Reproduction (Early) falling pillar seals

[wayne]

Hi,

Just picked up a few sets of these up this morning

seal4.jpg

seal3.jpg

Looking for someone with an early style car that would be willing to try out some reproduction Early style falling pillar seals.
Preferably someone that has a spare seal carrier so as not to damage your current seal.

They are made from a closed cell foam and not sponge. Hopefully a lot more robust and will not soak up water like the originals.

[dapinky]

Wayne,

My car is a bit of a 'hybrid' when it comes to seals - it is an SE with S2 hood fitted prior to my custody.

I have fitted a new deck seal (S2 type) and a stowage cover seal (but can't remember if it is the S2 or earlier type - it was whatever I thought appropriate/could get 4 or 5 years ago!!)

I have the original header seal and unknown intermediate and falling pillar seals (EPDM A pillar ones).

My drivers side falling pillar seal is a bit knackered (and has been since I got the car!) and I don't know what sort it is.....

..... I'm happy to try a pair of your new seals to see how they fit with what I have, and if they or the stowage seal need any/much fettling to make them fit properly.

I'm happy to pay the purchase price and take the risk myself.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

They look great.

The production change point is at the S2 model. The shapes are different, so probably won't do well with an S2. Should do well with the S1/SE version.

Wayne, I can test install a set on both my FED SE cars (one seal set required) and I can provide pictures and comments of the fit.

[wayne]

Dave, I'd be happy to send you a set as I know you will give us a good honest (10,000 word ) opinion of them and it will be interesting to see if they can be made to fit, be adapted to the later style or even work in the material that they are currently made in. I know that you can be creative.
PM me your address and I will be happy to send you a set.

I wouldn't advise removing your current seal to fit these, after all,they are only a prototype, they need work. If you have a spare seal carrier, then it may be worth playing around with a set.

They are not for sale, ie: I don't want anything for them other than advice on how to improve them and for someone to test them to see if they work.
I can see a few areas that currently need improving. I'm sure that you, Robert and John will find a lot more if you have a good test car to put them on.

I will be trying a set on my car, but it is not a good test bed as the hood has never fitted properly due to an accident years ago. Luckily I never drive it with the hood up.

Robert Hagen has kindly offered to try them out as he has some spare hoods, cars and carriers

John, The first thing I did when they arrived was put a pair in a box for you.
I know that you will be one of the best people to offer help and advice on what needs changing.

I'm not sure at what point the seals changed design. My car is a 1992 car and has the later style falling pillars and stowage cover seal as shown below.

Late style falling pillar and stowage seal1.jpg

Early style

Early stowage hood cover1.jpg

I've uploaded some higher resolution pics to dropbox and you should be able to download them from this link. If not then PM me with your email address and I will send the pics to you.

[Simon_P]

(10,000 word ) opinion

Well done Wayne, Just getting proto parts made is an undertaking in itself.
Would it be worth:
Comparing early and late seals to identify/understand differences?
Doing a bit of analysis on why they fail - for example, there is sliding contact with the door seal and they both fail - could it be made a clearance and have a wedge or flap on the top of the door?
trying to have a common part that fits all

[wayne]

Been looking into it on and off for years.

Lotus knew about the problem before the car was released and promised to fix it.... It never happened.
They still leak.

I'm not a design engineer, so the best I can hope for is something that will work as well as or better than the current seal.

These ones will not soak up water and are not as fragile as the OEM seals.

I just need to determine if they will work. Or can be made to work.

[donsladek]

Great work, Wayne!

[dapinky]

PM sent.

Whilst I can't guarantee to keep any reply down to any set number of words (I was one of the few who never had to pad out my dissertations - but edit them down to the required numbers ).

I'm pretty sure that I can get them to fit and be better than what I already have. I don't have a spare carrier, but am happy to take the risk with the current ones, or even see if it is appropriate to modify/manufacture something to do the job with what I can find in the shed.

[Steve A]

Well done Wayne, you've obviously gone to a great deal of trouble (and expense) to have these made.
They look really good especially the storage cover, it will be interesting to see how they perform, closed cell is definitely a step in the right direction.
Dave will make an excellent test pilot.

[Giniw]

Well done Wayne

(actually I intended to try to make moulds too ... one day ^^)