Leaking Hood Repair

TaffZee

Zorg Guru (V)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 5, 2011
Points
183
Location
Near Llangollen North Wales
Model of Z
Z4 3.0 SE
Started repairing my leaking hood, after removing the hood where it attaches to the body, and after a quick water test I found that it was the Sealing Strip that was leaking and not the hood strip:mad:

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!5 years of muck...

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So 4 bolts later and a lot of pulling out came the sealing strip:

(Will get around to that decking when I can:oops:)

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Which left me a major job of cleaning of all the old sealer. In the picture you can also see the roof drain box..Flushed this out as well. I used a hair drier to soften the sealer and old credit card to scrape the soft sealer off, I then collected a ball of sealer and using this pushed and pulled it into any remaining sealer and used this to remove the remaining sealer, finally I have used Evo Stik Solvent remover to get any residue off.
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But after a bit of patience and elbow grease:

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So all the old sealer has been cleaned off (the brown stuff is an abysmal attempt to stop the leak) and its ready for assembly tomorrow, fingers crossed the weather will be dry.


Success:)

Sorry didnt take any more photos, Got stuck in early this morning and my wife had the camera in her bag and disappeared shopping for two hours:mad: but I have cured the leak 100% had the hosepipe full on the back of the hood not one drop of water, I think the key was removing all the old sealer, I fitted the new Butyl strip to the bodywork of the car not the plastic trim, left the paper on until the plastic trim was in place, and then gently peeled the paper of and loosely tightened the 4 bolts, I then put the Butyl trip on the outside of the trim that I had just attached to the car and again left the paper backing on until the plastic hood trim was in place. I then located the bolts into the trim and starting from the middle outward tightened the bolts.

The only problem I come across was space, I am not built to be knelt on the seats working in confined spaces, but the job was a lot easier than I thought, another 15 years of a non leaking hood to look forward to:drinks:
 
B

badman gee

Guest
My fence needs staining as well.

Will get it done before winter!
 

Brian H

Zorg Expert (I)
Supporter
British Zeds
Scottish Zeds
Joined
Dec 5, 2011
Points
205
Location
Killin
Model of Z
E36/7 3.0i - E85 Z4///M
Great write up TaffZee, hope it stays dry for you tomorrow.
 

TaffZee

Zorg Guru (V)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 5, 2011
Points
183
Location
Near Llangollen North Wales
Model of Z
Z4 3.0 SE
Bit of a snag, while cleaning the sealer off the sealing strip (the part on the in need of attention decking) I have noticed a run of what can only be described as draft excluder this type of stuff:

draft.jpg


Do I replace it? or carry on with just the Butyl Sealer, is it there for a purpose? perhaps its to stop the Butyl from sagging during hot weather? Argh nothing is Simple:(
 

Jaguarxk1998

Newbie
Joined
Oct 21, 2023
Points
1
Hi Guys, someone can show me how/where to run the butyl tape on the back of the 4xbolt mounting frame? (lower or upper)
followed by the last roof butyl tape before you put the rest bolts please?
 

Jaguarxk1998

Newbie
Joined
Oct 21, 2023
Points
1
Hi, Guys, I do have the same problem to start run the butyl tape on the back of the 4 x bolts mounting frame, over 8 months I 've been struggling, the first time I made it but later it started water leaking, so I stripped all the butyl again, need help, please.........
 

MartinJ

Dedicated Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Points
44
Hi, Thanks Taff Zee for the above, very useful and really informative

I'm having a bit of a wrestling match with my Z3 roof and refitting it. The roof is a newer roof from a 1997/8 Z3 1.9. and a straight swap. (So I thought). My Z is the same year from the donor car. I have read several articles including TaffZee’ s which .

I have started the refit and come across several problems.

Which holes / where do the 'four bolts' fit on the sealing frame to hold it in place? The roof also appears to be about 25 mm too short to fit in the cavity and attach to the sealing frame. See attached pictures.

I was wondering if the tensioning belts were too short, but considered they must be a standard fitting (Item 19: Real oem picture). If anyone has any further tips or idea’s where I’m going wrong and why the roof is too short for the fit, I would be grateful.

I have since done more research: been watching the ‘BMW Z3 Convertible Top Replacement - Part 2: Installation’, You tube, Maine Jason. I’m fitting a complete roof, not recovering so some items on the You tube item don’ t apply. I also read the Bentley which to be fair is a little sort on detail.

Its driving me nuts as I am close to completing and the roof is the last big job. if it’s on the drive for another year, I’m getting noises to get rid of.

Otherwise, and this is really left field, can you get an MOT without the roof? If it’s possible I might be able to get someone to fit the roof after for me…


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