One job leads to another

[stevem]

My drivers door seal has split and is looking very sad so i decided to replace it, and luckily found an almost identical seal at a local store. When i came to fit it, I couldn't get it to clip onto the door frame properly near the area of seat belt hole in the bulkhead trim. The Bulkhead trim would not sit back flush onto the bulkhead, so I peeled it back to find out what was causing this. The bulkhead window glass was not sealed to it's frame, and there was a gap of about 15mm which may explain the reason why I sometimes get engine fumes in the cabin when driving. In fact there was no seal all the way along the bottom edge of the glass which may explain a rattle or two.

So, why is the window not sealed and why is it not sitting flush into it's frame ? Because the brackets that hold the rear hatch struts in the engine bay are bending and pressing against it. So, I had to make some new strut brackets out of a stronger angle section, that made it possible to re-seal the rear window, which then allowed me to be able to sit the bulkhead trim flush with the bulkhead. I was then able to fit the new door seal - A five minute job that took five hours.

Well that's the fun of owning an older car I suppose , what else are Sunday afternoons for ?

[matk]

Oh I know that feeling!!

[rogerch]

I've had that one, couldn't figure out why I was getting increasing engine noise, have you resealed the window yet?

[stevem]

Hi Roger

Yes I ran a bead of silicon sealant around the mating face/edge and then made a small 'clamp' from a strip of alluminium with a foam backing on it to hold the bottom corner into position. That wooden bulkhead sometimes is very handy to screw things too. The passenger side and top were OK, so I didn't completely remove it and start again.

What did you do with yours ? I also replaced the shredded rubber seal on the engine cover, so hopefully it will be quiter as well as keeping fumes out.

It's quite amusing that your car came off the production line a few weeks after mine, has lived the same sort of life, and has the same problems from month to month. Now that's what I call consistant quality control.

Edited May 31, 2010 by stevem