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MG MGA - door seals

I am at present fitting the doors following my restoation and spray job. I have a problem in that when i fitted the door seals which I bought from mcgregor the rhs door could not close properly and completely pushed the door out of alignment. Having been under the impression that I had got the right seals I then shaved all the foam from the seal to check how it would fit. I have now found the the gap between the bottom door frame and the sill is somewhat narrow. I have checked numerous threads to try and find someone who had the same experience and had a solution with the least damage to a finished job, but did not find any. Can the door frame be altered at the bottom. Replacing the inner sill did not create any problems since the alignment is determined by the a post and b post. It looks as though 1/4 inch could solve the problem but i wish to solve this problem by not touching the body.
Your comments are very much appreciated.
c vassallo

hi these are the correct door seals for the mga

http://www.clarkespares.com/doorseals.html


expensive but work


gordon
g c pugh

Best to have the seals on hand when you build the sills and fit the doors. Then, before painting, you can align the flange (that holds the seal) to create an even and correct gap.
When you state -- "the gap between the bottom door frame and the sill is somewhat narrow" -- I get the impression that the flange is not quite right.
If you have not followed the above, you will have to bend the flange to achieve a suitable gap.
Good luck, Barry
Barry Gannon

Clearance for the door seal at bottom of door is determined by shape of the rocker panel. If the rocker panel is correct, and the door has not been modified, and the door bottom is flush with the rocker panel on outside, then the seal clearance will be right. So, what so you have wrong.
.... Door modified in thickness?
.... Rocker panel wrong width?
.... Door not flush with rocker panel?
.... Seal too thick?

There are good seals and bad seals. See here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int108a.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int108b.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int108c.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int108d.htm

The soft rubber seal should be positioned below the fuzzy piece, not beside it. See picture.


Barney Gaylord

I have noted your comments but still do not find a solution. Bending the flange would not be easy as this is triple thichness at the bottom and even if you push in the horizontal flange, on the inside would hit against the seam of the chassis. As regards Barneys comments we did not encounter any difficulties when fitting the rockers once you align with the posts. The door fits perfectly on the outside with the rear and front mudguard and sill. It is true that I should have checked with the seals but we never realised that we could encounter this problem. The left hand side is OK.
I have measured the bottom frame of the door and found that it is something like 1/8inch wider. Now that the job is complete how can I alter the door with the least damage. As for the sills, I had fabricated the inner sills through Barneys drawings and the fit was perfect.
I presume that the door could have suffered some damage earlier because I could notice this from the panel supporting the hinge screws and nuts inside the frame.
Did anyone ever altered the width of the frame ,as this would surely be the most plausible solution and how best would I go about it. I am not the welder or panel beater but I thought that if we were to cut exactly below the face and reweld it would work.
Thank you for your comments.
c vassallo

Todd Clarke's door seal fitting instructions say that the seal flange should be 1/2" high, thickness no more than 1/8" and that the gap between door (without trim panel) and flange should be between 1/2" and 3/4".
If the actual measurements are within these limits I would dispense with the seals you have and go for Clarkes.
The thickness of the trim panel should be no more than 1/8" so when fitted you should have a door gap of 3/8" to 5/8" to fill with the seal fur. On TC's seal the fur is 3/8" max.

Don't forget that with the correct seal geometry the rubber plays no part in filling the gap as the seal is made underneath the door ..............Mike
m.j. moore

I wish to thank you all for your comments. I am happy to say that I have solved the problem which mainly lied with the thickness of my trim and also the trim was brushing against the shut face panel and also all along the bottom. I shaved off the excess and now have the desired result. I shall now go to Bob West or Todd Clarke for the seals. Thanks again.
c vassallo

This thread was discussed between 08/04/2012 and 10/04/2012

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