installing door seals

[IXLR8]

Hi--

Well, I'm about to launch into installing the door seals.

I could find nothing in the Forum Search or the Technical Manual about their installation.

Has anyone installed these seals, and are there any tips and/or pitfalls that I should know about?

Thanks in advance for your usual help!


the other Joe

[zoegrlh]

You would place seals in the same matter as you took old ones out.  At the front door jam, you will need to take the chrome trim off that holds down seal, and at the back of door (at lock) you will need to take off the chrome plate.  No real trick to it, fairly easy.  I use a 3M spray trim glue, or you can use the tube of trim glue.  Leave doors open until the glue sets up.
Bob

[Jonny B]

I would concur. I had a couple of spots on my door seals that needed to be re-glued. I used the 3M stuff in a tube - 08002

[49er]

I have had new set of weatherstripping seals for some time and I am getting the nerve up to replace mine as  well. My concern has always been removing of the old "glue".  I have read somewhere on this forum that 3M makes a sealant remover. I really don't want to get any sharp edged tools and do any scraping. Any tips would be appreciated.

John

[Larry & Norma]

I found doing a dry run useful. Mark the seal and door in several places using masking tape so that
alignment is easier when you do the final glueing. It is too easy to stretch the seal when wet with glue!

[Ulf]

I concur with all the above - to my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be pretty easy and a great improvement in terms of wind and road noise when driving with the hood/hardtop on.

[Jonny B]

I have used Klean-Strip (product ZI 303.1) and had good results. I used this to remove the vestiges of glue from the replacement fire wall pad (before putting on the new original style update) and it cleaned the firewall quite nicely.

[Shvegel]

I usually wipe the new seals down with alcohol to remove any mold release agent. It helps the glue stick to the seal.

[scoot]

I was NOT as successful as the others.  Tried several times and couldn't get things to close properly in the inner corners.  Finally ended up have a body shop do it.   MB door seals in case you are wondering...

[IXLR8]

Thanks, Scoot.

That is the area that is making me nervous--how to handle those square corners.

Did you see how the body man did it?

Thanks,


the other Joe

[Markbhai]

I did mine this weekend.  A very easy job, about 90 mins to 2 hrs each door.  Here are my tips.

Removing the old seal is very straight forward, no tips here.

Fitting the new seals:

Fit the door jamb side first, - no glue required here, the seals are held down with the chrome strips.  Now is a good time to re-polish these strips whilst they are off.  When you fit this side make sure that you streatch the rubber so that your screws are going through the holes in the seals.  Fitting both strips ensures that you now have the bottom "square corner! right at the bottom of the door.  STOP there and now focus your attention to the handle side of the door.  Ensure the seal is not twisted now fit the seal to the top of the handle side and screw it into place with the tiny securing screw.

Now the fun bit, gluing the seal.  I found that a quick setting glue is good here (but not too quick like superglue).  You need a little working time but not so much as you are holding the seal in place for ages!!  I applied glue to the seal in about 6 inch sections, sticking it to the contours of the door as I went along and waiting for each section to hold under its own weight.  I started gluing at the bottom corner on the handle side, working up the door towards the top fixing, this way I knew that the corner was in the correct place.  You will find that you can 'compress' or 'stretch' the seal slightly so that it fits well.  Once this side is complete move back to the jamb corner and underside of the door.  Starting from the corner glue 6 inch sections again working towards the handle side.  You can make sure that the drain holes on the seal and the door align as you move along.

Leave to dry.

Cheers

Mark.

[Miloslav Maun]

Nobody had a problem with door shutting hard? I did this job already on a second car and again, the new seal seems to be to big or hard or misaligned that the doors need to be slammed really hard to fully close. And then, you can see that the door is twisted and not straight especially at the bottom where one can clearly see the misaligned chrome strips. It helps to remove the aluminum sill molding, then the door seal has more space and the door aligns better.
Ps I do not know the manufacturer of the seal, I got it with the car

[Markbhai]

In fairness Muf, it sounds like you either had a bad seal or they are fitted wrong.

DFrom your description it sounds like the problem is at the bottom of the door, have you got them set properly? You should be able to see the drain holes in the rubber align with the drain holes in the door.

Regards

Mark.

[Miloslav Maun]

Well, so far I thought this is always the problem with the new seals... 

Anyway, I tried to take some pictures for you to see if the seals are ok or not. I did not have my camera, so sorry for the iphone quality.

[Miloslav Maun]

More photos

[Jordan]

Muf, its hard to say from the pictures but the outside edge of the door looks like the seal is too long.  It could be they are aftermarket or repo seals which may be why you are having these problems.  I replaced my seals two years ago and the doors shut very easily.  No extra effort required to close the doors.  They were MB seals.  I basically followed the same installation procedure described by Mark.  

[Markbhai]

I agree with Jordan in that it is hard to see anything from the photo's.

If you can get a camera and see if you can take some clearer pictures I can compare with mine for you. 

Regards

Mark.

[County Guy]

Hi.  Don't know if I am too late on this thread but I replaced my seals a week or so ago.  Mark's instructions colaborated my findings.  I wish I had read your post before doing the install.  i would have saved some time.  Anyway, thanks for the post.

More to the point, I am beginning to regret having purchased a complete set of seals from one of the suppliers.  The installation of the door seals was complicated by the fact that the seal for the 'latch' edge of the door (not the hinge side) was about an inch too long.  After shortening it and regluing it, it worked fine.  But still........?

Maybe you are having the same problem with your seal beeing too long.

Now it seems to me that the drop top lid seal is constructed incorrectly.

Lockie