Door leaking

[sonscar]

Water has always found its way into my DHC and I put it down to the destroyed door seals.After fitting some generic seals it was still coming in and I thought cheap seals poor job.After finding several inches of water I was more motivated to investigate and found water enters the door where the glass and quarterlight seals are,runs through the door and straight out between the doorframe and doorcard.There is plastic on the back of the doorcard and a thin strip of trim fastened to the edge of the card but no membrane on the door.Would there be?Yours in damp anticipation,Steve..

[supercass]

To my recollection, when new the membrane was fitted to the door card but the access holes on the door skin were covered with a waterproof (ish) tape. First thing I would do would be to close off those holes again with waterproof tape. supercass

[Hasbeen]

Check the drain holes in the bottoms of your doors.

If they are clear, that water should drain out of them, & not into the car.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

The door cards I got didn't have a plastic backing. The plastic backing with it's pockets should be applied to the door with strips of a tar like substance you can buy from auto parts store. As mentioned drain holes should be clear. I have a picture with some where on my other computer as I ran across it the other day but darned if I could find it now. I'll come across it again when I'm not looking for it (like lots of other things).

[sonscar]

The drain holes were my first port of call.I removed the doorcard and watched as I poured water over the window.The water does not even make it as far as the door bottom,pouring out of the hole where the ashtray fits.Further research shows a "flap" of door trim which seems to be trapped between the doorframe and doorseal to divert this water out.My plan is to stick plastic to the door over the holes and reengineer this flap.New window seals and felt window runners will be next.Wish me luck.Steve.

[whitenviro]

Or never take your car out in the rain!

Is the outer window seal along the top of the door in good shape? Replace that with a good flexible one and it should help keep a lot of that water out.

[FI Spyder]

That's a good point, Dan. I've seen some pretty chewed up outer seals, they are replaceable! Also the aluminum reinforced door cards I got from Victoria British also have similar replaceable inner seals that catch the odd drip/streams of water that might get by the top of window and hood. It seems the DPO has removed the plastic sheet that goes between the door card and the door to take care of any water that does enter the door. It is fairly thick and could probably be made up from the thick film plastic you can buy from home building stores.

[dursleyman]

The drain holes were my first port of call.I removed the doorcard and watched as I poured water over the window.The water does not even make it as far as the door bottom,pouring out of the hole where the ashtray fits.Further research shows a "flap" of door trim which seems to be trapped between the doorframe and doorseal to divert this water out.My plan is to stick plastic to the door over the holes and reengineer this flap.New window seals and felt window runners will be next.Wish me luck.Steve.

The plastic "membrane" that is stuck/taped on my doors before the card goes on has a little pockets built into it where the light and ashtray are. That should keep any water in the door and not allow it into the car.

[sonscar]

I have delved deeper into this problem.On my doorcard the plastic is stapled onto the card itself.There was a flap of vinyl which I thought was unfastened at the door bottom.With hindsight I erroneously folded this over itself and stapled it to the doorcard forming a shallow pouch.The water running through the seals(which have now been replaced) and runs through the speaker hole and the ashtray hole.Looking at some photos of Beans car I noticed the same flap under the doorcard hanging loose so it would be trapped between the seal and the door when closed.I have replicated this and as the saying goes"watch this space".Rusty sill,Rusty floors,Rusty suspension mounts,No Problem.Water leak,Defeated.Steve..

[supercass]

I believe there are a number of defences against water penetration in this area of the car, none of which are totally successful but which together should provide reasonable protection. Good weather strips to the windows, sealed off access holes on the inner door, an unbroken plastic membrane on the back of the door card , the flap protruding at the bottom extending to below the top of the door wind seals, clear drain holes at the bottom of the doorsd, a good fit and pliability for the door wind seals. Also a decent fitting hood will help prevent water ingress. supercass