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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Frogeye sidescreens

I am starting to refurbish my Frogeye sidescreens. Following advice in J E Davies' articles in Mascot. Ordered new seals, felt etc from A-H spares and it's all just arrived. But there is something wrong with the way the rubber seals are assembled. The broad bottom piece is glued the wrong way round on one piece. But which one is wrong? Photo 1, or Photo 2.




GuyW

I think photo 2 is the correct way round. I have to say the sidescreen rubbers leave a lot to be desired. I tried a few sets and they all were fairly poor quality
Bob Beaumont

In case its not obvious, the second photo shows the broad bottom seal with an extra bead running along the edge of the frame. I am guessing this is correct. That bead is on the inside of the other frame. And no, it cannot be flipped over or swapped side to side as this would put the rest of the seal the wrong way around.

I need to ring them about it, and send the faulty one back. I need to be sure I send back the right, wrong one!!

Not terribly happy with the order anyway. I ordered a "fixing kit" at £6.42 but assumed this didn't include the polished dome headed nuts as they were listed separately at £9.12 for 8. (so couldn't be included with the kit, could thy?)
Expensive but needed so I added them to the order, only to find on delivery that they are in the fixing kit anyway! And then to add, they send only 5 of the extra nuts that I dont need, and one of them is an odd size!

I don't often order from A H Spares, but on each of the last three occasions there has been a problem. Grumble over
GuyW

Thanks Bob. That confirms which one looks like it is correct. I would agree with your comment on quality. Apart from the fault, the corner joints are pretty roughly made and glued with the edges poorly aligned. I think the pieces are too long as well so at least one corner will need cutting and remaking which is to be expected I suppose. With the right glue (?), I think I can improve on their attempt.


Should the line of the seal at the front continue at the same angle where it abuts the broad lower seal? This doesn't, the broad one being cut at an apparently random angle which is pulling that corner inwards. Maybe that is intentional? The old seals were all missing so I have nothing to compare with.
GuyW

I too had trouble with sidescreen rubbers and felts from AH Spares. When I complained about the poor quality I got little more than a grumbling condescending response implying that I was wrong and that they couldn't possibly be. I haven't bought anything from them since.
Simon Wood

I haven't yet rung them as I was getting my facts straight here first, but am about to.
I ordered from them as the Mascot article says their felt is the right size (19 X 2.5mm), which it is. The rest of the order is wrong though.

I had previously ordered a gold arrow for the Sprite boot. The one that came was the wrong shade of gold and the paint surface was all blistered with patches of the gold flaking off through to bare metal. I shouldn't have had to, but it was less hassle to sand it down and repaint it as I wanted rather than sending it back and complaining.
GuyW

Well I got a polite and positive response. They are going to check their stocks and send me a replacement correct one for the driver's side. Not wanting the old one back. And refund on the surplus dome nuts if I return them. Not sure if that's worth the postage though!
GuyW

Guy

Yes the joint line should continue, however because the rubber is poor quality I think the pulling inward is to stop the lower rubber seal flapping about. I had an original set on the screen that were pinched. The lower seal was wider and there was a more pronounced point where the front and bottom joined.
Bob Beaumont

Sorry for string of questions but....
The inner side of the lower alloy channel has a taller upstand than the outer, which can be seen from the outside through the perspex window. Should this have something stuck to it? There is the remnants of something which I think is glue but nothing to suggest what should go on to finish it off.I

Also, if I end up needing to cut and glue the 'rubber' what do I use? Bike puncture kit repair glue perhaps? Anything better?
GuyW

I fitted new AH-Spares outer side-screen rubbers a couple of months ago.
One side was O.K. but the other had an excess of rubber. I cut it and
re-glued with Loctite 480.
Alan
Alan Anstead

Alan beat me to it, I'm not sure if what I used for bonding rubber was Loctite 480 but it sounds about the same stuff, a rubber toughened instant adhesive. I did try standard superglue for bonding the rubber but found it didn't work well, the rubber toughened stuff worked great.
David Billington

Thanks Alan, and David.
I take it then Alan that you didn't have problems with the side-screen rubbers supplied by AH Spares? Or at least you got a correct pair!

And the one with the bead along the broad seal at the bottom of the frame when viewed from the outside is correct? (as this photo)

GuyW

Guy

I am not aware of anything stuck to the inner alloy channel. I don't know if you have new perspex but the ones supplied are a shade thinner than original and the front screen tends to vibrate annoyingly. It appears the channel has indendations to secure it but the higher inner channel prevents getting in there. I ended up running clear adhesive in the slot and fixing it that way
Bob Beaumont

This thread was discussed on 16/10/2020

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