.
Did mine three years ago and no more leaks since.
I changed the belt reels at the same time as I said mine were a bit naff. This all applies to an early 92 car, I have assumed they are all the same in this area.
Good luck with it.
Griffer
hi
having the same problem on a 97 griff, had the roof re fabsiled which helped, but still getting water behind drivers seat, gonna have it professionally waxoiled by tower view, takes a couple of hours and i don't ahev home garage facitilties. (marc said, v.common around seta bel, seat etc mounting areas) will update when done.
cheers
jody
having the same problem on a 97 griff, had the roof re fabsiled which helped, but still getting water behind drivers seat, gonna have it professionally waxoiled by tower view, takes a couple of hours and i don't ahev home garage facitilties. (marc said, v.common around seta bel, seat etc mounting areas) will update when done.
cheers
jody
I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one! Was going to use the Griff for the first time in a couple of weeks this morning. First thing i noticed were soaking wet floor (behind seats) and parcel shelf. Will be investing in hood cover fairly sharpish, along with Fabsil (sp?) or similar.
Would have had a good drive, had the alarm not drained the battery.
:mustrememberweeklythrashingforbatteryssake:
Would have had a good drive, had the alarm not drained the battery.
:mustrememberweeklythrashingforbatteryssake:
Julian, get yourself a float charger for Christmas! I have wired female connectors to the Griff's battery and have located them in the top of the footwell, so plugging the float charger in takes two seconds...no more grovelling in the footwell! 
I bet your car runs better when the battery is maintained in peak condition!
You will now only have to remember to roll the car occassionally to stop the dreaded "tyre flat-spots"!
Toffer
This is a problem area but remember you've got the daft bit of velcro holding the side part of the hood in place there as well. The inner part just sticks onto the carpet and if it get wet will just dribble down the inner panel.
On Chimaeras it is possible for water to find it's way in from the boot via the hinges. The whole rear wing, boot and side of the car is one open area so it's possible if the car is facing down hill for water to slip in through the boot lid and trickle down the inner rear wheel arch into the cavity for the door release mechanism. I'm not sure how the Griff is made up in this department.
Also, when you fabsil the hood, check to make sure the stiching is still 100%. I've noticed some of mine has come undone and therefore there are 100s of tiny holes in the roof!
On Chimaeras it is possible for water to find it's way in from the boot via the hinges. The whole rear wing, boot and side of the car is one open area so it's possible if the car is facing down hill for water to slip in through the boot lid and trickle down the inner rear wheel arch into the cavity for the door release mechanism. I'm not sure how the Griff is made up in this department.
Also, when you fabsil the hood, check to make sure the stiching is still 100%. I've noticed some of mine has come undone and therefore there are 100s of tiny holes in the roof!
Hi all, hope you all had a good christmas. Didn't get chance to sort out the leaks as the bloody alternator went on Christmas Eve. Aaarrrghgh.. Turns out it was the 100Amp fuse that sits between the alternator and the starter motor underneath the chassis. Incidentally the alternator was also knackered as was only putting out small amount of power.
I've noticed water dripping in through the door handles into the lock compartment. I've shoved some vaseline in the top and underneath in the compartment but has anyone got a better solution involving sealant or something ?
I've noticed water dripping in through the door handles into the lock compartment. I've shoved some vaseline in the top and underneath in the compartment but has anyone got a better solution involving sealant or something ?
As I've said on other threads, the most common leak path on all TVRs is through the door liner. The drain path from the windows is down the inside of the door. Sometimes the water can run out the bottom of the door liner and it then finds itself on the INSIDE of the door seal, hence the many versions of pinching, flattening or slotting the bottom of the door seal to let the water run OUT. I seem to remember that the S has a slot moulded into the door at the bottom for this purpose.
As for water running into the locks? The Griffith door handles look very sexy until you realise that a vertical bar running through the bottom of a nicely curved bowl makes an excellent water collection device. It only struck me after parking at Edinburgh airport in the rain a couple of weeks ago and returning the following evening in sub zero temperatures to find the locks frozen solid.
As for water running into the locks? The Griffith door handles look very sexy until you realise that a vertical bar running through the bottom of a nicely curved bowl makes an excellent water collection device. It only struck me after parking at Edinburgh airport in the rain a couple of weeks ago and returning the following evening in sub zero temperatures to find the locks frozen solid.
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