As many of you know I have been battling a leaky seal on my Targa roof. The leak is from the seal between the body and the top and is the direct result of an incompetent Porsche Dealer. They removed the roof three years ago under warranty to fix some rust. It has leaked ever since. After getting no where with the dealer I need to fix this and decided to DYI it (yeah, I am nuts). I wanted it done right and the only way I can feel confident about it is to have my hand in it.

So I have just passed the first hurtle. It does not look like much but I have just managed to separate the roof from the body which was no mean feat. I have been working on this for a few months when I have time and eventually settled into the following cycle:

1 - Scrape and cut out the excess urethane with picks, tweezers, cutters and very small needlenose pliers
2 - Swear and curse at the stealer
3 - Discover missing parts
4 - Go to step (1)

Turns out the $#)($ stealer did not put in the retaining strips but just filled the entire rear joint (including the drains) with urethane and stuck the rear covering strip into the glue to cover it all up. What a hack job! By filling the drains the water had no were to go and caused surface rust all along the bottom of the roof. I may have some legal redress but I am not in the mood at the moment to purse, I just want a dry car.

Anyways I am feeling much better since I am in total control and just passed my first hurtle. Here are some pictures:

What the car looked like before I got the knives out:



Cutting the seals with a cutting wire. This turned out to be the best way I could find. I tired all kinds of methods but nothing was flexible enough to work around the 90 degree joints on this roof. I did go through lots of cutting wire and my buddy who helped me might be permanently crippled since he volunteered to sit in the back to help pull the saw....



Some parts were real tricky since there are bolts and body joints that would catch the cutting cable. We would try several different angles and approaches sometimes to cut a few inches of seal.




While it does not look like it the entire rear of the roof is separated and can be lifted off. We ran out of time or I would have taken it clear off. I still need to unbolt the motors, remove some more trim and positing the roof class before taking it off.



Lots of tape to protect the paint. There was little damage removing (so far). I did scratch the paint where the urethane lies but I will be getting that repainted anyways.




Next steps are to get the roof off onto the bench and start the cleanup. There is lots and lots of urethane from all the botched attempts the stealer made to stop the leaks...i will get that all cleaned up. Then I will take it down to my trusty body shop to evaluate the paint, possible repaint the seal area and then I will work with them (I will be there directing/helping) to reglue the roof again. I have new seals and retaining strips in the shop ready to go.

I will take more pictures when the roof is on the bench ; its interesting to see how they put this roof together.

Time to go to bed.....

Cheers,

Mike

 

Mike, I admire your courage however it looks like ur car could be done faster than mine.
As u know my car is still at the stealer, they just found out after another month that they were missing another seal so they ordered it from Germany and I amwaiting!!!!
Please keep posting photos and I will do the same as tehy progress on my car.
BR,

 

that's awesome. you are bRave. good luck and keep the pictures coming!

 

Good work and credit to you for having a go at it. Ultimately there is the knowing feeling that a job has been done to your standards when you are involved in the process from start to finish... so that's some reward for all this effort.

ps... isn't it DIY >> Do it yourself, or did you actually mean DYI?? (Do yourself in??)

 

Good luck and I look forward to more pics.

 

Mike, from one Targa owner to another, good luck and you are a brave man. I hope you document all these with the pictures you've taken and seek restitution from the dealer. Better yet, complain to porsche about the kind of work performed by the dealer. Hope the info I sent you helped.

 

Mike, admire your courage in taking on this type of project. Good luck! Keep us up to speed on your progress!

 

Well said Chris.
Best of luck Mike. Hope you're satisfied with the results.

 

Unless its an internal seal to the roof itself there are only two rubber seals from the roof to the car. The front seal is important and goes from door to door. The rear seal is not that important in that it is not 100% waterproof. The roof cannot be put on without the front seal but can without the back seal. There is also three aluminum retaining strips that are required.

From you last pictures it looked like the roof was glued down so its likely they did not order the rear seal. I have found all the parts/seals are stocked in Germany not the US and take about 2-3 weeks to get. And they are bloody expensive! You should be able to drive he car fine wihtout the rear seal and then take the car back to have it installed. It just slips onto the retaining strips and you are done.

I am at least another month away since the car has to go in for paint after the cleanup and my body shop is quite busy so I need to "negotiate" to slip the car in. It will be ready for the rainy season here in Vancouver which is perfect. I will drive it for a month or so until I am satisfied is all good and then the car goes back into my garage to drop the engine and start the top end rebuild. It would be nice to get the opportunity to drive the car once in a while...likely next spring ;-(

Cheers,

Mike

 

Wow, thanks for sharing. It is a little scary to see how difficult this can be, and how easy it is to hide a poor re-install. Hopefully mine has never been off the car. No reason to think that it has.

I am glad to read that you have decided to fix your car and enjoy it, despite the time, agony and expense.

From one Targa owner to the next: good luck. Keep the updates coming.

 

Mike J, you are a brave man! My heart goes out to you. Good luck and keep posting. Thanks.

 

This has got to be the DIY of all DIYs.....keep us posted.

 

Here's a silly thought. If that whole roof comes off, how difficult would it be to turn a cab into a targa if you had the targa roof? Or visa versa?

Anyway, I admire your courage for tackling this job!

 

Yes, but I think the backseats are different in the Targas. I believe that they are coupe seats. Anyone know? I know we have a rear shelf and it seems to have more room back there.

 

Thanks everybody for the support! While I am pretty confident in what I am doing there is always that doubt in the back of your brain. Having all these positive comments really helps!

As far as the cab conversion goes, I can take some shots once the roof is totally off and we can compare it to the cab...

I was thinking it would be an interesting idea not to glue the roof back but fasten it down on some sort of rubber seal so I can remove it in the summer. That would certainly make it unique. ;-).

Cheers,

Mike