My roadster leaks a lot of rain at the windshield - convertible top bead. I have replaced the square gasket that resides in the front portion of the top. When mated with the windshield, I can see the impression. Instead of mating right down the middle, it is off about 1/4 inch. The windshield chrome is about half into the gasket, and about half into the convertible top front wood frame. Before I give up and live with it, I want to give it one more try. The service manual says there are no adjustments. If I could raise the top center bow, that would allow the front edge to land about a 1/4 to 1/8 inch shorter, solving the problem. My other solution is to add a non-standard flat ribbon gasket over the existing factory design square gasket, and adjust the hold down clamps accordingly.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation.

Has anyone out there had a similar problem? How did you solve it?

Submitted by cburk@kiva.net on Wed, 07/30/2014 - 15:56

Robert,
IIRC the gasket was about 1/4 - 3/8" wide and about 1/8" thick. Yes, you'd essentially remove your square gasket and position the thin gasket against the back of the groove , before reinstalling the square gasket. When the hood is closed and the latches fastened, the thin gasket would be oriented vertically as you describe. (See how I'm waving my hands?)

I'll be watching to see if anyone has other ideas when they get off work later.

Submitted by rgrisar@hotmail.com on Wed, 07/30/2014 - 13:18

Hello Cliff. Thanks for following my poor narrative description and responding so quickly. Your solution appears to be exactly what I seek. Two easy questions please. (1) Can you guesstimate the approx dimensions of the ribbon, and (2) when you say behind, does this mean it is polarized, for want of a better description, from sky to ground when closed?

Submitted by cburk@kiva.net on Wed, 07/30/2014 - 13:09

Robert,
My dealer used the flat gasket approach when I had that issue in '71. Except, he installed the gasket BEHIND the square gasket, simply moving the square one forward and forcing it to squish more when mating with the chromed windscreen channel.

Hope that works for you!