Door roof seals

[Bitsyncmaster]

I think I asked this question many years ago but don't think it ever got an answer.

Does the bend in the metal strip on the door roof seal point in (at roof) or out? I had removed my drivers side seal because it would fold over and jam up. My passenger side the bend points out. Also do we glue that seal onto the bend? My old one was only glued on the ends.

[DMC-81]

I think I asked this question many years ago but don't think it ever got an answer.

Does the bend in the metal strip on the door roof seal point in (at roof) or out? I had removed my drivers side seal because it would fold over and jam up. My passenger side the bend points out. Also do we glue that seal onto the bend? My old one was only glued on the ends.

Hi Dave, here is how I glued mine:
https://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=45173&d=1470506164


When installed, the metal points down.

69868

There are more pictures and comments on page 5 of my interior restoration album on my profile if it helps.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Thanks Dana. So I see mine were done the same as yours with the bend in metal going out. Mine were not glued any onto that bend. And only glued on the ends since the screws hold the rubber in place elsewhere.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Well the new seal does the same thing. It folds over when the door is open. I think I will just remove the seal and not install any on my drivers side. It pushes up the T panel anyway. And to get it to clear the rear hinge I had to move that one open a little more and now it sticks up when closed.

[L3V3L1]

Mine have cracked rubber, but this is a job I have decided to skip, after calculating the risk vs reward. 😬

[Bitsyncmaster]

I looked closer at the door now without the seal. Looks like if the seal does not go to low (door open) the only place it will hit when closing is the bolts on the door hinges. Maybe the stock stock seals are to low and it hits somewhere else causing it to fold over when open.

[DMC-81]

I looked closer at the door now without the seal. Looks like if the seal does not go to low (door open) the only place it will hit when closing is the bolts on the door hinges. Maybe the stock stock seals are to low and it hits somewhere else causing it to fold over when open.

My seals fold on the hinge bolts as well.

[David T]

My seals fold on the hinge bolts as well.


Make sure the Tee panel is centered evenly between the tops of both doors. Replace the foam pad holding the front of the Tee panel up. Be VERY careful of all of the EXTREMELY sharp edges of the Tee panel. The outer seals are meant to keep too much water from getting into the drip channel where rain water drains. If you don't leave the car in the rain it isn't too important to have those seals. If the seals are bunching up, maybe they need to be trimmed.

[DMC-81]

Make sure the Tee panel is centered evenly between the tops of both doors. Replace the foam pad holding the front of the Tee panel up. Be VERY careful of all of the EXTREMELY sharp edges of the Tee panel. The outer seals are meant to keep too much water from getting into the drip channel where rain water drains. If you don't leave the car in the rain it isn't too important to have those seals. If the seals are bunching up, maybe they need to be trimmed.

My T-panel is centered, and the issue of seals hitting the hinge bolts is not related to the T panel as they are attached to the door.

[FLUX @88]

my new roof seals do the same thing....

[FABombjoy]

I have a newer seal (probably 15 years or older by this part) and it does the same thing. Rubs against the roofbox, squeaks, and stalls the door opening.

It would make more sense for this to be a 2 part seal. Once directly mounted to the T panel and a shorter / thinner companion on the door side.

You'd still get the same finished appearance / reduction in wind noise / water channeling, but without touching the body structure.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I've been thinking of what would work better. All I than think of that may help would be the rubber glued directly on the edge of the door and it made as short as possible to just hit under the T panel. I may try this someday. I would need to have the T panel off to be able to glue it onto the edge of the door.

[Chris4099]

Years ago a friend of mine had DMCH replace the roof seals and they rubbed badly and sounded terrible. So what we did was with the doors closed, run a pencil on the seal while against the T-panel. We then removed the T-panel and cut the rubber just past the pencil mark (give yourself a good buffer as you can always trim more later if needed). This made the seals just long enough to fill that gap, but not bind and rub like crazy.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Years ago a friend of mine had DMCH replace the roof seals and they rubbed badly and sounded terrible. So what we did was with the doors closed, run a pencil on the seal while against the T-panel. We then removed the T-panel and cut the rubber just past the pencil mark (give yourself a good buffer as you can always trim more later if needed). This made the seals just long enough to fill that gap, but not bind and rub like crazy.

I do like that idea.

[David T]

I do like that idea.

Maybe a shot of silicone to help them slide and not bunch up too. Maybe the door seals you get now are a bit too big and do need to be trimmed. When I replaced my door seals no one ever had this problem but that was a long time ago.