Weatherstrip Upgrades..the best ones yet

[Jamie N]

Now these really are something with worthwhile attributes, not only a nicely finished product and seriously good at what they are for, but the real beauty of these is that you can then remove and refit the door glass with ease at anytime in the future, we all know the original strips are a right PITA to remove, and you cant remove them without taking out the window , then the weatherstrip hinders the glass going back in because you need to fit the weatherstrip first, what a naff idea!.

With these ones you fit the 4 clips, then replace the glass with ease (no weatherstrip in the way) then you simply pop the strip down onto the clips AFTER the glass is replaced .If at any time in the future you need to remove the glass all you do is slide the weatherstrips towards the rear of the car and off, leaving the clips in place on the door and easy access to the runners and glass, simple and effective.

There are 2 modifications needed for fitting but anyone with basic fettling skills will manage them, the clips need an extra 10mm depth to the lower tab in order to reach the Elan strip screw holes, a piece of 4mm thick plastic heat welded to the base and a hole drilled in it is all that's required. The other is a slight curve has to be made on the strip to correspond with the door curve, again a fairly simple job.

These are stainless steel strips with a vinyl coating and will last the lifetime of the car they are fitted to, there is a water channel in them with the inside flap that contacts the glass having the usual modern velour like surface.Now the really good part... They are available worldwide in their multitudes and can still be bought brand new for a measly sum, there is also a huge supply of them in breakers yards literally for pennies. Good old Honda once again but this time the one you want is a Civic EP model, 3 door, which comes in the UK as 'Sport' Sport SE' 'CDTi' and 'Type R' mainly but there are others, as long as its a 3 door they are all the same. Years 2002 to 2005.

When I fitted them to my own car I just had to get rid of the nasty 'fur' strip along the top of the door card at the same time and found a real nice velour strip on a Renault which fits along the top of the door card and down against the glass, this along with the new strips has made a huge difference to the aesthetics, very fresh and clean, different class altogether from what's usually evident, you really need to see them up close to appreciate the difference they make, but the real bonus is I have made this transformation for pennies, so can you!, go find.


A close up of the finished job..


The 4 clips fitted ready to take the strip..


Close up of a clip fitted...and look at the space you have to get the glass in and out when the weatherstrip isnt in the way!.


Strip from the bottom showing the stainless and clips in place..

Curvature added to the strip...


Door card with the Renault part fitted


Renault strip where it contacts the glass replacing nasty fur...


All done and looking 20 years its junior

[Rambo]

Looks like I might have to make a trip to Rawshyte again

[LRS7]

Fantastic upgrade again Jamie

What Renault was the internal seal taken from if you don’t mind me asking ? Also would you consider offering the whole package to your fellow LEC members

[HJ2]

The seal god strikes again...

[epipete]

This is fantastic, as ever, but for thickies like me I need a bit more meat in the description please.

So this replaces both the outer seal (Honda) and inner trim (Renault), yes?

Where do the clips come from for the outer seals, Honda again?

How does the inner trim attach?

Sorry, I'm being pedantic (deep in the weeds) but I'm a little confused!

[roy666]

Jamie - what about the outer and inner (front/rear) glass support arms.. with the nasty fur on... did you leave those in place or take out?.. ta M

[par]

These are top quality as you would expect from the Master of Seals!

I already have my pre-order in to replace the HRV based alternative which is already a step up on the OEM version.

The ability to slide on & off is a big plus

[Jamie N]

Roy... I have removed the original metal strips (apart from the riveted one in the 3rd picture down), The new weatherstrips are Stainless and fairly rigid, these hold the glass firmer than the originals and also sit a touch higher on the glass giving it plenty of support, the pressure of the strip on the glass can be adjusted also. The inner strips on the door card are fitted in such a way as to also have good firm contact with the glass, windows go up and down perfectly with no issues.

LRS7.... The inner trims were from a Clio 3 door , unfortunately i didnt check what year it was when i removed them and havent seen any so far with the same trims, i will keep a watch for them though and update. But bear in mind you can fit the weatherstrips and not bother about changing the inner strips.

As for me supplying the complete package... That would defeat the object of this topic, in showing a way to greatly enhance an often troublesome and poor visual aspect of our cars without the need to spend much money, so sorry no complete package I'm afraid, i could do a few pairs of weatherstrips ready assembled with the modified clips and the curve all ready to fit but it would only be a very small number, i really dont want to be spending my days making Elan weatherstrips .

Epipete .. The clips are the actual ones that come with the strips from Honda, if you remove them from a breaker you would remove the trim from the door pillar,
grip the end of the weatherstrip and pull it towards the rear of the car, that will slide it off the clips which can then be popped out from the top of the door, on the Honda they are held in place by spring tension of the plastic, easily removed, on the Elan door they are screwed on as per the picture above.


As for the inner trims they are held in place by a channel in the trim that the door card pushes into ,which is fairly tight and actually holds it rigid, it could be
bonded also but the glass is up against it once the door car is on and it cant go anywhere. There are definitely other options for these type of trims on breakers,
the Renault ones are great but there are others just as good.

I will post a picture later of the clips standard, and modified so you know whats involved with them.

[Jamie N]

This is the info for the clip modification.... The first one is the full clip unmolested as it sits on the Civic, you will see it has 2 thin arms on the left and right, they are what keeps it in place on the Honda, so they get removed as in the 2nd clip from the left, you can see below it, the piece of 2.5mm plastic shaped and ready for heat welding. The 3rd clip is the finished article, The 4th clip is showing the other side, And the 5th clip is showing a different way of attaching, 1 flat headed screw and superglued., its a solid method but takes a bit more time, heatwelding is easier.

Provided you do the heatwelding (old soldering iron ) deep and mix the two sides of molten plastic together you will get a perfectly good enough join to do the task required, heatwelding the 2 parts together does produce a bit of nasty fumes so make sure you wear a suitable mask and do it outside, preferably when there is a breeze.
The way you calculate where the holes are drilled is by popping the clips into the weatherstrip, lay it on the door in position and then look into the back and guage where to mark the clips, you can actually drill new holes in the fibreglass if you want, its not necessary to use the old screw holes, just be careful not to go through
the double skin and pierce the outside one!!. Bear in mind you can slide the clips back and forth to wherever you want them to sit, i would recommend them about 30mm in from each side and the other two roughly equidistant from the centre but corresponding with the screwdriver access holes in the door.

[HJ2]

Excellent!

If you have one spare that you can miss for a while, i see if I can make a model out of it and see if printing it in Nylon or ABS works

[Jamie N]

Excellent!

If you have one spare that you can miss for a while, i see if I can make a model out of it and see if printing it in Nylon or ABS works

Thats a brilliant idea HJ, the clips are ten a penny so i could send you a couple no problem there. The only real question is though... is there anyone
actually interested in doing the weatherstrips ?, doesnt seem to be much interest from what i can see, maybe just too much work involved for most
folks, which is a shame because they are well worth the effort yet cost so little, maybe thats the problem.. I'm saving people too much money! .

Well i have a veritable list of other super upgrades recently discovered but its looking pretty pointless posting them on here .

[HJ2]

I just finished rebuilding the doors... grrr!
Still interested though!

[par]

I just finished rebuilding the doors... grrr!
Still interested though!

If you ever have to rebuild the doors again you will wish you had these weather seals fitted!

Slide off and out the way without having to drill out rivets etc. just to get the window in and out, take the pain once for an overall better solution

I have also done the door rebuild recently and plan to make this change during the winter for the future!

[muley]

Excellent!

If you have one spare that you can miss for a while, i see if I can make a model out of it and see if printing it in Nylon or ABS works

Thats a brilliant idea HJ, the clips are ten a penny so i could send you a couple no problem there. The only real question is though... is there anyone
actually interested in doing the weatherstrips ?, doesnt seem to be much interest from what i can see, maybe just too much work involved for most
folks, which is a shame because they are well worth the effort yet cost so little, maybe thats the problem.. I'm saving people too much money! .

Well i have a veritable list of other super upgrades recently discovered but its looking pretty pointless posting them on here .

Oh no way;! What you are posting is brilliant!!

What would help is a smidgen more info : e.g. the key dimensions of the brackets we need to fit EP3 rear calipers / the source of header seals. We'll do our own thing from there on in

[Steve A]

Another winner

[NewLogik]

Excellent!

If you have one spare that you can miss for a while, i see if I can make a model out of it and see if printing it in Nylon or ABS works

Thats a brilliant idea HJ, the clips are ten a penny so i could send you a couple no problem there. The only real question is though... is there anyone
actually interested in doing the weatherstrips ?, doesnt seem to be much interest from what i can see, maybe just too much work involved for most
folks, which is a shame because they are well worth the effort yet cost so little, maybe thats the problem.. I'm saving people too much money! .

Well i have a veritable list of other super upgrades recently discovered but its looking pretty pointless posting them on here .

I'm following on every single posts. I'm actually trying to focus on getting the Elan in a overall good condition and then I'll be getting into all these details. I still really appreciate your posts/ideas !

[Elanlover]

Hi Jamie, with regard to the seals, I've yet to install mine (doing so starting this weekend) but I'm curious what you did with the foam piece that sits right at the end of the door (see picture). I don't see it in any of your pictures.

WP_20190712_15_28_39_Pro (002).jpg

I know our cars tend to be different so perhaps you actually don't have this piece on yours? Also, my teeny, weeny contribution to your excellent seal work.

[simonbuk]

I did the driver's side the old fashioned PITA way, so obviously left the near side as couldn't be bothered to go through it all again anytime soon !!

So yes, I will need to do this on one of the windows.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Hi Jamie, with regard to the seals, I've yet to install mine (doing so starting this weekend) but I'm curious what you did with the foam piece that sits right at the end of the door (see picture). I don't see it in any of your pictures.

WP_20190712_15_28_39_Pro (002).jpg

I know our cars tend to be different so perhaps you actually don't have this piece on yours? Also, my teeny, weeny contribution to your excellent seal work.

The link is broken, but you can use this:
viewtopic.php?f=131&t=27508&p=353695#p353695

[Jamie N]

Hi Jamie, with regard to the seals, I've yet to install mine (doing so starting this weekend) but I'm curious what you did with the foam piece that sits right at the end of the door (see picture). I don't see it in any of your pictures.

WP_20190712_15_28_39_Pro (002).jpg

I know our cars tend to be different so perhaps you actually don't have this piece on yours? Also, my teeny, weeny contribution to your excellent seal work.

I have custom made EPDM door surround seals on mine, but the original seals will still be able to sit where they are, there are 2 types of original door surround seals from what i have seen, not sure if both types reach round to the weatherstrip though as they are usually too badly deteriorated to work out how they used to be.

On mine i have put a little end cap on it, the EP civic doesnt have them as the end sits against the plastic door finisher but you can get those end caps from a multitude of different models and just shape to fit (Mini ones are almost the perfect shape), the other end has a smal bit of neoprene which sits against the mirror plastic. Agreed it is a fair bit fettling to get them done, i think the end result is well worth the effort though, not only in appearance but the fact that any future work that requires removing the door glass is then so much easier with the weatherstrips being able to just slide off the clips and out of the way, then simply clipped back in place once you have done the door work. It couldn't get any easier.