Mondial soft top leaked--now what

After we decided to abort the Radnor Hunt Rally midway through, I went home to wash the car--it got filthy at the rally. Anyway, for reasons I don't yet know, water leaked through the top and right onto the center console (never happened before). As soon as I noticed it I dried off the console and used an aircompressor to blow out the water that may have seeped behind the switches. I think I got it all out. However, the warning lights that sit to the right of the gear lever have s a very thin strip of water caught under the plastic, but above the LEDS. Nothing I seem to do will get the water out (its like a microthin layer). Moreover, I remain concerned that some water may remain inside the switches. EVERYTHING works, but is there anything I should be doing?

I was thinking of leaving it outside tomorrow at the car show and letting the sun just bake it dry. However, I am not terribly anxious to expose my leather to four hours of direct sunlight.

Suggestions please...

Thanks

 

Joe, do you have a floor fan? Just aim it at the cockpit overnight and it'll dry out in the garage.

 

Will do right now...Anything else I should be doing?

 

Dare to burn out the wife's blow dryer for the next hour or two?

 

FWIW keep a dehumidifier running in the garage as well

 

the water trapped between the panel will most likely not dry out on it's own. it's a two piece part, a plastic face with another plastic face that has the printing on it. i'd take apart the entire console and use CRC electrical cleaner on all the switches and contacts.

 

here's a pic of mine that I took apart, you can just see the tin bezel that holds it together. I cleaned and polished the parts and re-painted the bezel with automotive trim paint. I was restoring the interior.
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Convertibles get caught in the rain all the time with their tops down and one would hope "clean-up" wouldn't be this extensive but to be on the safe side...

 

a light rain or a little bit of water I wouldn't stress over, but it sounded like he had alot more than that. the mondial electrics are strained as it is, adding water corrosion only makes it worse, so for me it would be a 'better safe than sorry' approach.

 

I agree 100% and some of those components are, for the most part, irreplaceable.

 

Came out this morning and the water had evaporated under the screen. However, it left a small, but annoying air gap a little smaller than dime sized (again microthin). When you press on it nothing happens so it doesn't look like its containing any water, but rather that I delamatized the plastic. The switches themselves didn't really get that wet. It was mostly in that little pocket that contains the warning strip.

 

How simple a task is it to take the console apart?

 

Thats my suggestion as well.

 

We took her to the car show today, and it was 92 degrees. It was hotter than fish grease there, so I am sure that anything wet is now dry. Everything still works. I would definitely take the warning strip out to clean it, but only if it is relatively simple. I am not terribly anxious to take apart the entire console.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

 

If he's worried about four hours of sunlight at a car show drying out his leather and destroying it, he's not going to fit into that category...

 

LOL--Reading that I realized what an obsessive a$$ I have become. Thanks for taking me down a notch.

FWIW, I left the car out in the sun at the concours...I know, I know, I am a rebel.

As for the switches, everything dried up and looks as good as new---tragedy averted.

But I'll tell you, dreaming about owning something for as long as you can remember and than finally having it can really screw with your head. I didn't realize how obsessive I had become. Hopefully, it will pass after I have owned her awhile. But right now, I feel like the custodian of the Mona Lisa...imagine if I had an F50...I would be locked up in a mental hospital.

 

Any hardware store, have these bags, can't remember their name, something like dry-bag .. Can get them at storage facilities too. CAREFUL, don't dump the bag or bucket containing crystals over.

open the bag, it has these crystals [Bulk Silica Gel ??] that can soak up moisture..runs about $5 a bad...VERY effective.

had a trunk leak one time, hung a bag in their and got about two cups of water in the collection part of the bag: results, dry trunk, which took about four/five days.

rik