Quote:
Originally Posted by pound41
I got my 71 blazer in 1980 when I was 15yrs old and when I was 17 I bought my 2nd a 72 blazer. I didn't even think about a soft top. My friends and I jerked those tops off those blazers like changing shoes. I constantly had those tops off and on. I never had any leaking problems until one of the rain.drip deflectors got a rip in the metal from being bent. The original rain deflectors were one piece metal and had a much smaller lip. When I got the new repos and installed my blazer leaked worse than without them. I save my old broken ones in hopes of making something before the repos came out. The originals were a much better fit and didn't have that high outside lip which to me seems to funnel rain towards the seal. Sometime if I can figure out how to I will post a pic of my old broken originals
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Please do. I have 0 experience w/originals. I can say I stupidly broke one of the new after-market (brothers sourced IIRC) drip guards when I later decided to lift the roof after forgetting I had screwed them on. Could not figure out why the roof was so heavy, then snap. Anyway, being new, I opted to repair with some inner tube and weather seal cement, with some epoxy added for good measure.
It strikes me that the high outer lip is to prevent runoff that might end up on the window/in to the door. In general mine seems to slant down, such that its should dump water down the a pillar rather than allowing it to pool on the roof seal.
FWIW, I have since removed my cowl and found that:
1. The antenna wire grommet was off, providing a clear leak vector.
2. The large glop of seem sealer that I believe is OEM could use replacing.
3. The OP had allowed dirt/leaves to build up, mostly on passenger side. This blocked drainage, and served to keep things wet long after a rain. Result is rust through box area into the cowl seal area. On the diver side the "little tray" that channels run off seems all but rusted out. Seems the piece was seem sealed in, so perhaps it can be replaced, else seems a torch is needed.
For now I plan to seal up the holes, coat with some por15, and fiberglass up the holes.
Regards