Rubber "A" Pillar Seals.

[Rice crispy]

What about a "How to source and make your own roof Seals guide " with some nice pictures

Steve, That's what was/is in the pipeline mate (as alluded to in the other threads) but im surprised at the lack of interest. As shown in the pics I posted in the Hood section, the solution is here right now!, It is currently possible to surround your door glass with EPDM rubber and make it completely watertight (and look extremely tidy into the bargain) but the response has been lacklustre, maybe its not that important?, maybe its been dry enough lately and folk have forgotten about LEak Central Im not sure but it will be a fair effort to collate all the info and pics / details / etc and post it all up if there is little interest, Don't get me wrong though I'm perfectly happy to share what I have developed but if nobody is interested in taking on the task it will be a lot of effort on my part.

A little feedback would be great, let me know if its worth bothering with, so is anyone actually up for taking on the challenge and doing it?...

1. Steve A?

2. Lansledj

[daveiow]

[dapinky]

What about a "How to source and make your own roof Seals guide " with some nice pictures

Steve, That's what was/is in the pipeline mate (as alluded to in the other threads) but im surprised at the lack of interest. As shown in the pics I posted in the Hood section, the solution is here right now!, It is currently possible to surround your door glass with EPDM rubber and make it completely watertight (and look extremely tidy into the bargain) but the response has been lacklustre, maybe its not that important?, maybe its been dry enough lately and folk have forgotten about LEak Central Im not sure but it will be a fair effort to collate all the info and pics / details / etc and post it all up if there is little interest, Don't get me wrong though I'm perfectly happy to share what I have developed but if nobody is interested in taking on the task it will be a lot of effort on my part.

A little feedback would be great, let me know if its worth bothering with, so is anyone actually up for taking on the challenge and doing it?...

1. Steve A?
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky

[Steve A]

1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky

Thats a big yes from me, I'm very interested in a dry interior

[Ian T]

1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till

I really do want to know which bits you have used and what to do with them - will no doubt save a lot of us from damp knee syndrome.

[Rob P]

1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till
6. Rob P

I am sure there are many more who will have a desire to understand the work involved here and where to get the necessary rubbers, I was still under the impression we didn'tknow where the rubbers came from, has that situation changed?

[tb10]

I am sure there are many more who will have a desire to understand the work involved here and where to get the necessary rubbers, I was still under the impression we didn't know where the rubbers came from, has that situation changed?

DROMONG: I has to be said that we are all very impressed with what you have done and it's more than likely that we are all awaiting the knowledge of where the seals have come from and, until then, excitement is muted. Well done from me in any event


1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till
6. Rob P
7. TB10

regards

John

[Jamie N]

There are no more of those folding lip A pillar seals Guys, only the ones on my own Elan, but I will keep up the search, there are a couple of the static lip ones here though (as in the pics above).
Maybe some confusion due to being posted on this thread but the seal project is for the hood seals,( falling pillar/intermediate and header side section) it will all become clear once I have a few more pics and I will make the specific thread in the Hood/Top section, I will do that in the next couple of days for certain , so don't watch this space (watch the other space)

Jamie.

[Ian T]

[quote = DROMONG]so don't watch this space (watch the other space) [/quote]

Like (probably) the majority of others, I'm watching both spaces.

[osxguru]

Yes it is dry and sunny, but here in Portland, OR we are always getting ready for the rainy season! I would be very interested in purchasing your "how to" guide. (or the seals) Thanks G

[stevieg8571]

If any seals become available, I'd gladly purchase a set as mine don't look or work very well at all.


1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till
6. Rob P
7. TB10
8. stevieg8571


Steve

[ShaunM]

There are no more of those folding lip A pillar seals.

I think the question everyone is asking is "why" to the statement above. Surely you got them from somewhere, or did you manufacture them from scratch?

Has anyone tried to get in contact with the original nanufacturers in Canada to see if they will reproduce the originals? Foam is fine with me if they last 20 years. I've got a few ££££ in the bank and would happily invest in buying a bulk load of sets. The way I see it, although the forum is pretty much dead, it would be easy to shift 100 seys of complete seals on here once word got out that they were available. The rest could go on eBay.

[Jamie N]

Shuan,The reason why "There are no more of those folding lip A pillar seals" is because they were part of a batch of different seals I bought from a scrapyard container earlier in the year , the car (or van) they came from has not been identified, however even if we did find the source and they were available its not possible just to take them and put them straight on the Elan, they required a fair bit of modifying and being the person that did that modifying I know for sure that most Elan owners wont want to go trying that out as it was a difficult job to work out first how it could be done, and then actually doing the work to the standard required. Anyone who has attempted the "fabricate your own roof seals" project I posted will attest to the difficulties involved.

I do have other A pillar seals which I have constructed in EPDM, although not with the "fold over" lip, they are still far superior to the originals in various ways, ( looks, longevity, weatherproofing and able to stand up to hard frost without splitting open), again though they are not seals you can just go and take off another car and a lot of work goes into making them. I can make these on request for anyone that wants them but so far there hasn't really been that much response and going by that I doubt if a Company would take such a project on with the comparatively small market.

As for the Forum being dead , I don't think its "dead" but obviously its never going to really busy as our Elans are fairly scarce cars, saying that there has been a worrying trend lately of "Deserters" shall we say

Anyway here is the ones I have, they still have a lip which sits on the glass edge, not the folding over lip, but these solve the problem of leaking A pillar seals completely.
Jamie.

[woody]

Count me in if any become available,
1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till
6. Rob P
7. TB10
8. stevieg8571
9.Woody.

Cheers

[Steve A]

0. Steve A: I'm now sorted
1. Lansledj
2. DaveIOW
3. Pinky
4. Ian Till
5. Rob P
6. TB10
7. stevieg8571
8.Woody.

[Fredjohn]

Shaunm
There's no point in contacting the original makers in Canada. Two reasons:
1 The process was declared illegal years ago it's carcinogenic

2 The moulds were subsequently destroyed.

However I believe A post seals are still available from Lotus.

[Jamie N]

Count me in if any become available,
1. Steve A
2. Lansledj
3. DaveIOW
4. Pinky
5. Ian Till
6. Rob P
7. TB10
8. stevieg8571
9.Woody.

Cheers

Hi Woody, As I stated above I have a couple of pairs of rubber A pillar seals here, including the actual seals in that picture above, further to that im sure I can make a few more sets if anyone wants them, they are very easy to fit as well. They don't hold water and rot the screws behind them like the originals do either, but like Fredjohn said, the originals are still available (more expensive than the rubber ones though ). Just don't open your door on one of those mornings when the glass has frozen on to the seal or you may suddenly find chunks of sponge all stuck to the edge of you're window, like someone I know.

[Steve A]

Anyone who has attempted the "fabricate your own roof seals" project I posted will attest to the difficulties involved

Easy job








Not really

[clemo]

What an excellent thread. You have really excelled yourself in making what is a very intricate piece .

To answer questions on getting the original parts remade its not going to happen.

Trim technologies in the uk where the last point of contact for roof seals - hood frames and s2 style roofs.

Years ago i was in contact with them . They did a final batch of hoods and rubbers . Then there was no more .
I bought the last 3 complete roofs with frames and rubbers. 2 x black 1x blue.

I tried to buy all the stock they had. Which was very odd amounts of bits. I asked willb if he wanted to go halves as they wanted £6000 ( which we thought was an overpriced amount for what was many non full sets. ( say 150 centre Left hand rubbers but only 7 right hand sides , you get my drift)
i also tried to become a recognised fitter ( as their fitter was retiring)
nothing came of it , though someone else did pick up the fitting side of it.

The tall and short of it was this was just "dead stock" just getting in the way. Canada didn't want to keep the tooling anymore and after a short run that was made up to complete the amount of hoods that trim tech had that was it. In the end trim tech sold them slowly on ebay

There will be no more . Nobody could be bothered to make limited runs of parts for a very limited amount of cars left.

thus making this thread even more special . This really is an excellent re run.

[Steve A]

What an excellent thread. You have really excelled yourself in making what is a very intricate piece .

To answer questions on getting the original parts remade its not going to happen.

Trim technologies in the uk where the last point of contact for roof seals - hood frames and s2 style roofs.

Years ago i was in contact with them . They did a final batch of hoods and rubbers . Then there was no more .
I bought the last 3 complete roofs with frames and rubbers. 2 x black 1x blue.

I tried to buy all the stock they had. Which was very odd amounts of bits. I asked willb if he wanted to go halves as they wanted £6000 ( which we thought was an overpriced amount for what was many non full sets. ( say 150 centre Left hand rubbers but only 7 right hand sides , you get my drift)
i also tried to become a recognised fitter ( as their fitter was retiring)
nothing came of it , though someone else did pick up the fitting side of it.

The tall and short of it was this was just "dead stock" just getting in the way. Canada didn't want to keep the tooling anymore and after a short run that was made up to complete the amount of hoods that trim tech had that was it. In the end trim tech sold them slowly on ebay

There will be no more . Nobody could be bothered to make limited runs of parts for a very limited amount of cars left.

thus making this thread even more special . This really is an excellent re run.

A good reality check from somebody that knows the history of the seal situation.