THe Maestro Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 Looking for a new door seal as the rubber as split on one side. I came across this product:http://www.automobiletrim.com/door-seal-fabric.html(top picture) which is £4.20 per meter + VAT. This seems to be a similar price to what Rimmers, Paddock, Canleys etc. charge. I would have expected it to be cheaper cutting out the middle man as it were. Is this stuff better quality though? I don't think my existing seals have a flexible steel spine for example but I may be wrong.
heraldcoupe Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 Your original seal will have a steel spine, that's the feature which allows it to grip the flange around the door. Note that the top image has a bubble profile, this is the usual cause of ill-fitting seals on Spitfires. Original seals have a lip profile, which compresses properly under the weight of the door. Nothing wrong with bubble profiles, but our cars weren't designed for them, irrespective of the blurb on the website. Savings will be made if you buy industrial quantities of any product, I'm guessing the price you've quoted was for a small quantity to complete a single vehicle? That's the way business works - invest in trade quantities to benefit from trade prices! Proper lip profiles aren't available with a fabric covering, but good quality seals without fabric work out cheaper than the price you've been quoted.Cheers,Bill.
THe Maestro Posted August 21, 2008 Author Posted August 21, 2008 heraldcoupe wrote:Proper lip profiles aren't available with a fabric covering, but good quality seals without fabric work out cheaper than the price you've been quoted.Cheers,Bill.Thanks for that advice. The door seals from Paddocks, Rimmers etc have fabric on them too, so are they not the right lip profile?
heraldcoupe Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 I wouldn't want to comment on what seals other traders choose to sell. If I knew of a decent profile with the correct fabric covering, I would be selling it myself!Cheers,Bill.
Nick Moore Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 Many years ago I bought a set of bubble-section, fabric-covered door seals, and found that the doors just bounced off them unless shut very hard. I was assured that the rubber would 'settle' over time, Errr, no. The only reason I haven't already upgraded is that I'm no good at sewing, so the lip-section replacements won't have the fabric covering.
heraldcoupe Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 At Stafford last weekend, a customer showed me how he had simply glued the fabric onto his (lip type) Vitesse door seals. The result was rather good, and a lot less work than stitching it in place.Cheers,Bill.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.