Door seal installation help
I'm having trouble getting a new pair of door seals installed and was looking for help or suggestions.
The door seals I got this time around are these from the UK club: https://www.deloreango.com/ca/inner-door-seals.html
Their website looks to have changed recently, so I think this is the right link.
The seals are nice and appear to be of good material. They go on fine too. The problem I'm finding is that they don't compress in the same manner as the originals and so this extra material is preventing my door (passenger side is the only one I've worked on so far) from closing all the way and engaging that second latching position.
I get the impression it is down towards the lower half of the door frame where the main interference is, but that's a guess as it's hard to tell when you're pushing on the door from the outside and can't see exactly where it comes into contact with the seal. I'd say it's likely the spot in the lower rear corner just below the striker pin where once the door is almost all the way closed, you are pushing against the seal horizontally. Not sure though.
I can see a slim line of daylight if I look from inside the car from the driver's seat, straight along the bottom edge of the door, above the sill. That's why I got thinking it was in the corner near the rear striker pin since it closes almost all of the way without issue and then it's like the door is now too big to go into the opening of the door frame and you see it right at that lower spot.
The seal appears to be all the way onto the edge ok and they stand straight up as mentioned in that "Dremmel down the edges" guide. I have never Dremmeled down the fiberglas edges on my car, yet previous door seals have torn over time at the problem corners up top like many other cars do, so maybe that's not right either. My door on the passenger side has always had more of a clunk closing than a smooth one and it tends to be cock-eyed enough in the hinges to want to bump into the rear striker pin area. You can see where the screw heads from the rear latch on the door have scratched the fiberglas on the door frame. That last inch or so as the door closes usually has the striker pin bumping into the inside of the latch and "moving" or pivoting the door slightly forward. I suspect the hinges need a small adjustment, but have not done this myself for fear of fouling up a torsion bar. The new seal may be just a little too new and tacky or stiff and won't let it do that small shift. Again, just guesses, not sure.
I did put the seal on originally as suggested with some silicone grease and then leave the door closed overnight. Not sure what I'm missing, but if you've got any ideas of your own, please share.