Hood and door seals

[Fubar1764]

+1

[novacaine]

i need new door seals, my hood ones arent too bad

[Faeview]

Count me in. All we need is someone to get this going!

[purplepower]

Also keen!

[LotusEnthusiast]

Any news on this? I think it's safe to say all of us want this to happen very badly!!

[theelanman]

Any news on this? I think it's safe to say all of us want this to happen very badly!!

Lol......I know what you mean but it's a bit early to judge the workmanship or quality of the product.....lol

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Progress, albeit very slow progress is being made. We have provisional quotes to make the falling pillar and intermediate seals. This is based on a provided used seal and pictures. The NEW seals arrived last week to me in the US and I will be posting them to China when Wayne catches up while he is in the UK right now.

"A" Pillar seals are still available from Lotus and WILL NOT be considered for reproduction until Lotus ceases to provide them. Basically, EVERY seal (a mix of early or late design, but not a complete set of either) is still available from Lotus but some only come with the carrier which makes them really expensive. The header seal is down to the most expensive version since everyone took advantage of the less expensive S2 version. Door seals are available but they are the later/S2 version and the "knob" is different to allow for the different door trim. Since I don't have access to an S2, it is hard to figure out what is different and if it is significant.

We have discussed offering the "knob" end sections (with a short bit of the other section to get the seam more out of sight) of the door and stowage cover seals and a repair section of the header seal that is basically the section over the door since that is the most commonly failing part.

All this being said, the project is huge and expensive with tooling per pair of seals in the thousands of dollars range. We are also working with a smaller manufacturer who permits us to order less pieces per run which helps us to keep the total cost lower, but being small, it sometimes takes many months to get the molds made, samples run amnd then a lot of engineering discussions to try to get things as accurate as possible.

Right now, NOBODY should be holding their breaths or sitting on their "preferred hand" as this project will happen, but we will probably not see any final product in the next 6 months.

If you need new seals, grab whatever you can from Lotus as in talking with Lotus, they are not sure they will continue production on any of the seals still available.

The RH EARLY Falling Pillar seal A100V0122H £10.68 is still on the Aftersales list as is the LH Intermediate seal A100V0123H £11.75 (plus VAT and whatever else you need to be charged).

There are vultures that have grabbed quantity of these and are making a handy profit on eBay, but EVERY Lotus Dealer can get them for you at the price I listed.

I hope this has explained what is happening and conveyed that this will not be a quick 4 week list, order and receive group buy. Most of the pattern parts have been gathered and now we will be going beyond the quotation phase into production of one or the other of the sets to see what can really be made with today's limits and technology.

[LotusEnthusiast]

Yeah I know it will take a long time... Just curious!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Progress is happening albeit behind the scenes as they say. The question of rubber "type" came up and it has been verified the design will be "closed cell", water proof rubber.

A new sample of the falling pillar seal has been reviewed and a deposit was paid to have molds made and samples sent for review.

Once the quality and fit has been verified, we will figure out a price and start a list to see what demand is at that time.

These will be followed by pairs of Intermediate (or Cant Rail) seals.

The "A" Pillar seals are still available from Lotus and until they become unavailable, we are not going to consider them as they wouldn't be much less expensive than the price Lotus is selling them for anyway.

Other targets are the Door surround seals and the Hood Stowage seals but because of the length, they become very expensive. We think that we can offer the knob section plus around 1+ foot of the remainder which would repair the most commonly damaged sections while hiding any seams in an area more "out of sight".

We have been seriously discussing the header seal as a potential project, but the tooling will be astronomical. An alternative is to do the outer 3 feet of each side and figuring a way to bond the sections into the remainder of the header seal. We are trying to source an affordable NEW seal to send off for a quote. If there is enough demand, the entire seal can be made, but won't be much cheaper than the 250.00 quid currently being charged by Lotus.

No lists just yet, but certainly willing to listen to comments and suggestions from the people that need or want replacements. Still a 5 or 6 month expectation which could still get longer, so if you can find what you need now and it doesn't require a new home mortgage, you might want to consider buying what is really here today...

This probably should have gone to the "Hood, Top and Bodywork" or "Doors and Windows" area, but it started here and rather than have multiple threads for the same thing, we will continue here and refer anyone asking in the other threads to visit this thread.

I will keep everyone informed as things progress although it might seem that info is not available for weeks at a time.

Any suggestions or requests will be appreciated. Please don't start any lists. Let's make sure we are happy with the first parts being made before we jump into a bigger fire.

[lotos]

The "A" Pillar seals are still available from Lotus and until they become unavailable, we are not going to consider them as they wouldn't be much less expensive than the price Lotus is selling them for anyway.

Aren't those like 25 year old NOS though?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

No, Lotus had a new batch manufactured in 2007-2008

[wayne]

I know it's been along time since this thread has been updated.

The good news is that it hasn't been forgotten. We currently have a mould for a pair of early style falling pillar seals in production with samples expected in the next 2 weeks.

foam part 1.jpg

foam part 2.jpg

The bad news is that the price I was originally quoted increased when they received the actual sample. I still think that it can be made at an affordable cost.

Although there is only 1 part number for the intermediate seal I have just purchased a new intermediate seal from Lotus and there is a huge difference to my used seal with the made in Canada sticker. !! ???

Although they are the same overall length the size, material and texture differ from the early seal.

With normal finger pressure I can compress the old seal to about 6mm (1/4") the new seal with the same pressure compresses to about 25mm (1") ?

I remember Winelot mentioning about different material for the S2 seals?

Could anyone offer some advice / help on which way to proceed?

20140302_193247.jpg

20140302_193134.jpg

20140302_192817.jpg

The only seals I have available and are currently available from Lotus are the early style seals. So to make a full set my only current option is to have the rest of the seals reproduced as early style. Unless someone has a full set of late style seals that they would like to offer for templates?

I would like to improve on the material if possible but I am concerned that if I use stiffer material it may crack the window?

Could anyone that has an S2 take some pictures of their seals. Especially showing texture and the areas they mate up. And if possible offer some dimensions?

I think I am going to ask the company to hold the production until we can come up with answers which is the best way to proceed.

Due to the cost of this project I can only offer to remake 1 pair of seals at a time. And I will have to be happy with the samples before I go any further.

I am willing to buy samples of the remaining seals from Lotus but I cannot offer to remake some of them at this time as Lotus still have stock of them.

As I have already committed to early seals and there were more cars with these than later seals (and this seems to be the only ones left for a mould). This is the direction I think this will head in.

I am happy to try to change to later style if parts are available or maybe improve on the early seals if this is possible.

I would like to get the best possible seal for everyone without having to employ a design team to re engineer them.

Any advice appreciated.

Regards

Wayne

[TOWATL]

Hi!

Great topic and I am definitely up for a set of seals, when they become available.

Wayne: My S2 is currently being serviced / repaired at a friends workshop. It might take me a week or so, but I should be able to get you some nice pictures of the parts in question.

I will get back to you in a few days.
Please contact me via PM for a detailed talk on what you need exactly.

Cheers!

[HJ2]

Wow!

By the way, I was at a 3D printing event last week where they actually had a printed CV boot! (flexible and durable)
If you can change your 3D model just a little: 1 mm solid outer layer thickness and a closed cell type mesh on the inside (for flexibility and weight saving), one would be able to print the intermediate seals as well! (i guess)
Printers large enough for the falling pillars are unobtanium at the moment (at least for printing flexible urethane anyway)

Keep up the good work!

[novacaine]

Looking good!

I have a set of old S2 intermediate seals (they're in a bad state though) if no one else can help.

I could really do with a new N/S falling pillar seal lol those 3d images are just teasing

[wayne]

I have asked the company to stop work on the mould for now until I can work out which is the best way to proceed.

I'm not sure why the design of the intermediate changed. As the part number is still the same.
Maybe it was made higher to help stop the leaks?

joint new 1024.jpg

joint 1024.jpg

I have sent them over both the old and new intermediate seal for them to have a look at and compare material.
I have also asked if there is anything they can do to make them more durable. ie thicker outer skin, foam density, etc.
They have already confirmed the foam will be closed cell foam.

They can still make small changes to the mould and texture. They should have them in a few days so I will see what they
can recommend.

I am away on vacation tomorrow but I will fit the new style seal to the car when I get back to make sure that it sits correctly on my S1
Also plan to order a S1 header rail seal to check how it compares / mates up with the new style intermediate.

[Elanlover]

FYI Wayne, in this group buy post, we are organizing a group buy for a custom module to upgrade the window switch operations. One of the "features" will be an automatic reseal of the windows such that when the car is unlocked/door opened the window will drop an inch or so then close when the door is closed/relocked. The goal is to have less wear and tear on the seals when opening and closing the doors AND to accommodate new seal profiles that would hang over the window more and reduce water ingress. So, don't feel completely constrained by the profile of the existing seal which never provided a great fit over the windows to begin with.

[TOWATL]

FYI Wayne, in this group buy post, we are organizing a group buy for a custom module to upgrade the window switch operations. One of the "features" will be an automatic reseal of the windows such that when the car is unlocked/door opened the window will drop an inch or so then close when the door is closed/relocked. The goal is to have less wear and tear on the seals when opening and closing the doors AND to accommodate new seal profiles that would hang over the window more and reduce water ingress. So, don't feel completely constrained by the profile of the existing seal which never provided a great fit over the windows to begin with.

Great idea!

[dermotbell]

I have managed to find a seal set from Trim Tech that is for an S2. I have everything except deck seal. Anyone fitted S2 to S1 and how much fettling is required?
Additionally which rail kits are required, I think the header seal needs one? Or can I re-use old ones?

[Eagle1]

Any news on this thread? I'm up for a complete new set.