Door Rubber Seals

[dn010]

I believe what he means is the headliner on the door roof section is sticking out past the door metal (as if the headliner panel is too large for the door) and rubbing the seal on it's way down or up when the door is opening or closing. I have the same problem on my car...

[Ricker]

I believe what he means is the headliner on the door roof section is sticking out past the door metal (as if the headliner panel is too large for the door) and rubbing the seal on it's way down or up when the door is opening or closing. I have the same problem on my car...

Yes, better said. How tough is it to remove the door headliner, peel back the grey cloth, trim the board behind it and glue it back together?

[dn010]

I have yet to do mine, but if I remember correctly - and someone please correct me if I am wrong; there are pine tree clips holding the headliner onto the door. So, a clip tool is the best way to remove it without making the clip head tear through the headliner board. Then it is just a matter of peeling the headliner off the board, cutting the board and pasting the headliner back using adhesive.

Clip tool - search "door upholstery remover" on google, autozone or etc - its just a tool with a 2 prong flat head.

Adhesive - I buy liquid adhesive by the quart or pint because I use it frequently on my many restoration projects, plus I hate the mess a spray can of adhesive makes. But for you, unless you have more stuff to adhere, I'd say the spray can is probably the most practical to use in this situation - upholstery adhesive from any auto parts store.

Yes, better said. How tough is it to remove the door headliner, peel back the grey cloth, trim the board behind it and glue it back together?

[PJ Grady Inc.]

Wear issues like this are due to inconsistencies in the fiberglass body. Installing new seals will not fix the wear issues on the gaskets. The fiberglass needs to be reworked to properly match the door fitment to the body to prevent this from happening again.

As Josh already knows about 25 years ago I developed a procedure to grind and recontour the body edges to make the door surround seals better accomodate the fit of the door. Once this is executed properly the doors close better and rubbing and tearing of the seals cease to be a problem.

I don't have the time to outline this procedure today but am hoping to do it in the near future.
Rob Grady

[alexwolf1216]

As Josh already knows about 25 years ago I developed a procedure to grind and recontour the body edges to make the door surround seals better accomodate the fit of the door. Once this is executed properly the doors close better and rubbing and tearing of the seals cease to be a problem.

I don't have the time to outline this procedure today but am hoping to do it in the near future.
Rob Grady

Fly down to SA and come do my car.

[Delorean Industries]

Rob extensively trained me on this procedure. How many cars did we do in a row? Five?

[Ikeaboy1]

This is definitely something I'll need to have done to my car. The passenger door eats seals.

[Delorean Industries]

This is definitely something I'll need to have done to my car. The passenger door eats seals.

Got you covered on the next visit!

[Ricker]

Well I got the old rubber seal off and the new ones on (with a little help with a rubber mallet). I also took off the door headliners. Without the headliners nothing rubbed the rubber seals when closing the doors. I carefully pulled back the cloth and foam where it was hitting (just the front outside corners), cut back the fiber board (about 3/16") and glued the cloth and foam back. Got it back in the car and now nothing is rubbing the rubber seals. Pretty easy fix from what I thought I would have to do.

[hmcelraft]

Congratulations! I would suggest that you keep an eye on the seal. Over time, if the angle is out some, the seal will form flat and start to rub the door and result in a similar damage you started with. My solution has been to rotate the seal periodically - by a few feet, or so, to keep any bad memory to the seal from forming. Seems to work for me and I think it adds some life to the seal.