Door seals yet again...........

[Grizzly]

Hi all,

First off Sorry for making yet Another Door seal thread.

After searching possibly the most asked about Topic (door seals) and getting a huge quantity of Threads to read i now fully understand these seals are Obsolete and fitting any after market seals will result in my door sticking out

So...... As i've only just painted the car i'm a little reluctant to section to doors to get the correct gap for the new seal which leaves me with one option and that's the Woolies 265A seal, has anyone tried one of these seals? how did it fit?.

I know its not a huge amount of money to buy a seal and try it but i thought i'd ask to see if anyone had come across anything that would fit/not push the door out?

Cheers
Chris

[AHM]

i now fully understand these seals are Obsolete and fitting any after market seals will result in my door sticking out

No! Your doors stick out because of their shape. nothing to do with the seal.

In an attempt to get a best fit on your door you will expect the seal to be 0mm thick.

Any seal, including the original will not have enough range to seal at the narrowest part and the widest part.

[gjz30075]

I tried the Woolies on my Sprint and it did not do well. I ended up with the Sue Miller type (large bulb). I ended up trimming the bulb from the footwell on back. By the time I got to the latch area, there was no bulb left. But it works well and seals. No wind noise, no water.
It's a lot easier and cheaper to 'fix' a seal than a door. I wasn't about to fix the door because it fit perfectly with the old and intact (but dried out) seal so I knew the door to body fit wasn't the problem.

Greg Z

[Grizzly]

Sorry bit of History of my car, when i got it the Original seal was in place but there was sections where the metal that holds the seal in place had rotten away so the seal just kept falling off (doors fit really well and knowing the previous owner he also said he never had door issues) so i'm 3/4 through a rebuild now and i bought a new seal from a well known suppler and the Doors stick out quite a bit and takes some effort to shut them (BTW i removed the doors via the nylon pivot not the 13mm's so the Adjustment is the same) So seems the seal pushing the door out??

[silverlink]

Hi Chris,
After much searching I found out that the seals on my Sprint were exactly the same as those used on Austin/Morris 1100. I found a specialist 1100 dealer in Scotland who sold me some for around a fiver!. Mind you this was a few years ago but if you search the web I'm sure you'll find an 1100 specialist somewhere.
Ian

[collins_dan]

I just had my S4 painted, including having the doors sectioned. Throughout this process, they door seals were like Greg's, large bulb cut down, but still making a good seal. I heard rave reviews here on the seals from http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/, so that is what I got. Again, they are a bulb and now the doors that looked perfect stick out, not as bad a before, but not perfect. I will again be trimming them down to get the right fit. My gut is that the bulb type that is made today is just too much. You are better off with the single flap type. Good Luck. Dan

[Grizzly]

Hi Chris,
After much searching I found out that the seals on my Sprint were exactly the same as those used on Austin/Morris 1100. I found a specialist 1100 dealer in Scotland who sold me some for around a fiver!. Mind you this was a few years ago but if you search the web I'm sure you'll find an 1100 specialist somewhere.
Ian

Yes i read that in one of the threads but after doing a bit more searching it looks like it was fitted to one specific model and at the end of the 1100 production which is a pain. It seems this is the seal the 1100 guys are using http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSTIN-MORRIS ... 43cbcb7943 but it looks very much like the woolies.

[Grizzly]

I just had my S4 painted, including having the doors sectioned. Throughout this process, they door seals were like Greg's, large bulb cut down, but still making a good seal. I heard rave reviews here on the seals from http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/, so that is what I got. Again, they are a bulb and now the doors that looked perfect stick out, not as bad a before, but not perfect. I will again be trimming them down to get the right fit. My gut is that the bulb type that is made today is just too much. You are better off with the single flap type. Good Luck. Dan

Do you have any pictures of how you cut the seal down? did you just split the Bulb or was sections of the bulb removed altogether?

[collins_dan]

I don't remember what I did last time. I will likely only cut the section along the bottom of the door. Starting about a third of the way from the hinge and going the rest of the way along the bottom. I am planning to cut the bulb where it connects at the bottom, then remove the bottom third, effectively creating a single flap. If that works, great, if not, I will just keep removing until the fit is right. I never had any sealing issues before, and I don't think there was very much of a flap there. I also didn't drive the car in the wet that much. Good luck. Dan

[silverlink]

Hi Chris,
After much searching I found out that the seals on my Sprint were exactly the same as those used on Austin/Morris 1100. I found a specialist 1100 dealer in Scotland who sold me some for around a fiver!. Mind you this was a few years ago but if you search the web I'm sure you'll find an 1100 specialist somewhere.
Ian

Yes i read that in one of the threads but after doing a bit more searching it looks like it was fitted to one specific model and at the end of the 1100 production which is a pain. It seems this is the seal the 1100 guys are using http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSTIN-MORRIS ... 43cbcb7943 but it looks very much like the woolies.

Sorry guys but these are nothing like the ones I got, mine have no flaps on them whatsoever. When I first took my original ones off the car I found they were different on each side (typical Lotus) and after buying two or three from different suppliers non of which worked I found out about the 1100 ones which were exactly the same as one of the ones fitted to my car.
The guys at SMS who have just finished a full repaint on my car including a 'cut and shut' on the doors said the seals were a perfect fit.
Ian

[worzel]

Hi

Don't know if they're still available but try the seals fitted to the Se5/5a reliant Scimitars- from Graham Walker Ltd , Sealand Industrial estate- just outside Chester.
Much more flexible and "squashable" than the std elan items (which always struck me as too unyielding and thick).

John

[Grizzly]

Sorry to drag this subject up again......... But i've just spent a week repairing my original seal (bonding it all back together) and its 2" too short at both ends Which is odd?

I thought the rubber may well shrink slightly but the metal inner had separated from the rubber and when it was reattached was the same length with the sun visor holes in the correct place and the little square of rubber that goes at the bottom of the a post (its used to make the rubber push against the chrome door frame to fill the gap)

I was fairly sure the Seal went all the way upto the top of the door jam (level with the Hood tray) then the chrome finisher slides onto the end? i just don't see why it should be so much shorter.

[pharriso]

I was fairly sure the Seal went all the way upto the top of the door jam (level with the Hood tray) then the chrome finisher slides onto the end? i just don't see why it should be so much shorter.

That's how mine is Chris.

[Grizzly]

Strange, maybe a bit of gentle stretching is in order.

[elansprint71]

[/quote]

No! Your doors stick out because of their shape. nothing to do with the seal.

In an attempt to get a best fit on your door you will expect the seal to be 0mm thick.

Any seal, including the original will not have enough range to seal at the narrowest part and the widest part.[/quote]

Rubbish!