Rubber seal loose at top of driver's door glass

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:52 pm

The rubber seal has fallen off the chrome rail on the soft top where it meets the top of the driver's door glass. Various attempts to just re-seat it on the rail have failed so it looks as if it needs some kind of adhesive. What kind?

geofiz · Postby **geofiz** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:33 pm

These can be a pain to re-install properly, but no adhesive is required. I use a small plastic spatula to gently prise the lip of the rubber seal into the recess in the chrome strips. It takes a bit to get right.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:27 am

geofiz wrote:These can be a pain to re-install properly, but no adhesive is required. I use a small plastic spatula to gently prise the lip of the rubber seal into the recess in the chrome strips. It takes a bit to get right.

Thanks. I'll have a go. Any more of a definition of a small plastic spatula?

geofiz · Postby **geofiz** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:33 am

Probably more of a putty knife than a spatula. Bought a set of three from Bunnings a while ago. Great for removing trim / clips from inside the car without damaging the vinyl / plastic trim.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:11 am

insofar as aids for many automotive jobs are concerned these are now legion. In "the day" so many items had to be made out of scrap. The last place I look is Bunnings-its not automotive oriented. Try all the auto shops SCA Autobarn Repco Bursons and then bearing suppliers and tool shops.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:10 pm

This starts to look like something I could get badly enough wrong that I'll just take it to an expert.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:44 pm

Well, I cheated by gently removing the whole seal so I could see how it fits on the rail. Then removed 2 screws from the back of the rail which released the whole of that part of the seal assembly. Now that I could see the shape of the channel, with a bit of a fiddle I was then able to push the long rubber part back into the chrome rail leaving only the front end to be persuaded into the gutter with a bit of thumbnail action. Refix the screws on the end plate and all done. Except I also took the opportunity to go round all of the rubbers with the same thumbnail action. They were getting near to coming off in several places so I might recommend a bit of thumbage as preventative maintenance every couple of years.