MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGB Technical - Wind noise

Is it normal in a GT to have a lot of wind noise coming from the door rubbers? It just seems excessive when doing a bit of speed. Is there a way around this?
R Kelly

Drive slower?

:-)

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'a lot' of noise. On top of the din coming from the engine, and crash-thump from the suspension, I'm not sure I have ever noticed wind noise. There is a lot of whistling noise if the quarter lights are open (or not closed properly) though. Does the door close onto the rubbers properly?

Neil
Neil

The guttering is responsible for the majority of the wind noise on the GT, plus the glass only seals by lightly pressing against the rubber seals. So in answer to the question - yes, it is normal! I vaguely remember seeing a site somewhere where someone had reduced the noise by installing clear rubber tubing in the guttering, but personally I always have the driver's window down anyway.

Cheers,
Tim
T Jenner

The other factor is the door alignment. If it is slightly out, it will change the pressure on the seals. At speed, the door will push out and allow more air to leak by.
Bruce-C

AH OK. Its just a small concern given that when the seals let air in, theyre prone to letting water in as well, and we cant have that!
R Kelly

Yes, the GT is noisy, it was commented on by the original test journalists! It certainly hasn't got any bettery over the years, and in comparison with modern cars will appear to have got worse.
Paul Hunt 2

Yes, they are loud, the GT we borrowed in SA had them sealed shut and they were still loud, did not mean it wasn't a great car though.
Stan Best

One area of sealing that the factory could have done better on was that area where the door glass meets the door top. As the door closes shut, it presses against the fixed rubber door seal and creates a gap and that creates quite a bit of noise all on its own at speed.

To remedy this, I chose to insert a small neoprence foam block at that spot which, when the door shuts, takes up that gap and seals it off pretty well, cutting out fairly loud low pitched whistle from that area.

MG could have fixed this with a small modification of the door seal using a foamed neoprene moulded in place insert, much as other car makers had done for some years on other coupes with this sort of door-to-seal fit problem. If I had the $$$ to invest, I have thought about making one for sale, but in the meantime, fitting a soft closed cell foam block in this area seems to work pretty well.

Also, I have found that by adding a 1/4" half-round bit of rubber foam strip moulding to the door window seal also has been of some benefit for shushing some of the wind noise. (see photo) My guess is that it perhaps helps smooth out the air flow or disrupts it around the glass edge enough to change how air passes over and through the seal.

Bob Muenchausen

This thread was discussed between 26/02/2008 and 03/03/2008

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MGB Technical BBS now