Replacing the rubber A post door seals

[PJ54]

Hi All,
Currently contemplating replacing the A post seals on my Series3 2+2. All seems straightforward until it comes to the door section. Is there a special technique in fitting the seal in the area around the door hinges? Are there special tools that help feed the seal into the channel in this 'difficult to access' area? Thanks for any advice.
Regards, Phil.

[vee12eman]

Hi Phil,

You have to have patience and feed it in a few mm at a time. I used to use a screwdriver, but now use a wooden stick; a coffee stirrer or lollipop stick is ideal - I have hundreds of them saved for this and for many other types of work. They are really useful and it may be worth buying a pack of them if they don’t want them lying around.

Push one side of the seal foot into place - usually the less accessible side, then go along the length pushing the opposite side of the foot in with the stick. It’s easier than it sounds and doesn’t take as long as as you expect. I have these seals on a lot of old cars, all fitted the same way.

[abowie]

The best approach to fitting the A pillar seals is to take the doors off.

[PJ54]

Hi Simon,
Thanks for the reply. I can peel an orange in my pocket with one hand but the A post seal has got me stumped. The B post seal (at the back of the door) is fairly accessible and I have replaced that seal, but I can't see how their is any access to the A post seal on the hinge section of the seal as it seems completely hidden by the door. I fear Andrew may have the answer in removing the door. I have been a little nervous of this due to door alignment, panel gaps etc.
Thanks again, Phil.

[Gfhug]

Phil, if you do remove the doors then drilling 1/8 inch locating holes in the hinges can help re-align accurately.
Worth considering

Geoff

[abowie]

Phil, if you do remove the doors then drilling 1/8 inch locating holes in the hinges can help re-align accurately.
Worth considering

Geoff

What Geoff says is correct, and that is what we do. Once you've done this once you'll find that it actually isn't that difficult.

Remove the doors with the hinges attached. It's a 2 man job; one supports the door at the back, the other takes the bolts out.

Adjustment of the hinge to the body only affects rotation of the door about its long axis. Or to put it another way it moves the bottom of the door in or out relative to the sill. So even if you don't mark it properly, getting it back in place isn't that difficult.

When you reassemble put some masking tape on the back edge of the front guard to protect the paint from damage.

[MarekH]

Firstly, I'd ask the question as to why you want to replace the A-post seals. They deform heavily from being pinched under the front of the door, where the leverage is the highest and new seals will be less compressed than before, so achieving perfect door fit and opening is going to be harder than now. I'd only only replace if they leak.

To remove a door, take out the bottom strip along the sill. Use some cut up cork tiles from a 1970s bathroom between the bottom of the door and the sill (with the door closed) and with the window wound down (or preferably removed), use a 1/2" socket set to undo the four bolts holding the door to the hinge. Do this whilst standing with your knees against the door, leaning over it into the cabin. (There will probably already be a locating screw hole on the hinge somewhere between the four bolts.)

The door is now unattached and can be lifted out as a single piece. Be warned, it is very heavy.

Refitting is the same but in reverse. Do make sure your bolts are within reach and 1/2" socket is set to "do" not "undo". The door will sit perched on the cork tile strips with perfect panel gap and won't go anywhere so long as it rests against your knees prior to doing up the bolts.

To achieve perfect gapping at the front, make sure you place a piece of A4 paper inside the gap at the outermost edge of the body/door. This gap goes down to zero as the door opens, so failing to take precautions may mean scoring the paint.

It is possible arrange the remaining seals to make the door close under its own weight from just one handspan distance. It is very heavy and only ever needs to overcome the rebound of the next seal along, working from front to back. Fit all of those seals one by one, testing the door each time. Eventually you'll see that even a fractionally misaligned door card is enough to stop the door closing with a satisfying clunk, but working each seal one by one, strategically thinning them out if need be (e.g. when it passes over a rivet) means there is little or no force needed to close the door.

The wear marks on the old seals to tell you where the pinch points are. Use all of the information given and you'll never need to slam a door ever again.

kind regards
Marek

[PJ54]

Hi Geoff, Andrew and Marek,
Thanks for taking time to give a detailed reply and it sounds as though you have all had doors off at some stage. The reason for the replacement is that the rubber seal is perishing (the rear screen is currently out of the car)... that's what 40 years in Arizona does to rubber. There is also a water leak from that seal on the left hand side door, so some action is due. I will think about tackling it myself , or maybe going to the professionals!
Thanks again. Phil.