Sprint door seals / weatherstrip.

[h20hamelan]

Canadian company supplying some Lotus interior bits.

Bristleflex door seals. Seems like they may be the incorrect ones.

https://www.macgregorukcarparts.com

[silverlink]

Hi,
Somewhere on here I posted a thread about the door seals on my Sprint but having looked I'm struggling to find it. Anyhow after months of searching I found the seals fitted to my car (by Lotus) are the same as those fitted to the BMC Morris/Austin 1100 range! Someone did tell me that Lotus used whatever they could find.
It's some years ago that I got mine but I would think if you Google them they should come up.
Like you I purchased the so called Lotus replacement ones and no way would they fit and they weren't cheap either. I can't remember the exact price I paid for the 1100 ones but it wasn't much, and that's coming from a tight Yorkshireman!!!
Cheers
Ian

[richardcox_lotus]

Hi,
Somewhere on here I posted a thread about the door seals on my Sprint but having looked I'm struggling to find it. Anyhow after months of searching I found the seals fitted to my car (by Lotus) are the same as those fitted to the BMC Morris/Austin 1100 range! Someone did tell me that Lotus used whatever they could find.
It's some years ago that I got mine but I would think if you Google them they should come up.
Like you I purchased the so called Lotus replacement ones and no way would they fit and they weren't cheap either. I can't remember the exact price I paid for the 1100 ones but it wasn't much, and that's coming from a tight Yorkshireman!!!
Cheers
Ian

Is there an echo in here ?

Ok, I’ve found this dealer but haven’t spoken to him. Has door seals in the catalog

https://longbridgemotorspares.co.uk/pdf/Catalogue%201100.pdf

May help.

Regards
Richard

[MarkDa]

Comprehensive list!
Websearch reveals plenty of suppliers - may need to check buying full length rather than cut for 1100 door.
Good find
It still amazes that the usual suspects sometimes just stock the wrong stuff.

[saildrive2001]

Before we get too excited that we can get the original seals, we need to get a sample of the ones they are advertising, maybe they are using the same ones that the Lotus suppliers get!!!!!!!

[RichardHawkins]

Keith,

An interesting point. A friend is an MGB enthusiast who also has door seal problems. When he complained to the supplier that the seal is wrong and does not fit he got this reply “ I know it does not fit, but you buggers keep buying it so why should I change?” We must not forget that some suppliers are not enthusiasts, they will sell anything that shows a profit.

Richard Hawkins

[types26/36]

These on ebay are "supposed" to be 1100/1300 but have a bulb profile and not a flap, looks the same as the usual suppliers to me.
I seem to remember someone once said the seals from the VANDEN PLAS 1300 PRINCESS were correct but don't know if they are different to the standard 1100/1300's.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMC-AUSTIN-1 ... .l4275.c10

[h20hamelan]

How often would Lotus have changed door hinge/striker spacing to accommodate suppliers. Never, I suspect. They probably didnt even change where the cutting template was for the striker latch, when/if they changed suppliers.
Possibly some of the later doors had gaps at the bottom because of the torque from the window motor. Rather, I would suspect a combination of things.
When I replaced mine, I found some similar to the original. From amazon because I was not sure they would work. They do.
But, they are tight. Which is fine with me. I had contemplated removing some of the "D" section. As my car is for driving, not looking at the door openings. And they were only about $25 Canadian for the pair. The biggest problem with them is the "C" which is intended to cover the interior carpet. Is, its not long enough. Or, not as long as the original which was more than 1cm. The original was closer to 2cm, or about 3/4".

[MarkDa]

The width of the clip section is also important as we got body and trim to get inside rather than just a couple of thin metal edges.
I got mine from Matty a few years ago and it was fine on my Sprint DHC.
The only tricky areas being the tight bend up onto the screen rail and anything would struggle there.

[Barney]

This US company "Steele Rubber Products" say that if they don't have it in stock they can manufacture what you want. How true this is I don't know, never dealt with them myself.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTF3dC-mbuns4cin8TLSZQ

[saildrive2001]

A fellow Elan owner here has told me that Macgregor here in Ontario now has the original with the lip seal. I will try to get over to see him & check on it the middle of next week & will report back.

[gjz30075]

Keith, I'm looking forward to that. He has the best boot seal out of many I've tried.

[elancoupe]

I found the Macgregor door seals to be better, but still not really right.

[nmauduit]

This US company "Steele Rubber Products" say that if they don't have it in stock they can manufacture what you want. How true this is I don't know, never dealt with them myself.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTF3dC-mbuns4cin8TLSZQ

they manufacture high quality rubber parts, mostly for the US market I understand : I've used their product on Cadillacs from the 50s, about as good as OEM and not perished - not cheap though. I wonder what tooling cost would be, esp. if one would like to make a good repro which is actually a compound profile (not just foam or rubber)...

[Grizzly]

When i was looking into seals i came across a thread on here regarding the VANDEN PLAS 1300 PRINCESS seal. I work in the restoration industry and contacted a number of our suppliers etc who told me the flap seal hadn't been made for many years and the VANDEN PLAS owners fit the standard 1300 seal (which is the bulb type all the lotus specialists are selling) the only way i may obtain some was is some one had some original NOS.

Hope to be proved wrong but i suspect your going to find the replacement seal for the Vanden Plas sold by the specialists is the bulb type.