Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

The old, now unusable seal fitted in the 90s came as a made up unit with mitred ad bonded bottom corners. the new seal comes as a cut length.
My first attempt to mitre corners has proved to be much more difficult than expected. using the old seal as a template enables me to get the angles about right but what ever method I use to cut the seal results in significant distortion resulting in very poor mitres that do not meet sufficiently accurately to enable satisfactory bonding

I’ve ordered my second length of seal and want to get it right this time.

Does anyone have any tried and tested method of cutting accurate mitres or is it possible to fit the seal as one length?

This is also a job that I will be doing soon when my S4 comes back from the paint shop.

I've googled the problem and you can buy mitre shears for rubber that have an angled blade to make the correct cut.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182924970470

I'll probably use rubber adhesive from a puncture repair kit to make the joins.

I first fitted the seal on the lower edge so I could work out the angle for the first corner. Then cut it using large scissors/Stanley knife.

I then compressed the seal as much as I could to get the longest length of seal possible to avoid age related shrinkage issues. Then cut the same angle on the end of that section.

Then I fitted the seal to the window side edge to get the correct angle for the upper section. Then cut the angle.

Then I fitted the upper seal all the way around, again compressing the seal to fit the maximum length possible. Then cut the final corner to match. I think I had to trim the cuts to get the right angles.

I left the seal fitted overnight to set to the right shape. Then I glued the corners using rubber glue, I did this on the car, by just popping the seal of in the corners, gluing and putting the seals back on to hold them in place.

The next day I but a small amount of silicon under the seal by just popping it of t in sections. Then fitted the glass.

Plus 2 or Elan?

jono wrote:Plus 2 or Elan?

It’s an Elan.

Was chatting with a pal about it last night and I remembered the plastic pipe shears sitting in my plumbing box ... time to visit the loft.

I just put in the one piece. Lots of soapy water! Leaving enough for left side to left top centre, started fitting at bottom left and worked around bottom first and finished mid right top. Then came back to do left side to top. No mitres. Leave in sunshine to warm first if possible. Robin S3 FHC

My rear seal required no mitres, but to get it to conform to the opening, I fit it in as long as possible. The only cuts were orthogonal, and I glued them together with superglue. Seems sufficient for the job still.

If I had mitres, as on Plus 2 corners, I would still try to fit as much rubber as possible into the opening. And I would mark the cut carefully. Taking a break thereafter to reconsider. Perhaps over night. Or next week. And then come back, review, and finally make the cut.

John