Thank you Cass. You also touched on another thought in the back of my mind - if I go to the trouble of a re-spray, do I really want to stick with maroon? It's not my favorite color and some shade of arrest-me-red would be my first choice but wouldn't go with my maroon interior. I'm debating a dark grey color but wonder about how the chrome would look against that. It's probably another topic for another day.

 

Opalescent Gunmetal looks absolutely stunning on these cars.

 

Tonight I moved to the left side rear door. To make removing the window winder handle and door pull handle easier, I made this tool out of a plastic trim tool.


If you slide it between the handle and escutcheon you have enough room to drift out the securing pin.


Here's where I need some help from the resident experts. I'm only about 60% sure I started installing the rear quarter vent window seal correctly. It has a T-slot that slips in the frame, and a lip that seals the vent window the frame. I have it so that when the window is closed, the lip will be resting against the inside edge of the window. What do we think is the right way?
I'm only 60% sure I'm doing it the right way because this seal came with the batch of other window channels I bought. I won't be surprised if someone tells me it has the wrong profile.


Now we get to the controversial part - the door seals. Plenty of sellers out there offer the door seals for about $200. I'm pretty sure the door seals on my car were replaced in the recent past, but they looked terrible. They were split in some areas and the rubber was extremely hard. I was of the opinion that a new set of door seals would be a gamble with regards to the quality of the rubber used and how long they would actually last.

Using a section of the old seal as a guide, I spent some time on the McMaster Carr website. I was able to find a closed-cell (so it would not absorb and hold moisture) EPDM foam that is resistant to weather, sunlight, and oxidation. It's very soft (only 4psi required to compress it 25%) so it will allow the door to shut while providing an effective seal. It comes out to about $2/linear foot so it's about 1/2 the price of the real door seals (although I specifically excluded price as a consideration). It has a rectangle profile which is a different profile from the original style seal so you won't win the concours with it, but I think it might be longer lasting. Here's the product I used.


Here's a good view of the closed cell foam. This is the left front door; I glued the foam in over the weekend but didn't get a chance to fully close the door until last night. I left the door closed for 24 hours and when I opened it tonight the foam uncompressed from the shut door.


This weekend I should have the left rear window channels, fuzzy strips, and door seals replaced.

 

Another color that would go with your interior is black but you need a perfect body.

 

For our climate I have found COH Baines seals to be excellent or locally produced. We make every seal & pedal pads etc. for a Mk2.

 

Maroon, grey, black, and maybe silver were the only colors I thought would match my maroon interior. White would match too but I don't like white cars - they always end up looking dirty.

And you're right about black - it shows every single flaw.

 

Gunmetal or to use its modern name lunar grey?

 

Tonight I finished working the rear vent window seal in place and after installing the window, I am pretty sure this is the correct orientation for the seal. The glass now touches the seal around the full perimeter of the vent window.

 

Dark Blue would be good too but similar problems as black.

 

Today I finished up the window channels, wipe strips, and door seals on the left side of the car. The toughest joint is the 90° bend near the back seat. I cut the seals on a 45° angle and glued them together using 3M trim glue on my workbench, then I glued them to the body.


I took the car down the highway with the windows up and there was no wind noise coming from the left side of the car. There was some whistling from the right side of the car but those doors are next on my to-do list. It's the little things that bring a lot of satisfaction.

 

We used Superglue (Cyanoacrylate) on all those joints. Works a treat. The perfect glue for door rubber joints.

 

That's a great tip! I just went out to the garage and tried it out and some spare pieces of foam that were laying around and it worked perfectly!

 

The 'gel' type that has more flexibility?

 

We used Loctite 60 Seconds that gives you slightly more working time. Yes it is more of a gel. My corners look as though they were moulded that way & no whitening which some Cyanoacrylates can cause. There are many Cyanoacrylates.

 

Pleased it worked for you. All my mitered joints look as though they were moulded that way.

 

Now I have a question for you Thomas or anybody else. What glue did you use to glue your rubbers into the painted channels? We used contact adhesive and all was fine at first. But a year later some are coming loose so contact is not the answer. I'm inclined to use Loctite 480 that I used to stick my chrome trim to the rear screen rubber that has held up perfectly where it sticks to the outside of the rubber body side. Goes into a channel in the rubber glass side. Reading tells me that this is a common problem with contact adhesive on door rubbers. It lets go.

EDIT: I have a theory about this. All rubber has oil in it or oily, waxy extracts & as they vacate the rubber (ages, perishes) the glue has nothing to hang on to. One needs to have a glue that breaks through this & hangs onto the substrate. We, as an oil industry, sell enough of it to the rubber manufacturers to sink a battleship.

 

I used 3m Black Super weatherstrip adhesive. Smear some on the seal, smear some in the channel, let it get tacky, then press them together.


The Tech sheet for Loctite 480 reads like it's CA glue on steroids. It sounds like a good choice.

 

See my EDIT above.

 

Thorensen
I repainted my MK1 few years ago with an Australian colour called GM Torana grey. It is not too light or too dark and sets off the red interior nicely.
Everyone who sees it remarks they love the colour.

Metallic grey MK1 2.4 man

 

There is no argument that the metallic greys look superb on these cars with red or maroon interior. That looks great Bill.

No doubt why Ian Callum selected grey. His car has new widened front fenders on it and has been semi de chromed..