New door seals from Scott's Old Auto Rubber

will6440

Member
Hi all,

Whilst driving my P6 yesterday with a strong headwind at around 70 the wind noise was pretty close to terrible. I've always appreciated that the old girl is, well, old and so road noise is sort of par for the course, but it was just a bit too loud for my taste. I've also noticed that in certain areas you can see day light between the door and where it should be sealing leading me to think the original rubbers really have seen enough.

I've read a fair bit on here about people thinking Scott's is the best place to get the rubbers from, has anyone replaced their seals using these? I've spoken to Colin at Kingsdown classics and he's suggested I just "suck it up" as the new seals mean the doors won't close without slamming them and it's a nightmare of a job. So...

1) has anyone done this job with these rubbers - is it a nightmare?
2) do the new rubbers mean the doors won't close properly?
3) is it just a waste or time/money and should I just suck it up?

Thanks!
 
In my experience, all the repo rubber seems to be stiffer/thicker than the OEM stuff which is where the hard closing comes from. As for the door seals specifically, the only set I've done was a fair number of years ago and was not too bad to fit but you do have to mitre and glue the corners, as well as the bit on the bottom that has an extra flap on the extrusion.

Yours
Vern
 
If you can see daylight , I would be looking at new seals.
Water getting in will be a bigger problem than having to slam the doors shut.
I replaced my rubber yonks ago .The newrubber sits in a channel and is easy enough to re- insert - just takes a bit of time. And thats what owning a classic car is all about. I may have used a bit of dish detergent to assist the process.
Wind noise or shunting to doors shut?
Id go with the new seals.
The rubber does conform to the door after a while and shutting gets easier.
 
I sense new door seals on the horizon.

@harveyp6, what do you mean by pulling the frames in? The main holes are at the bottom of the window frames where the metal 'kinks'. They're not huge holes but it would be nice to seal them all the same.
 
The gaps are normally at the top, but if they are at the bottom pulling the frame in will have less effect, but the screws that retain the frames allow a small amount of adjustment if you can get them undone. Otherwise move the door inwards by moving the catchplate, and removing shims between the hinges and the pillar, but if you do that you may end up having to reshim the other door and the wings as well to keep it all in line. It depends on how much effort you're prepared to put in to cure your original problem.

Fitting new rubbers may cure the problem you have, but give you another one in that the doors will be difficult to close.
 
Hmm, seems like there is no real 'win' here. I don't want to pay a fortune for new door seals and find that they're a complete PITA to fit and then mean the doors don't shut. I also don't really like the extreme wind noise and water leakage I have at the moment. Which is the lesser of the two evils!?
 
One automotive trim supplier (Woolie's ? I don't remember now) used to store the correct profile door seal, made by sponge rubber. They are adequately soft, and pose no problems with door closing.
 
I've used rubber's from Scott's for over 20 years now. Yes, new ones will be a bugger to fit - but so is a decent second hand one. Yes, the doors will need slamming to begin with, as the rubber settles in place - but it'll be worth it in the end.

All depends on how far you want to go..
 
I got a set from wins some years ago
there still sat in a box somewhere
I had no luck in fitting them at all
I couldn’t get them to stay in place also when you got to the corner you had to bend the rubber round the corners not like the old ones Plus the door I did would not shut it’s a shame because I get wind noise at 100mph :)
 
How about inserting some spongy foam or similar in the place that's the worst offender to push the rubber nearer to the door frame? Maybe thread a thinner piece of rubber through?

Just a thought....
 
I fitted new door seals to Sparky when I restored him. The fiddliest bit was gluing the mitres, but when they were done, fit them first, then carefully ease the seals in with a flat bladed screw driver. It was more long winded than difficult, to be honest.

When they didn't fit perfectly at the front upper bend (near the top of the windscreen) I loosened off the fixings for the frame and pushed the top of the frame in a little. This helped, but didn't completely fix the problem, so I got hold of a thin bead of foam, and fed it into the area where it didn't touch the door, actually inside the hollow of the seal. This plumped it up a little and they now seal, and hey presto, no wind noise :cool:

No wind noise in a P6, like you're going to believe that LOL, well no wind noise from there :p
 
I may have used a bit of dish detergent to assist the process
If possible don't use dish detergent. It has a high concentration of salt in the mix, hello rust! You can use rubber lube as its salt free though.

Before you go down the path of a new set of seals you might want to try this stuff. I've had good results on our 'modern' 2008 Saab convertible rejuvenating seals. https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-914...e&keywords=gummi+pflege&qid=1581018399&sr=8-1

I've also heard good things about wintergreen oil, see this forum post about it: Restoring Hard Rubber Parts -- Unbelievable Results!

I would suggest trying these first (their relatively inexpensive) before buying new. If they don't work you can go down the new route.
 
Even if you cant see daylight at the door seals they can still be leaking. One way I have used to locate leaks is :- using a sheet of newspaper, cut out sections so that the long edge is like a hand or a fork - 6" long fingers with 3-4" wide gaps between them. with the door open, lay the sheet on the roof, fold the fingers inside the car, and shut the door - this may require a helper. check that each of the fingers has resistance when you try to pull them out individually - if no resistance, the door is not seating on the rubber seal. Bit more difficult with the vertical door edge, but doable.
 
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