Weather seal, mounted on door or body

Got a question. I set my doors to be as flush to the mating body panels as I could get them anticipating the need for weather stripping. I purchased the type from McMaster Carr that has been suggested on the forum.

In mounting the seal, I would have preferred to mount to the door versus the body. However, if mounted to the door, there is no water channel on the body to divert water if the car is wet and you open the door. I have also found the door closes so tight it is hard to get the bear claw to release, like the seal is too large and putting too much pressure on the door.

What is the general consensus on the best configuration to seal the doors? Seals on the body or door? What about a water channel if it’s installed on the door?

Suggestions?
 
I have seals on the doors. But I am thinking of adding a second set on the body for better sealing. Some of my normal cars have triple seals, which helps make them quieter.
 

Bill Kearley

Supporter
I'm in the same boat, so to speak. I can't comment on a SLC but on a 40 ( the same ? ) the McMaster seal that fits nice but has to firm a bubble. I mailed Jordi at CAV and he suggested a BMW part # 51727116403. I haven't ordered it yet and would like some input on it first. Look it up and see if the cross section will work for you. that said we won't know how hard the bubble is till you have spent the money.
 
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Cody DeHart

Supporter
I mounted mine on the body, I used to have on the doors but when I opened the door I would get wet. I have done lots of work to ensure my SL-C is water tight. I like to do long range drives and I always run across rain. I have also added drain ports on the flat portion of the spider to mitigate any water puddling. Another big problem is water working its way from the gap between the front clip and the door. So I placed a seal in that gap that is attached to the frond clip...it does not effect the doors opening of closing.
 
Cody - ditto, some pics of what you've done for water intrusion would be very helpful!

General question for any SLC owners who may be reading this - does anyone actually "wash" their cars? I've only used spot detailer and rags on mine so far.
 

Cody DeHart

Supporter
The top part of the image is the front clip and the bottom is the door on the passenger side; the seal you can hardly see here is the same seal in the images below. The seal is clipped on the front clip
Door seal.jpg


This is the same image with the door open looking from in the car.
Door seal 2.jpg


Weather stripping forming channel
Water Chanel.jpg


Lower part of channel; notice the brass drain tube
Lower Water Channel.jpg


Bottom of drain tube
Drain tube.jpg
 
Cody...Thanks for the pics. Looks like your having a rubbing/seal issue in the 90 degree curve like I am.

In keeping with this subject, I'm still having door seal issues. I took one door with the standard seal from Mc Master (2nd from left in picture) and on the passenger side mounted it to the car, and on the driver side to the door. I could in some places see light coming under the seal on the driver side. The most alarming experience was washing the car for the first time. As expected I placed a catch pan in the driver seat. It accumulated a lot of water because attaching the seal to the door offered no rain gutter. So a gutter system is a must or else bring a swim suit.

Attaching to the main body has given me the better seal and the gutter, however the 90 degree corner at the front of the door near the window is tearing up the seal as the door is opened and closed. I wish I had noticed how close that section of the door was to the body...I would have sanded some of that corner down.

I have four types of seals in the picture. first left to right, a smaller EPDM half moon, 2nd the recommended EPDM half moon, 3rd a rectangular rubber seal and 4th a triangular EPDM version. I'm thinking I'm going to need seals on both the door and the body, but the trick will be not to make them too thick and go for a seal to seal set up vice compression against the body or door. I see this a lot on OEM cars so monkey see monkey do.

I haven't seen a lot of detail on this subject and perhaps its a dead horse, but still an issue for me. I will post up based on the best solution I find and chime in if you have another solution.

IMG_2577.JPG
 
Well, I have come to my conclusion on sealing the doors. From the picture in post #9, I tried four differing shapes and sizes to create a weather seal. I had the best luck with the one on the left, Mc Master part 93085k14 5/8 x 3/8 Style E half moon sealer. I tried the single style half moon strips, and I had some sealing issues. I wanted a rain gutter so putting it on the body versus the door was a bit of a conundrum, out of site or rain gutter. I decided to try a smaller version of the half moon and put a strip on both the body and the door, a seal upon seal contact versus seal to fiberglass, similar to an OEM car. This has given me the best of both worlds. The strip on the body acts as a water tray and since the smaller strips are not as thick, they compress easier and I think it is giving me a pretty decent seal.

Now there is an area on the door which deserves your attention. Its the 90 degree corner between the two hinges (it was torn off by the door). Watch how close yours comes to the body when you open and close the door. I sanded that corner down some more to prevent it from taking off my strip. By running the two strips along that spot, I was able to avoid that corner as well. The two strips along that front edge gives me a seal on two parts of that front lower door. You can see that the two small strips stacked one on top of the other is slightly taller than the single, but it compresses easier than the single and that took some pressure off my door catch (too hard to open). Also, when putting it on the body, you can control the mating position to meet the door. I ran a water hose and got good results, but I wont commit to a full up rain storm....your on your own for that one.

Good luck which ever way you go.

IMG_2601.JPGIMG_2599.JPGIMG_2596.JPG
 
Good information as my winter project is to effect a door seal solution. Doors currently off and waiting the start of the fun.
I gap measured the doors all the way around before removal, the range is 1/4" at the front vertical "A" post to as much as 3/4" in other locations. Quite the challenge.
 
[QUOTE = "Dan carter, Beitrag: 532102, Mitglied: 25510"] Haben Sie eine Frage. Ich stellte meine Türen so ein, dass sie zu den passenden Karosserieteilen so bündig sind, dass ich sie auf die Notwendigkeit von Wetterabstreifungen aufmerksam machen konnte. Ich habe den Typ von McMaster Carr gekauft, der im Forum vorgeschlagen wurde.

Bei der Montage der Dichtung hätte ich lieber die Tür als die Karosserie montiert. Bei der Montage an der Tür gibt es jedoch keinen Wasserkanal am Körper, um Wasser abzulenken, wenn das Fahrzeug nass ist und Sie die Tür öffnen. Ich habe auch festgestellt, dass die Tür so dicht schließt, dass es schwierig ist, die Bärenklaue zu lösen, als wäre die Dichtung zu groß und übt zu viel Druck auf die Tür aus.

Was ist der allgemeine Konsens über die beste Konfiguration, um die Türen abzudichten? Dichtungen am Körper oder an der Tür? Was ist mit einem Wasserkanal, wenn er an der Tür installiert ist?

Vorschläge? [/ QUOTE]
Hallo, es ist schon ein Problem die Zelle dicht zu kriegen bei meinem gt 40 bei 130 Km sog sich der Dachteil nach oben und ensteht ein Spalt
da durch gibt es Windgeräusche dann habe ich Bleche an der Tür eingebaut und das hält bis 180 Km und jetzt bin ich da bei der Dichtung
mit eine Pumpe von Zentralschloss einzubauen, die Dichtung aufblasen .Ich hab schon das probiert der druck ist ausreichend.
 

Roger Reid

Supporter
Translation for the above.
Hello, it is already a problem to get the cell tight at my gt 40 at 130 km, the roof part went up and ensteht a gap
there are wind noise through it then I have installed sheets on the door and that lasts up to 180 km and now I am there with the seal
with a pump of central lock to install, inflate the seal. I have already tried the pressure is sufficient.
 
Zava

I think I understand the question better after running a translator. As for my car, I found that rather than trying to seal the doors with a single weather strip, I went with two that were smaller. I ran one along the body which satisfied my desire to have a water channel. The second strip I put on the door so I get seal to seal contact to create some weather/wind protection. I noticed that a lot of the cars have the weather stripping on the body only, so I guess they had better luck than I did. There were places along the body that the door ripped the stripping off due to the close tolerance of door to the body. Now I'm not going to declare my approach was the best....the car is still in shakedown as I fix small problems.

The two seal approach does squeak a lot so I have to over come that issue. Yes my doors are very tight so when I want to release the bear claw I have to push the door gently to get it to completely release. Perhaps this is why Allen went to electric actuators to get away from all these door issues. Perhaps some of the guys who have been at this longer with their cars can chime in a share their solution.

Nach dem Betrieb eines Übersetzers, ich denke, dass ich die Frage besser verstehe. Was mein Auto anbetrifft, ich fand, dass eher als versuchend, die Türen mit einem einzelnen Dichtungsstreifen zu versiegeln, ich mit zwei ging, die kleiner waren. Ich ließ ein entlang dem Körper laufen, der meinen Wunsch zufriedenstellte, einen Wasserkanal zu haben. Der zweite Streifen setze ich an die Tür, also erhalte ich Robbe, Kontakt zu versiegeln, um etwas Wetter-/Windschutz zu schaffen. Ich bemerkte, dass viele Autos das Wetterabstreifen auf nur den Körper haben, also schätze ich sie sollte Glück, als ich tat. Es gab Plätze entlang dem Körper, dass die Tür das Abstreifen weg von wegen der nahen Toleranz der Tür zum Körper zerriss. Jetzt werde ich nicht erklären, dass meine Annäherung war das beste….das Auto ist noch in der Durchsuchung, während ich kleine Probleme regele.


Die Annäherung mit zwei Dichtungen quietscht viel, also muss ich über gekommen dieser Frage. Ja sind meine Türen so sehr fest, wenn ich die Bärentatze freigeben möchte, die ich die Tür leicht drücken muss, um sie zu erhalten, vollständig freizugeben. Möglicherweise deshalb ging Allen zu den Stellgliedern, weg von allen diesen Türfragen zu erhalten. Möglicherweise können einige der Kerle, die an diesem längeren mit ihren Autos gewesen sind, in einem Anteil ihre Lösung schlagen.
 
Dan
Jetzt habe ich die Bilder gesehen, das ist ganz schön kompliziert bei gt 40 ist es einfache . Was die Windgeräusche betrift es gibt selbstklebende strip
die haben haare die gibt bei Mercedes Benz Typ 169 am Schiebedach die sind lang genug und die ecken muss mann anschneiden und zusammen kleben ich mache das mi Sekundenkleber und die bessere Form zu kriegen mit der Windschutzscheiben Kleber .Und die bessere Oberfläche
erreichen lege ich darauf PVC Folie wenn se hart ist ziehe die Folie weg, so kann mann verschiedene Profile selbe machen.
 
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