Yet another roof leak!! Fixed now, I hope!!

So I had a slight leak some where in the roof rack, but I was letting it go until I had the time to fix it. I ended up a 200OZ's place and he had lots of child labor available so we decided to pull the rack. Of course nut-serts and well nuts failed so we ended up pulling the entire headliner..... . 4 kids and two adults to get it out without substantial damage. What a pain in the lower back.

Fixed the spinners with well nuts and replaced the center stripes with a cleaner set while I was at it. Sanded, rust converted and painted all of the rusty spots around the holes under the rack. Used Mikes "Super" caulk to seal up around each one. Seal the threads and re-assembled.

Project anticipated time.... 2 hours.....

Project actual time........... 9 hours..... Done at 11:56 pm on Saturday night!!!

AGAIN I cannot thank Mike enough for all of the help, advice, and child labor. I think this was the first trip to your house that did not involve a car being washed!!! Missed pictures of the event, but it did happen Pat!!

Passed the hose test on Sunday before church, I had to wash it before I went to church after all. Hope it holds.

Good, so I wasn't the only guy out in the garage until midnight on Saturday night?

I've had two seep leaks on my '94 water pump. After futzing with the hoses for the last several months I came to the strange conclusion that my leaks were where the metal fittings were pressed into the pump casting. Advance sells a reman for $50 and so I bought that, screwed a 1/4" NPT barb into the weep hole so i can direct it away from the opti and belts, primed and painted it, then installed it only to find I had a huge bubble in the cooling system and the coolant wouldn't flow. Did some burping and a few heat cycles and got it to work.

I need to seal my roof rack too.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

Good, so I wasn't the only guy out in the garage until midnight on Saturday night?

I've had two seep leaks on my '94 water pump. After futzing with the hoses for the last several months I came to the strange conclusion that my leaks were where the metal fittings were pressed into the pump casting. Advance sells a reman for $50 and so I bought that, screwed a 1/4" NPT barb into the weep hole so i can direct it away from the opti and belts, primed and painted it, then installed it only to find I had a huge bubble in the cooling system and the coolant wouldn't flow. Did some burping and a few heat cycles and got it to work.

I need to seal my roof rack too.

Would you like a bleeder valve my friend?

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

buickestate wrote:

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

A wise man right here. We ended up cobbling it together though.... I think.

Mike

buickestate wrote:

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

nutserts will leak,.

you need the rubber well nuts,.

Nick

phantom 309 wrote:

buickestate wrote:

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

nutserts will leak,.

you need the rubber well nuts,.

Nick

I got lots of silicone too

buickestate wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

buickestate wrote:

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

nutserts will leak,.

you need the rubber well nuts,.

Nick

I got lots of silicone too

When did she get augmentation surgery?

Nevermind that,who sells a combination nutsert/rubber well nut wrench and a bags of rubbernuts?
Jim

Sprocket wrote:

buickestate wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

buickestate wrote:

That's why I bought a nutsert tool with a big bag of nutserts, I'll tackle the roof issues once I finish the plumbing and wires on my LO3 to LO5 conversion on the 91

nutserts will leak,.

you need the rubber well nuts,.

Nick

I got lots of silicone too

When did she get augmentation surgery?

she has a mean right hook, be careful and hope she never reads this.......

Ditto on the well nuts Flash.

rubber well nuts


rubbern well nut wrench??

use a nice button top allen head stainless screw and you'll be fine,.

don't over tighten them,.

Nick

Thanks Nick ,that was my next question about how much to tighten them down.Would you still
use a dab of silicone on the well nut and if so which do you prefer?Didnt realize I had a leak
until after this week of rain and more rain.
Jim

Ebay has the well nuts. You need 8 for the roofrack. If you want to use your original screws, the Caprice takes M6 and the RMWs and OCCs take M5 (I am not sure about tne 92 OCCs, but I think they take the M5 as well).

The ebay sellers offer a "make an offer" on lots of 25 M5 well nuts. The price they are offering is $15.74 shipped for the lot of 25.

I get most of my hardware from Fastenal. They have a lot of automotive specific fasteners.
There are a lot of different options, I would like to replace all of them on my rack, but you may not need or want to replace all of them so these part #'s are for #10-32 hardware. Didn't see any metric well nuts at Fastenal.

Well nuts:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0162804&ucst=t

Roof Rack Screws:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0178054&ucst=t

These screws may work too, but expensive:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=11104547&ucst=t

Mike

I just bought 25 M5 well nuts on ebay for $12 including shipping. I made an offer and the seller accepted it.

25 RUBBER WELL NUTS .554 LENGTH 3/8" HOLE M5-8 BRAND NW

Fred Kiehl wrote:

I just bought 25 M5 well nuts on ebay for $12 including shipping. I mad an offer and the seller accepted it.

25 RUBBER WELL NUTS .554 LENGTH 3/8" HOLE M5-8 BRAND NW

i am in the process of trying to fix two leaks myself. do you have an updated source for these well nuts? or have some you can sell Fred? trying to get this thing back on the road so i can make wagonfest again!!

The well nuts are probably not the issue. I would look at the channels under the edges of the roof rack, and the top of the quarter glass. Get some modeling clay and make small dams to contain water so you can isolate areas of the car. The water migrates a lot, because of the headliner having channels along the edges that make the water go to the back of the roof and it usually exits through the grab handles.

The only way you can find out where the leaks are is to pull the headliner. Mine had a leak about a foot behind the C pillar on the drivers side. When I took the headliner out, it dripped on the speaker. With the headliner in, it would drip in the tray at the wing window. I pulled the glass and re-urethaned it, and put a thin coat of roofing sealer from the hardware store in the channels after getting all of the crumbly old sealer out. The quarter glass was loose for about half of the top, and bottom, and I had to do a little rust removal, and paint, before I could reinstall it. I guess this seems extreme, but it no longer leaks.

The only leak I have right now is at the driver's side B pillar that gets my seatbelt wet. I believe it is the pinch weld under the top seal for the doors. It is odd that both of my cars have that same leak.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t11372-best-ways-to-fix-roof-leaks-need-help#119562

added some pictures to my thread. i have everything off but unsure of what to do next. not sure what actually needs sealing and which type of sealant to use...