So, I decided to tackle the drain holes today. Despite using the drainbuster 2000 Mk1 I knew the RHS main hole from the catcher leading to the splined drain wasn’t that clear. Plus, I’m not sure if an airline would actually solve the problem given the ‘one-way’ rubber valve on the other end looks the culprit.
Only one way to access these is to remove the side skirt and air inlet trumpet. The side skirt is literally a 10-minute job given that only 4 screws hold it on with a series of push clips. You can actually access the screws without removing the wheels or jacking the car up. Once the plastic plug clips and screws are out it is just a job of pulling the shirt from the rear wing outward and then pulling back slightly to release the front. Lots of videos online as a DIY so I won’t repeat here. It's also a good opportunity to inspect the 'integrity' of the car and give every where a good clean up.
Now, looking inside and despite having had the ‘burning fag butt recall’ I was the amount of small stones that had entered the intake and were rattling around next to the radiator. This was all cleaned out. The trumpet is just held in by two nuts that on release moving back releases the trumpet from its front clips.
Now the drain holes – there are two of them. The lower smaller one is fed via the hopper and the splined hole that you can easily see from the top when you push the ribbed rubber wiring pipe out of the way. The other and larger leads from an area underneath the small rubber drain holes on the outer edge of the roof seal. Given the amount of crap in this one I’m of the view this is the dangerous one! I gave the hood a really good wetting the other deal to clean and then seal it. When I went to move the car extracting the seatbelt, I noticed it was damp. And suspect this larger drain being blocked has caused the water to back up and travel inside the car. This is catastrophic if it gets under the seat well and destroys the electric units under there. The LHS is more of the risk with the main electrics being there I believe and fortunately mine are all dry with no sign of water penetration.
Now the ‘valves’. They twist and pull out and have the one-way gasket on them. Why they need a valve or a gasket is beyond me and common sense would say take off the rubber gasket and either replace the plug or leave it off altogether. I rodded out the valves getting out some damp detritus and then did the water test and checked they were running free.
Putting the car back together is straightforward although I would advise a helper to guide the front of the side skirt on first. It has to be lined up exactly otherwise the clips (tighter than a monkey’s foreskin) on the top of the rear section that attaches to the rear upper wing won’t push in.
I’ll tackle the LHS next week. With all this manual labour I’ve had to take a lie down.
