How Water Tight is your Coupe?

B

bavbob

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
3,651
Reaction score
1,777
Location
Boston, Ma
As I put my coupe back together and with all new gaskets and honed in on window/door alignment, I really worry about a routine car wash in my driveway. Ex, the junction between the outer gasket on the back window and that annoying square rubber block that is attached to the glass, has to be a gap there or else the rubber block catches and pulls away from the glass when you drop , then raise the window. So many other potential areas. Danger Will Robinson?
 
Mine gets when we inside I wash it.
I’m missing a block at the top of the vent window channel and a bit gets in at the front/top of the rear windows. Not a lot but enough that it’ll lightly moisten a paper napkin in the door pockets. IMHO thisnis not an issue if you wash on a warm day and open the car up to dry.

John
 
Hopefully, none of you guys are actually cleaning your coupes with water! :)

Seriously, I've probably truly washed my car twice in 17 years.
 
But on the other side it explains the number of stains inside and damaged wooden parts.
 
Well, it's one reason why I searched for a car without sunroof. One less thing to worry about.
When it is a full resto, with rubbers, I think you should be good to wash em without issues.

Water will enter inside doors, and inside the rear quarter. All cars with moving windows have this, even modern ones. For that reason there is this plastic sheet in each location with moving windows.
Doors, and our sill also, have drain points for that reason. The rest of the car should be pretty tight.

If your front-seat window seals leak, replace em. Vents windows, heater box seal, likewise.



I think you can wash an e9, but some will fare better then others.

Before starting my restoration i drove it for 4 years and I simply did not care about any moisture. It needed full sills, and thus I did not care if there was 10 pounds of rust, or 10.1. (I even did rally trials, ending up with a few pounds of mud *on* my luggage in the trunk as the holes behind my rear wheels were already substantial)

Now if you have survivor e9, I would take the damp cloth approach, as mentioned above, no question about it. Panel seams such as floor to sill have no rust prevention between them. It relies on the thin paint layer "bridging" the panel edges; the seam. The paint on these seams cracks often due to body flex, and when water enters those seams, there is no way to dry it out.

If you have a fully acid dipped shell with 21st century rust prevention, then I would drive it every day and not bother to look at the forecast, as long as I have a nice garage for it to dry up.
 
Last edited:
eriknetherlands said:
Well, it's one reason why I searched for a car without sunroof. One less thing to worry about.

Water will enter inside doors, and inside the rear quarter. All cars with moving windows have this, even modern ones. For that reason there is this plastic sheet in each location with moving windows.
Doors, and our sill also, have drain points for that reason. The rest of the car should be pretty tight.

If your front-seat window seals leak, replace em. Vents windows, heater box seal, likewise.



I think you can wash an e9, but some will fare better then others.

Before starting my restoration i drove it for 4 years and I simply did not care about any moisture. It needed full sills, and thus I did not care if there was 10 pounds of rust, or 10.1. (I even did rally trials, ending up with a few pounds of mud *on* my luggage in the trunk as the holes behind my rear wheels were already substantial)

Now if you have survivor e9, I would take the damp cloth approach, as mentioned above, no question about it. Panel seams such as floor to sill have no rust prevention between them. It relied on the thin paint layer on the panel edges. The paint on these seams cracks often due to body flex, and when water enters those seams, there is no way to dry it out.

If you have a fully dipped shell with 21st century rust prevention, then I would drive it in the rain every day, as long as I could park it inside to dry up.
Click to expand...

So now I know why the last models produced have rear window fixed! ;)

For sure the foil on the inside of door and panels under rear windows has some purpose. It is not only for E9 neither BMWs

Many rust-art E9s like mine would not even pass so called "cat-test"... a cat closed inside the car would runaway quite easily with all doors and windows being closed. :)
 
With almost any other car, I'd say a higher volume of water is required but cars that have poor waterproofing AND no internal rust proofing or even primer are a different story. Jay Leno even advocates for never actually washing his older cars. Says water is the single biggest enemy of classic cars.

Having said all that, if you've a fully restored car (fenders off and everything wide open) with the appropriate rust prevention in all the nooks and crannys then you should be able to take a hose to it now and then when it gets really dirty. Then if your serious, turn the dehumidifiers on full blast and let it really dry out.
 
Once you've finished that 'wash with a hose' project and completely dried the car, be sure you go for a drive of several miles. The flow of air through the body on any car helps clear out any residual moisture and prevent (or certainly slow) corrosion. You'll find quite a few places where rivulets of water have been blown out onto the body, so you'll have to do a bit of final drying to avoid water spots.

We had a gorgeous day about a week ago, so I washed one of the '3 season' cars and put it in the hobby garage. The other 'major' 3 season car goes in that garage tomorrow, (hasn't been 'hose washed' in 2 1/2 years and it is primarily aluminum and composite). The 30 hp tractor on which I just finished mounting the snow blower goes into it's stall in the attached garage when it leaves. Rain today, hopefully drying tomorrow, and 6-12 inches of rain forecast for Wed noon through Thursday noon. White Christmas? (probably all gone by then)

Gary
 
I planned on a ginger washing, panel by panel with minimal spray and avoiding potential trouble spots. You can obviate rust with the full resto like I have but there are many components other than the shell which need to be protected. We all also know the weep holes for drainage don't work well.......and ginger doesn't mean the root for all those poised to jump on that!
 
At least short ride after car washing is preferred to keep the brakes out of humidity around. For example to avild brake shoes sticking into the brake discs.
 
I use one of those microfiber yarn pads and a bucket of clean water. I can get the car wet enough to remove any debris, then follow with a microfiber towel and Griot's Speed Shine. No hose involved. If it's just dusty, Speed Shine does the trick.
 
I never wash my car either, but I do occasionally get caught in the rain on a road trip, if it gets wet I always make sure to get some compressed air and blow out the gap between the trunk metal and rubber seal, water always accumulates there, and anywhere else I see pooling possibilities. My front hood seal is not glued in so I take that out to dry below. Like Gary, I never put it away wet, I go for a highway drive to blow it all out. I think worse than a little water from above is water thrown up into the fender wells while moving. The semi annual inspection/clean/compressed air/waxoil helps with that.
 
Safely wash your car with 2 gallons of water using:

optimumcarcare.com

Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine - New Formula!

Try No Rinse Wash & Shine 8oz* RISK FREE with FREE SHIPPING and a 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! Optimum No Rinse™ Wash & Shine New &
optimumcarcare.com optimumcarcare.com

I've been using ONR for years, its a great product. Can also be used as a clay lubricant, quick detailer, window & interior cleaner. Or use Optimum No Rinse Wash & Wax with added carnauba wax
 
Didn't leak one bit in the Del Ray Oaks Car Wash in California 2016 or on the 2019 Targa CA or in 2020 after the filth inducing dusty dirt road laden New Hampshire Covered Bridge Tour. Sometimes one's confectioner's sugar Coup does need a real bath when waterless cleaners are inadequate.

Athena Car Wash 1.JPG
Athena Car Wash 2.JPG
Doug Park Athena Water Crossing.jpg
IMG_3926.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top