Georgia Showers (T-Top Leak Fixes)

     Most MR2s came with T-tops.  In fact, an MR2 with a sunroof or a plain hardtop is actually somewhat rare and highly sought after.  I thought the T-tops would be a neat feature to have in the car.  I found myself removing them for my daily commutes up the interstate to work.  Little did I know they would cause some problems. 
     After several years, a number of reasons cause the rubber seals around the T-tops begin to leak water into the cabin when it rains.  It could be worn down and flat seals not mating up to the windows glass well.  It could also be that the T-top does not close down tightly with the roof.  The later can be helped by rotating the little plastic guides so that they bring the T-top closer to the roof.  The holes in guides are off center so you can direct the glass closer to the roof by making the hole in the guide offset towards the ground.  For some this helps, for me it was not enough.  Before buying this car I knew it would take some work and this is one thing I knew that I would have to replace.  So an email to Aaron at Lithia Toyota of Springfield had a brand new set of T-top seals for both doors on the way.  In the picture above, the two door seals are labeled 16.  Along with these two, you will need the weatherstripping that goes on the t-top assemblies.The total came to be $259.74 + shipping for all four.  I would recommend using them for all of your Toyota part needs.  They have great customer service.  If you have a question about which part you need or if you need a part number for some random screw or nuts, they are more than happy to help you out.  Aaron is a member on the MR2OC.com forums and can answer questions there as well.  There prices are very competitive as well.  Compared to my local dealership I save around 15% on my orders even after paying for shipping.
     The install for the weatherstripping is very straight forward.  You can use the old seals already on the car as a guide to show how the new seals fit on the car.  The BGB has the removal and installation processes which makes it a breeze to complete.  I don't have any pictures from my  install as I was in a rush to finish up before it got dark.  The next day I got to test how well the new set of rubber worked.  To my dismay a small amount of water was able to work its way between the mating surfaces of the roof seal and the T-top seal.  Basically I had to close the gap.
     After doing some research I found online I found one solution to work well for me.  The concept is to lengthen the end of the t-top seal where it meets the roof seal.  This fix involve layering electrical tape on the end and trimming it to the shape of the seal effectively closing the gap by however many layers are required.  Also, a thin layer of rtv silicone on top helps.  I know some people may think of electrical tape and silicon as the ugly way to fix this problem.  I myself only tried this method as a last ditch effort.  But guess what?  It works.  Its also hidden because I was careful when applying the silicone.  Unless I told you it was there, you wouldn't know.  I wish I had a picture for proof but alas, I fixed the seals about 2 years ago.  Next chance I get, you'll see.