Keeping rubber seal for hood cover in place

[ksgrimsr]

Hi guys,

On my car the rubber seal that goes around the edge of the hood stowage compartment against which the cover presses seems to be glued in place with black asphalt bubblegum. When it gets warm the stuff gets soft and the seal shifts, and a slight shift results in the lip of the stowage lid catching the edge of the seal and rolling it over the lip of the stowage compartment (pulling it more out of place and scuffing the seal).

If others have their seal secured with black bubblegum, I cann't be the only guy having this issue. What do others do to keep this seal in place properly? I'm considering gluing it in place with black weatherstrip adhesive, but with the black bugglegum fouling the surface of the seal and the goo being near impossible to get off cleanly, I cann't imagine I'll get good adhesion.

Knut

[Brit-Car-Nut]

My car's seal has a series of "T" clips that fit into a matching set of holes along the body edge. This is a typical GM method of attachment.

I am about to clean up my tub for a respray. If I find a non-destructive solvent that removes the goo, I will let you know.

The seal is still available from After Sales: D100V0119F for £19.57

You order it from Lotus (Aidan ACoughlan@lotuscars.co.uk) and have it shipped to a cooperating UK dealer that will collect your payment and ship it to you.

I read that some use Bell and Colville but any of the better dealers will handle it for you.

I have been lucky enough to get over often enough to collect my parts in person and carry them home in luggage.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Further to my previous post, I started looking at what the actual sealer Lotus used and found that they used two different sized Butyl tape between the stowage lid seal and the body as well as the door seals to the door. They are A100B6207V which is 3mm (.118") and A100B6208V which is 4.3mm (.170"). Today, you can get the sealer in tape ribbons of 1/8" x 1/4" and 1/4" round.

Lotus also used this stuff under the sill covers.

I have been slowly removing the seals on my Lotus getting ready for a decent respray. Even in 100+ degree weather, my tape is well formed and not oozing which allows me to slowly pick it off in small lengths followed by using a glob of it to go back and lift it from the body surface. This is a very slow task.

Since you say that your sealer is oozing, perhaps someone tried to improve the seal with a non-hardening, tar based sealer. You can probably remove the weatherstrip (carefully) and use a plastic squeegee or an OLD credit card to scrap off a major portion of the goo and then clean with whatever solvent you find will soften the goo but not the paint. 3M makes a decet bug and tar remover that you might also try.

3M suggests using their decal and stripe adhesive cleaner for final cleanup while others suggest mineral spirits. I haven't gotten to the point of liquids yet but I suggest you be careful and use mild cleaners startng with mineral spirits or enamel reducers.