# Hobby 750 garage and hab door water ingress solved!



## david-david (Feb 24, 2013)

I meant to post this a while back.

During the winter I noticed I had a small patch of water near the hab door and the carpet in the garage was soggy.

It turns out rainwater was dripping down the side of the van and getting in behind the wheel arch.

Its not very obvious on the photos but the main body of the van seems to have been built separately from the chassis and they needed to do a bit of fettling to get the two parts to join up. This involved them cutting away some of the metal around the arch.

After they cut it away they fill it with sikaflex (or something similar)

My parents van had the same problem and there bodywork looked identical so I'm presuming this is a common problem as these vans get older and the sealant perishes.

Getting the silver wheel arch off is a bit fiddly.

1. There are several screws on the underside of the silver arch which are easy to see. Remove them.

2. Once these are removed the arch will still be firmly attached to the van.

3. Starting at one end GENTLY prise up the rubber strip that surrounds the plastic arch on the top edge to reveal approx 15 screws. I'd suggest using something blunt like a metal spoon covered in masking tape.

4. You will need to remove each screw in turn allowing the rubber strip to fall back into place after you have removed it. DO NOT try and force the whole rubber strip up in one go. It will split!

5. Another person is handy at this point - when you remove the last screw the arch and rubber strip will come away. Its not heavy but it is awkward on your own.

6. You will now see both corners of the arch have sealant.

7. Using a Stanley knife cut away all of the old sealant. I'd suggest using a Hoover with a small nozzle to get all the grit and dust out of the area.

8. I used CT1 (clear) sealant - 




9. Leave the nozzle on the sealant quite long. You want a very small nozzle so you can make sure it gets all the way in the gap. Once its full at the back you can cut more off the nozzle to fill up the rest of the gap.

10 Leave for at least 4 hours

11. Give the arch, rubber strip and bodywork and good clean to remove grit and dirt.

12. Attach rubber strip and arch

13. Again, this is quite fiddly so be patient and take your time

The wheel arch before beginning work



Wheel arch removed



The arch area to be filled



Filled with clear sealant



Then put the wheel arch back on.


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Well done for figuring that one out.


I would have guessed it was coming through the garage or hab door.


Paul.


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## david-david (Feb 24, 2013)

coppo said:


> Well done for figuring that one out.
> 
> I would have guessed it was coming through the garage or hab door.
> 
> Paul.


Thats exactly what I thought! It took a lot of head scratching and a hose pipe and drenching the side of the van to figure it out :smile2:

I hope it helps someone else.


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## 1neil (Jan 28, 2012)

Another helpful and informative post, thanks David. I'll log this one, just in case!


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