Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: jjbunn on Tuesday,January 26, 2016, 05:43:55 PM
-
I have new door seals from Ray at R.D..
On a trial fitment, it's evident there is a problem: the doors wont shut with the seals in place, as they simply take up too much room. This is particularly evident at the leading edge of the door, near the hinges. Or do I have my door fitment off? I hope not, as I took *ages* getting the Banks hinges setup so that the doors would shut at all!
-
IIRC there are two different kinds, S1&S2 : Twink & Special, did you get the correct ones...? :confused:
-
IIRC there are two different kinds, S1&S2 : Twink & Special, did you get the correct ones...? :confused:
Yes, these are for the S2.
I've been looking at the Yahoo forum, and Steve Veris has complained about them in the past. They weren't cheap, either!
-
I still need to investigate mine further, it looks like a PO replaced them because they don't look like either type...Seems to seal okay though, so not real high on my priority list. :confused:
-
I have new door seals from Ray at R.D..
On a trial fitment, it's evident there is a problem: the doors wont shut with the seals in place, as they simply take up too much room. This is particularly evident at the leading edge of the door, near the hinges. Or do I have my door fitment off? I hope not, as I took *ages* getting the Banks hinges setup so that the doors would shut at all!
I have the same situation on my special...new from R&D and the doors wont close properly. The bulb portion appears to be too big. I have sourced "Woolies" for a smaller size but have yet to purchase. They are not cheap, seems a shame to drop more $$$ for a correct fit. ld
-
I have new door seals from Ray at R.D..
On a trial fitment, it's evident there is a problem: the doors wont shut with the seals in place, as they simply take up too much room. This is particularly evident at the leading edge of the door, near the hinges. Or do I have my door fitment off? I hope not, as I took *ages* getting the Banks hinges setup so that the doors would shut at all!
I have the same situation on my special...new from R&D and the doors wont close properly. The bulb portion appears to be too big. I have sourced "Woolies" for a smaller size but have yet to purchase. They are not cheap, seems a shame to drop more $$$ for a correct fit. ld
The RD seals I have have a large lip, rather than a bulb - perhaps what Ray sells is different for the special? And it's the lip's size that appears to be too big. I'm loath to start trimming it, as I know it will end up looking a mess :blowup:
-
They never fit properly or sealed properly from new.
-
When discussing cars like the Ariel Atom, Jay Leno likes to say it's the little things like windshield wipers and windows, etc. that are difficult. I think he really means doors. Judging from the Europa, getting doors to fit and not leak is the hard part. Expect them to leak a little. When mine was new, I remember that you could actually see an air gap between the door and the seal.
As to why your seal seems too big... I can only guess that Ray got the closest thing to the original but because it was so long ago, they may not be as close as we might hope. To really fit it, you may have to readjust your door. IIRC, I got my seals from Ray many years ago. They looked just like the original to me but then, when I installed them, I was starting from scratch hanging the doors - not with doors already installed.
You might give Ray a call and tell him the problem you're having. He may know the problem and have a solution.
-
Having ordered and received 'correct' seals from Lotus suppliers that didn't fit, I ordered a one foot section from the seals that I thought would work best from the McMaster-Carr selection. We are lucky that we don't need to source fuzzy seals, the cost is much higher and the selection far more limited.
Here is the link to the seals.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#bulb-seals/=10xt6y5
They will come individually packaged. My recommendation is to only take one out at a time, or carefully tag them with the part number...
Dean
-
Having ordered and received 'correct' seals from Lotus suppliers that didn't fit, I ordered a one foot section from the seals that I thought would work best from the McMaster-Carr selection. We are lucky that we don't need to source fuzzy seals, the cost is much higher and the selection far more limited.
Here is the link to the seals.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#bulb-seals/=10xt6y5
They will come individually packaged. My recommendation is to only take one out at a time, or carefully tag them with the part number...
Dean
Did you ever decide on which style/dimensions of bulb seals worked best? I sell fuzzy bulb seals for Ferrari Testarossa and Boxer......but.........Was too large to allow closing of doors on the S2..............a shame since I have yards of cut offs that are long enough for Lotus....
Looking forward to your response.
Looking Me
-
I just ordered some different seals, which will arrive this week - I'll update here on how they fit.
-
A good thread. Be interested what different seal work best for every one. Am about to look at what to buy. I do have the original seals from new so will post here dimensions. But I will say they seem too thick to me! I was even thinking of different seals on different parts of the door closure.
Dave
-
I bought the RD ones for my TC some years back and wound up cutting pieces off all over the place so I could get my doors to shut and somewhat adjusted. According to Ray they would compress over time. Problem with that was I couldn't figure door adjustment without being able to close door normally or as normal as a Europa gets. If starting with doors in place and "adjusted" maybe could shut them with a good running start. I keep threatening myself that I would buy new and start over someday
Eddie Zuskin
72 TC
-
If anyone can get me the "correct" OEM dimensions I may be able to source these from a supplier in Europe. Even ball park dimensions and would prefer a drawing or pix of the shape/contours.
I have been supplying to Ferrari Testarossa owners for years a 98% on the money duplicate for the now unavailabe or if found $600+ per door seals for much, much less.... If I have some measurements I will start sourcing and get examples and try to find the best match, THAT LETS THE DOOR CLOSE CORRECTLY AND SEAL!!! I am about to need a few sets myself for Europa builds that I am in the midst of. Both cars I have came with NO seals....
My direct email is 16Ltoy@msn.com
I think I can help if I get some "clues"....even a used portion of a seal will suffice.
Kerry
-
Anyone here:
1. Own a Europa?
2. Have a camera or cell phone with a camera?
3. Seals that are either proper/used/perfect?
4. A ruler or tape measure?
5. 15 minutes to snap a pix and take a measurement?
6. Post the results?
If so, we can solve this seal problem and ALL have happy doors!!
Just suggesting Me
-
Anyone here:
1. Own a Europa?
2. Have a camera or cell phone with a camera?
3. Seals that are either proper/used/perfect?
4. A ruler or tape measure?
5. 15 minutes to snap a pix and take a measurement?
6. Post the results?
If so, we can solve this seal problem and ALL have happy doors!!
My S2 has very good sealing doors. I'll try to get some pictures and details later on today.
On another note, there was a similar discussion on the Yahoo list and this vendor was mentioned as having the correct seals.
http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Lotus-Europa
Just suggesting Me
-
I have no seals.
I am away on business for the next few weeks, so no car available.
So even though I have a camera and tape measure in hand......I have NO car or seals.....
Just have many free hours to source and search and call merchants to see if they have a quality substitute.
Asking for info that's all, just trying to help, my bad....
Just trying to help ME....WTF
-
As I posted before, I got my seals a long time ago and I suspect they came from r.d., though they could have come from Dave Bean or Richard - those were the major sources of Lotus parts for my car.
My doors close but as John mentioned earlier, they don't seal very well. I suspect that the passenger door could be adjusted much better, but the driver's door looks very good to me and it doesn't seal that much better than the passenger door.
I've attached some pictures of the door seal I had left over. The part that clamps on the door "frame" is covered in a cloth. The "thickness" - measured along the cloth side of the entire seal is about 0.6". If you measure from the cloth side to the edge of the "seal" it is roughly 0.8" or 0.9" (in the first picture, the 0.6" is measured roughly vertically and the 0.9" is measured roughly horizontally.
In case they are different, these are for my TCS.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
-
BDA comes through!!
BDA and myself just has a nice telephone chat and I now have, I hope, enough info and pix to make this happen...
Standby for a proper seal...I hope!
I see seals in my future Me
-
I have bought several sets from Banks Europa.
Provided the carpet is held to the door sills with wide tape, the rubber seals go on with tapping from the handle of a hammer.
All you have to do is cut a 45' angle x 2 for the top square corner for a good fit.
Alex in Norfolk.
-
I have bought several sets from Banks Europa.
Provided the carpet is held to the door sills with wide tape, the rubber seals go on with tapping from the handle of a hammer.
All you have to do is cut a 45' angle x 2 for the top square corner for a good fit.
Alex in Norfolk.
Alex, they seal properly? The doors close well without applying undue pressure to compress the seals?
If that's the case then Bank's is a no brainer.............Only one problem.....
I've called trans-atlantic twice, sent 4 requests for parts with a list ($3000-4000 USD total) in the past 30 days and have yet to get any response........say they are busy preparing and campaigning a race car. Looks like they have lots of what I need just don't have the time to gather, quote pricing, bill me, get paid and ship it...
Thanks for the insight....if I could only get them to sell me some!!
Still waiting Me
-
You are not going to find, or make, a seal that will fit all Europas perfectly. Some Europas were tight and leak free, some were so bad they finished their days as colanders in Italian restaurants. Adjust your doors to fit as best as possible without any seals installed. Then examine things carefully and choose the seal, or combination there of, that suits your gaps.
-
I think Joji's reply above got buggered up. I think it should have looked like this-
Anyone here:
1. Own a Europa?
2. Have a camera or cell phone with a camera?
3. Seals that are either proper/used/perfect?
4. A ruler or tape measure?
5. 15 minutes to snap a pix and take a measurement?
6. Post the results?
If so, we can solve this seal problem and ALL have happy doors!!
Just suggesting Me
My S2 has very good sealing doors. I'll try to get some pictures and details later on today.
On another note, there was a similar discussion on the Yahoo list and this vendor was mentioned as having the correct seals.
http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Lotus-Europa
-
You are not going to find, or make, a seal that will fit all Europas perfectly. Some Europas were tight and leak free, some were so bad they finished their days as colanders in Italian restaurants. Adjust your doors to fit as best as possible without any seals installed. Then examine things carefully and choose the seal, or combination there of, that suits your gaps.
Thanks for the enthusiasm and encouragement......................??
Shaking my head in disbelief Me
-
[/quote]
My S2 has very good sealing doors. I'll try to get some pictures and details later on today.
On another note, there was a similar discussion on the Yahoo list and this vendor was mentioned as having the correct seals.
http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Lotus-Europa
[/quote]
[/quote]
Thanks for the positive interest JJ
For some reason I can not access the yahoo group.........
No yahoo fo ME
-
For some reason I can not access the yahoo group.........
No yahoo fo ME
If you can't get onto Yahoo then try the knowledgebase which is a database of all the Europa Group posts.
It looks dated but works very well, just put in "door seals" as the subject and you'll get a page full of hits. If you've not used it before, the interface works a bit like the "frames" of old, you hit the topic on the LHS and the content comes up in the RHS frame. Usually you get so many hits with only a few being relevant today, but with a bit of time you'll get a comprehensive view of how a topic has evolved.
http://lotus-europa.com/ekb.html (http://lotus-europa.com/ekb.html)
-
Can I just say that the Banks replacements seem as good as the originals were when they left the factory.
-
Can I just say that the Banks replacements seem as good as the originals were when they left the factory.
as bad as that eh ? :)
Edit to add..... I wasn't aware there was anything special about the door seals apart from the originals had a nice sharp corner at the top of the door frame. If anyone in the UK is looking for seals, I found this place to have the best online catalogue;
http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=68 (http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=68)
Door seals are quite a bit down the page, lots of options to choose from.
-
I bought some of these: http://www.amazon.com/Trim-Lok-3100B3X1-4A-25-Aluminum-Diameter/dp/B00NL40XTK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 which arrived this week and I just tried fitting.
They fit quite nicely: I can actually shut the doors with them in place! However, I think the bulb could do with being a bit larger - it is 3/8" in diameter - as I can see some gaps around parts of the door opening. This may be partly due to my poor skills with getting the Banks door hinges aligned properly. The seals cost about $30 for a 25ft length, which is plenty to do both doors.
-
Those gaps may not be your fault. I remember when my car was new, you could see through a gap in at least one door. At that price, you could try the next larger bulb.
-
i have only test fit the door seals i have received, as i'm not "there" yet.
in my case the flap seal (s2 door) seems to fit and seal well. the bulb style was way to bulky for the door to get anywhere near closing.
perhaps the bulb style is for later models? seems way to thick up front.
(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/rascott_2008/IMG_0161_1.jpg) (http://s301.photobucket.com/user/rascott_2008/media/IMG_0161_1.jpg.html)
my basket case came with used bulb style door seals(not installed and in poor condition), but they didn't fit and i'm no longer surprised.
now i'm surprised when any of my "spares" are even lotus.
-
BDA comes through!!
BDA and myself just has a nice telephone chat and I now have, I hope, enough info and pix to make this happen...
Standby for a proper seal...I hope!
I see seals in my future Me
Did you end up finding a seal that you are happy with? Cheers, John
-
Not as of today....I' m being very particular.... So far, not so good.... I have some samples(supposedly) on the way from a source in UK....
No seal of approval Me