im thinking about buying a 93 del sol but have been reading about the car and seems like the top leaks sometimes. Say the roof starts leaking how easy is it to fix? and how bad does it leak? Also are there any other frequent problems that the del sol has to be concerned about?

 

I got a carbon fiber top for mine. No leaks.

 

Any leaks before the carbon fiber top? and have you had any other problems?

 

carbon roof or regular roof wont make a diffence. What keeps the car from getting wet are the seals. On the del sol, they are both seals and gutters to route the water away from the windows. I heard they were improoved for 96-97. Just make sure the seals are tight, no rips or tears in them. I would worry more about the crazy body flex, but thats another issue.

 

silicone on the weather stripping will stop the leak, but you have to reapply it every 6 months or so. Tears in the door panels are common, as well as interior door handles breaking. The shocks on the targa holder and trunk lid may be bad, since its a '93. That's all I can think of right now that's del sol specific.

 

the seals were recalled in 94, and fixed in 95. to fix this problem for us 93-94 Del Sol's, the seals will have to be replaced with 95+ seals. just keep in mind that having them done at the dealership will cost an arm and a leg , so i just live with the leak for a month or so out of the year . it doesn't leak too bad. depends how bad the rain is, and only happens when the car is being driven.

 

So just check the seals on the car and the body flex is only with the top off right?because i will probably leave the top on most of thee anyways.

 

ok thanks alot

 

body flex is a constant annoyance, not something some of the del sols have, they all do cause the top comes off and Honda didnt make the chassis rigid enough.

 

thats when struts and braces come in to play... just get the sol, you will thank me later... i have a leak in my sol, (or did)... but when it did leak it was a drop every minute and that was in INSANE cant see type rain... but if you took it through a car wash or something it wont leak

often one thing that happens to del sols are the interior door piece a part of the leather falls off of the siding and will make a crack type look to it, but i heard it is easily reparable, i am just to lazy to repair it, lol

 

hum how are you supposed to fix the door panels, redo them? Does that mean that its just a layer of fake leather on the door?

 

I resealed everything. I didn't have a problem before. But I have heard of other with the problem so I prevented it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by deadend9009 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hum how are you supposed to fix the door panels, redo them? Does that mean that its just a layer of fake leather on the door?</TD></TR></TABLE>You either have to cut and redo the panels which looks like *** or try and find some that are mint. I found one that is mint for my driver's side, but let's just say it wasn't cheap =/

As for the body flex, your usual strut bars, a harness bar, a custom cage or anything you would normally do to a civic variant would work here too. I have ridden in some pretty rigid Sols, so it is possible to have one.

 

Often times adjusting the top so it fits tighter will fix the leak proplem.

Otherwise the seals are NOT that hard to replace and can be done at home with a screwdriver and some paitence.

 

I have a couple tears on my seals but luckily those do not leak. The only time the roof ever leaks is when rain gathers on my roof and I make a turn, thus causing the body to flex, thus creating tiny gaps between the window and the roof where the water can leak through. But then again, it rains like twice a year in southern california.

James