Soaking carpets - help needed urgently

[mattymouse]

Ok so i bought an 05 DB DAX cobra a few weeks ago and got a new interior etc.

On Saturday the weather was terrible however it has a hard top and side windows etc so is good for driving in the rain. Today however I noticed the floor carpet on either side of the car was absolutely drenched. No rain today and car is parked in a garage overnight.

I dont understand where the water has come from. Its so wet, it drips if i lift the carpet from the floor and I'm worried it will ruin the carpets etc unless i find a solution.

Anyone got any idea where this water has come from or how it got into the car or how to stop it?

Help needed

regards,

Matthew

[dave.n]

Matthew
You will most likely find the rain is coming in from the windscreen bars. As you drive the rain on your shiney new paint will travel up to the edges of the windscreen and seep in under the plates where the bars go through the body work and run down behind your trim and under the floor.
The easy remedy is to buy a small syringe and fill it with clear mastic and carefully sceal this area(masking tape is a good friend whilst doing this). You can always remove the screen and get right at the offending area. Or make your carpets more removable and rid yourself of the constantly damp sound proofing.
Or just remove the carpets when your going to go out in the rain. On a Dax you have a grp cockpit so you won't rust. I have a steel cockpit so a few coats of hammerite has done the job and I remove the carpets when I go out in the rain. If it rains hard when I'm out then I remove the carpets on my return and the underslung exhausts dry the car out and with a good quality car carpet there is no shrinkage or distortion..

[Clive]

Hi Matthew,
Welcome to owning a Cobra in Scotland!
Wet carpets go with the territory!

[westborne]

Wet carpets are common

Its probably the Windscreen pillars
- seal them

After France this year I removed seats and carpets and installed some drain holes - after all the footwells are plastic bath tubs really !!

[Paul B]

Also have a look at your windscreen wiper shafts as they come through the body. In June I gathered around half a gallon in the passenger footwell purely through leakage past the wiper box shaft.

Remove, make a small rubber gasket from an old inner tube, refit and rejoice !

Paul

[mattymouse]

Originally Posted by dave.n

Matthew
You will most likely find the rain is coming in from the windscreen bars. As you drive the rain on your shiney new paint will travel up to the edges of the windscreen and seep in under the plates where the bars go through the body work and run down behind your trim and under the floor.
The easy remedy is to buy a small syringe and fill it with clear mastic and carefully sceal this area(masking tape is a good friend whilst doing this). You can always remove the screen and get right at the offending area. Or make your carpets more removable and rid yourself of the constantly damp sound proofing.
Or just remove the carpets when your going to go out in the rain. On a Dax you have a grp cockpit so you won't rust. I have a steel cockpit so a few coats of hammerite has done the job and I remove the carpets when I go out in the rain. If it rains hard when I'm out then I remove the carpets on my return and the underslung exhausts dry the car out and with a good quality car carpet there is no shrinkage or distortion..

Thanks for the tip, I did notice the water travelling up the body on either side as you said and yes i do think there are very small gaps on either side of the windscreen. I'll buy the clear mastic today and set about it. The carpets cant be removed unless i unbolt the seats etc so really I'm looking to rid the problem completely but i see that may not be possible. I made up my mind on Saturday though that i wont be driving the car in the rain, a tad unfotunate since i thought seeing as it has the hardtop, it wouldnt be a problem

Originally Posted by westborne

Wet carpets are common

Its probably the Windscreen pillars
- seal them

After France this year I removed seats and carpets and installed some drain holes - after all the footwells are plastic bath tubs really !!

Will do, I'll seal them and see how we get on. If my water ever gets turned off, i know where to go to get washed!!

Originally Posted by Paul B

Also have a look at your windscreen wiper shafts as they come through the body. In June I gathered around half a gallon in the passenger footwell purely through leakage past the wiper box shaft.

Remove, make a small rubber gasket from an old inner tube, refit and rejoice !

Paul

Thanks for the tip Paul, cheers

[Purple AK]

Matty. You'll also find that water finds it's way in around the door closure, Hence the term "Cobra Leg"! I found that a hollow D section rubber strip stuck to the lip of the door stops 99% of it

[simon finlay]

Matt, have alook at the post I made a while back,

http://cobraclub.specialistcommuniti...ght=impossible

also if you cut the carpets acorss the floor just forward of the front seat mounts and get a couple of carpet pop off fixers to attatch the carpet to the floor you can always remove the footwell area when ever you want, you do not need to remove the seats to do this and the cut edge should be under the seat enough not to be scene, this is what I have done but mine is no about as water tight as it ever will be and I have found it very dry as you will note from the older posting, cheers, Simon

[kurrmet]

Originally Posted by Purple AK

Matty. You'll also find that water finds it's way in around the door closure, Hence the term "Cobra Leg"! I found that a hollow D section rubber strip stuck to the lip of the door stops 99% of it

Chris

After driving for 5 hours last week though europe in the pouring rain i had cobra everthing not just leg and about 1" of water in the footwell.


But one good day of sunshine and the carpets where dry and as good as new.

Now all i need is a bilge pump fitted for the rest of the summer.

[Neil O]

I've fitted rubber door mats under my carpet in the footwells. They are about 10mm thick and have plenty of slots in. This keeps the water that gets in, under the carpet and it can then exit through the drain holes.

My carpets have been wet a number of times, and now I just turn the dehumidifier up full for a couple of days and they are dry.