Sealing Roof Rails

All,

We all know that the 71 – 73 roof rails do not always seal up properly. I have had the proverbial leak problem on the driver’s side to the point I have had a lot of water in the rear drivers side floor pan.   First, I used some off the shelf weather strip, then I order the Daniel Carpenter weather-strip set. I even placed the grey Ford style body seal in the back quarter corners.

So, I started a Forum search and forum one thread started by tony-muscle. While reading his thread, Qcode351Mach has a real good solution to help alleviate this issue. Unfortunately, my coupe is already painted.

Tony-muscle  post with Qcode351mach video

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-water-flow-through-rear-quarter-window?highlight=roof+rail

Next, I sent Carolina_Mountain_Mustang a PM to see what he did to seal up that notorious area.

His response, “3-M makes the windshield sealer that comes in strip form. I think it is a very good replacement for the foam. The foam is not forgiving if void it is there. The sealer comes in different size diameters and that stuff stay sticky forever. I bet that is the leak point and is also a very prone rust area.”

So, that got me to looking at an alternative to the foam. What I found is this product called Marcy-Seal Foam Core Butyl Tapes.

I ordered one box of 6mm x 12 foot for $7.00 from Amazon.

http://www.marcyadhesives.com/autoglass-products/butyl-tapes





I plan on installing in the next few days. This stuff is real sticky! This may or may not work. Fingers are crossed!

Mustang7173 :thankyouyellow:

Definitely subscribing. Our Mach will be ready for paint in a few weeks and will be dealing with this too. I know I scraped off a lot of the seam sealer in the back corner on mine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All,

Update! I used this stuff and it seals up really well. I did the big time water test and crapola! The water leak was not from the roof rail. It is coming from the top of the front windshield. I must have trimmed out too much urethane when installing the vinyl top.

Another update- Bought a new tube of 3m windshield urethane, sealed up and YA, no more leaks.

The Scott Drake foam seal did do it's job. It maybe prudent to use either the Butyl foam ribbon or the standard 3m windshield ribbon to seal up suspect areas that are known to leak. This stuff is very sticky. Body shop man recommends to put the tape in the refrigerator for about an hour. He says it will help in the handling of this stuff!



mustang7173

The 3-M Window Weld is what I use on any area that needs to keep water out. Around the studs and behind the nuts on the side markers, tail light panel nuts. And of course the roof rails. The material comes in different diameters and you will probably not need the full diameter in most areas of the roof rail. You only need enough to fill the gaps. I roll the stuff out with my hands to the diameter I need.

This material is used for the windows on Ford vehicles today I believe. It will not dry out and once sealed will stay sealed. 

I use a similar material on top of the inner fenders to keep water out of the overlap joint where the fender mounts. Factory did not do that but in years past Ford did apply a sealer between the inner and outer fender to keep the water out. They took it out as cost reduction I am sure. That is why they rust out near the hood hinge water and salt get in and it sits and rusts.