Door window frame rubber seal ?

[tonyp]

Hi all, this is going to sound really dumb !

My 84 S3, in lovely & original condition has just the usual black metal door window frame. U shape alli or something. No probs there. Just seen little brothers newly bought 83 S3 - His has a rubber seal in / on the frame. Thus with door shut this fills the gap twixt door & body.

Don't see many of these cars about (well, never up here) so which is right ? (Cant see part on SJ spares list).

Thanks, have a great easter

[Simon350S]

Hi Tony

It is on SJ's parts list but is listed under mods

Secondary door seal

Happy to help

Simon

[Goose]

And in the parts manual...

[peteyg]

Hi Tony,

I got mine from www.woolies-trim.co.uk. You can buy it by the metre. All you have to do is cut the ends at 45 degree angles to make a nice fit on the corner of the frame then stick it in with a bit of araldite - really keeps out a lot of wind noise!

Pete

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I've bought them from SJ too - Still ahven't got around to fitting them!

The Stephens cars seem to have them pretty much as standard. I too am hoping it will help 'fill' the door shut a bit better.

I also need to fix a new door seal itself to the driver's side - Troy - araldite again?

What's this 'tigerseal' stuff?

Would I regret using araldite at some point in the future??! (eg if they ever needed to come off for whatever reason?)

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Ok... Update - I have done the Outer Seals - I just used dobs of fast setting 1 hour Araldite at a dozen key points on the frame.

I had to make sure I checked the rubber from both sides of the door as it had a tendency to only go in properly on one side and stisk up a bit on the other unless I was careful.

(It would appear I don't actually have the door seal itself after all - I was so sure I had ordered one! )

Here are a bunch of before and afters and the product code itself

As you can see... It's not 100% but it certainly helps

[Loose Cannon]

Robin

Your secondary seals look just like mine, ie. they barely meet the roofline and don't meet the B pillar at all . To my mind the profile needs to be much bigger, or needs a third seal around the body side of the window aperture.

I get a shitload of wind noise at this point, mind you not helped by the main seals which seem to have gone all mushy and flat. If I can ever remember to source replacements I will go the Woolies route and see if theirs are better quality than Lotus.

[tonyp]

Great stuff, thanks all, Will order now that I have a name for them.

All thats left now is fix that dratted rattle !

[Jussi]

Looks good Fishy

Do those seals affect on closing the doors? I have a bit stiff door the shut properly (sometimes need quite heavily shutting). My car is also missing those seals and it definitely looks better with them, so it may be the time to order them...

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I can safely say they have absolutely NO effect on the shutting of the doors whatsoever! The gaps aren't good enough for the rubber to have any impact! lol

It deifinitely looks better though as it fill up a lot of that gap.

I haven't had the opportunity to DRIVE it yet to see if it affects wind noise (insurance miles have run out and the new policy doesn't take over until friday!)

Tony - You just have to accept the rattles into your life! Or go insane trying to track them down! ;-)

[Guest Troy Halliday]

I did the same as Fishy it improved the finish of the doors dramaticaly. As for wind noise I can't comment as I never drove it before. I will be looking for some larger profile door rubber though what I have seems a tad on the small size. But I was quite impressed at the lack of wind noise on a car of this age, and a fibreglass car to boot.

I would say just on looks alone it is worth doing. I glued mine on with impact adhesive though mainly because it remains rubbery.

[ElTel]

I fitted the secondary door seals about 6 months ago to see if it would reduce the huge wind noise from the top LH corner of the drivers door over about 70mph. Sadly there was little difference - however the wind noise from he door seals reduce dramatically if you drive fast with the sunroof open!

[Guest Troy Halliday]

With the what open

Whats one of them then

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Bugger!

If only we'd known in time...

The donor body shell for my crash repair had a sunroof - you could have cut it out and had that

[Paul C]

I fitted the secondary door seals about 6 months ago to see if it would reduce the huge wind noise from the top LH corner of the drivers door over about 70mph. Sadly there was little difference - however the wind noise from he door seals reduce dramatically if you drive fast with the sunroof open!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you power the drivers window down, the gap

seals and the wind stops, cabin pressure i think...

[wern]

Hi Pete,what is the product code from woolies trim?Always looking for ways of spending more money!But this does look like a good idea.

Cheers Paul 84T. (slightly deaf in the right ear!)

[nicksoldies]

Stephens cars have a different air extraction system to G cars. They have vents in the doors to let the air out. This stops the pressure build up that causes the noise. The G cars extraction was not efficient enough, the increase in cabin pressure forces the door frames seals open. The later cars also have steel frames instead of alloy and this doesn't flex so easily. Maybe you could modify your G's to the Stephens design. I can't see why you couldn't fit the steel frames and the door vents don't look to hard to do.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Whereabouts are these 'vents' situated?

[nicksoldies]

This image tells it all

[tonyp]

Got my secondary seals today, courtesy of SJ, yippee. I must admit that wind noise is not a particular problem on my car, its surprisingly quiet and comfortable. but maybe I just don't drive quick enough - although I normally have the window part open, a) to hear the engine noise & B) because I haven't fixed the water valve control to completely shut the warm air off...

[peteyg]

Hi Pete,what is the product code from woolies trim?Always looking for ways of spending more money!But  this does look like a good idea.

Cheers Paul 84T. (slightly deaf in the right ear!)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Paul,

SRS4 -

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Report:

I have today, finally, taken it for a good old drive and it has made quite a sgnificant difference to the amount of wind noise on my car

[wern]

Thanks for the info Pete,

Paul.

[Jimmy]

Hi Pete,

            Can you send the part number for the Woolies Seal please?

 

Thanks

[peteyg]

@Jimmy

Hi Jimmy,

SRS4 is the product code that I used and fitted nicely on my car.

Pete