Wet carpets - where is the water coming from?

Thanks thats great,It took seconds to remove once you'd shown me where the fixing are. It revealed that mine has a large air box though rather than the snorkel.

Should i be surprised to see this box on a 2002 TF as Deepfat's post suggested these were only used on the earlier cars ?

Is it recommended i take this out and replace with the snorkel type ?

Yes & it’s not a straight forward job. It’s such a long time since I replaced mine, I can’t remember why I elected to cut it up in situ (possibly captive nuts that were no longer captive at a guess) but once the decision was made I simply hacked it out. Same for the Mk1 resonator air box.

Thanks for the advice. 2nd hand snorkel and a set of stainless bolts are on their way. Sounds like the old airbox will be a task for the dremel.

Get a new packer to go between bulkhead & snorkel or make your own. I have some self adhesive closed cell foam a couple of inches wide & quarter thick, it’s kept that half of the car dry since I fitted it.

Like Airportable I cut mine out but can't quite remember why, I think it may have been the captive nut located front N/S corner? not having a Dremel at the time I used my angle grinder, effective but care needed!
Not a number if I misled you earlier when I said early cars, I should have said early TF's as these went on sale Jan 02, a quick google tells me the air box was fitted up to vin 612108 (Thanks Rimmers) and was a Xpower Grey 135 built on 22/10/02 (Thanks MGOC) I LOVE RETIREMENT

I too had to cut the old box out, used an oscillating tool. I used rivnuts along the front edge when it came to attaching the TF snorkel.

A good retirement is well earned & spent wisely pays constant dividends.
The best investment a man can make in life is wife (or partner) who is constant, understanding & a good companion.
And if you are a woman reading this just adjust the gender.

Dremel, angle grinder and a wood chisel made quick work of the old airbox. The snorkel is now in place, On recommendation I put some clear CT1 sealer on it's gasket when bolting in place and I also applied some of the same to the edges of the horizontal grommets just in case.

The snorkel should be less restrictive to airflow than the old airbox and makes for a tidier job.

On a front engined car the scuttle openings are essential, they open into a sealed plenum that is ducted to the fresh air intake which avoids sucking in any dirty air from the engine compartment. As the snorkel on the TF is there though to collect any air from under the bonnet are the openings in the scuttle still necessary or can they be blocked to protect from water ingress ? Has anyone tried this ?

If they cant be blocked do you think it would be feasible / sensible to make deflectors so that any rain water is ducted forward so it doesnt just and pool on the horizontal surface ?

Any thoughts on the need to keep the scuttle openings ? Has anyone blocked them or diverted them

personally i wouldn't these cars do get light on the front end at speed as too much air goes under the car instead of over it. TF's used for racing have large vents in the bonnet to combat this, blocking the vents will I think only make things worse.

That makes sense.
Il see if its practical to make some sort of cowlings under the vents that wouldnt impede airflow but would direct rainwater safely forward avoiding it pooling as it does at present given that area is peppered with bolts, seams and grommets

You might need to make the mountings pretty sturdy, probably better to the car than the bonnet. I was driving mine once at about 50/60 in reasonably heavy rain and noticed the rain going up the screen, when it was safe I turned the wipers off briefly and the airflow kept the screen clear. I know very little about aerodynamics but it suggests to me that there is quite a lot going on at the base of the screen hence I think anything flimsy might have a short lifespan.