MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MG Y Type - Door Seals

Have just fitted new door seals sourced from NTG. These are effective at keeping out drafts, wet and rattles but the doors now need a hefty bang (which I hate) even when the striker plates are at full adjustment. This is presumably due to hard rubber and or larger than original. Would be grateful to know whether anyone has found a better alternative
Regards
Geoffrey
G H Wilson

This is what happened to me - the seals are just too large and thick in section to work properly and you would be better using the old ones if you still have them. I believe the same seal was fitted to other cars (Morris) so it may be possible to dig some out, but unlikely. You could try a sponge seal and stick it to the inside door edge and do away with the seal. I did this is places but its not satsfactory - really the available section is not suitable in my opinion.
David Mullen

From my own recent investigations into replacing my own door seals I have been told by a company specializing in rubber seals that for the correct profile of door seal to be specially made would cost in the region of £4,500 for the minimum amount of 1000 Metres length. This would fit 100 YA/YB type cars costing the Y owner £45 each.
I would be prepared to do more research if sufficient numbers show an interest and a bulk order could be placed.

Dave Mullen also mentions that he thinks the Morris used the same seals, can anybody confirm this or maybe with investigation a joint venture with the Morris Owners Club could make this option more viable on the basis of economies of scale.

Regards

Richard Knight
Richard Knight

Richard

COntact Woolies at +44 (0)1778 347347 and ask them what product they recommend for use on the door seals of the MG Y Series - they show a Y (DFB 777) on the front of their catalogue so hopefully are able to supply something to fit.

When you call them, be ready with the measurements of your existing seal - tongue length and the width and depth of the T section that goes into the holding channel around the door.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Thanks for helpful comments. Would certainly be prepared to place order for seals from new tooling but prospects of getting 100 participants may not be too good.
Have contacted Woolies but they can't advise without exact dimensions which I don't at present have because original rotten seals are with my trimmer friends and am trying to establish whether any still exist.
However my trimmer friend thinks it highly unlikely the original size will be obtainable and suggests the only solution is to cut and remove the thick part from the NTG seals. Sounds a bit drastic but with care that might provide a solution. So am thinking of trying that with one door - if unsuccessful it would not be difficult to reinstate with another NTG seal.
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Forgot to mention have emailed Morris Register in case they have supply source - no reply so far.
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Have now had a reply from the Morris Register who suggested that Vintage Car Supplies (www.vintagesupplies.com) may be able to help. This is Paul Beck from whom I've often bought items in the past. Rang them (00-44-1692-650455) and unsurprisingly got the same answer as Woolies - send a small sample and they'll see if they can match.
Am still waiting to see whether my trimmer friend has still got any of the original seals (which were in poor condition) so am currently unable to pursue it further with either Woolies or Paul Beck. May well land up cutting the NTG seal to see whether that solves the problem.
In the meantime thanks for all the advice
Regards,
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Have now had a reply from the Morris Register who suggested that Vintage Car Supplies (www.vintagesupplies.com) may be able to help. This is Paul Beck from whom I've often bought items in the past. Rang them (00-44-1692-650455) and unsurprisingly got the same answer as Woolies - send a small sample and they'll see if they can match.
Am still waiting to see whether my trimmer friend has still got any of the original seals (which were in poor condition) so am currently unable to pursue it further with either Woolies or Paul Beck. May well land up cutting the NTG seal to see whether that solves the problem.
In the meantime thanks for all the advice
Regards,
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Geoffrey

You might want to try www.macgregorukcarparts.com. He has a lot of stuff that is not listed on his web site.

HTH

Larry
49YT
Larry Hallanger

I may be wrong but the Morris 8 series E is supposed to have the same door seal. If anyone needs a small sample of original Y door seal I have a bit somewhere.
David Mullen

Thanks for further helpful comments - will follow up further leads. Would very much like to take up David Mullen's kind offer of a small bit of original seal. If David would kindly email me his address will send SAE
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Please e mail me with your address and I will post the sample to you.E mail now posted with this latest comment. No charge/SAE at all for this.
David Mullen

David Mullen,

If you have a small sample of original seal to spare I would be grateful in a piece as I have some spare seal which looks original but can't be 100% sure.

Regards

Richard Knight
Richard Knight

Thanks to David Mullen who kindly supplied me a small sample of the original seals (which I no longer had) have been able to make a little more progress.
Have obtained from Woolies and Vintage Supplies their nearest profiles (numbered respectively R40 and R679 for Woolies and RM6 for Vintage Supplies). All these are significantly wider than the original which is about 16mm whereas they are all over 20mm.
So I provisionally concluded that I would have to cut back the NTG ones now fitted (which are also over 20mm) and my trimmer friend kindly offered to do this with a scalpel as its quite tricky.
However I thought it worth checking first whether NTG themselves were aware of the problem and had any solution. It transpires that there is a mistake in the current (18th) edition of their catalogue which lists (on page 27) R313 as seals for both door and windscreen. It should read R313 for windscreen and R481 for door. The latter is apparently a new item and significantly smaller than R313. They offered to take back the R313 seals I originally bought from them and replace them with R481 but I asked them to send me a small sample first so I can compare with the original.
Will advise when in a position to make this comparison.
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Good job!

Look forward to more news on this!

Paul
Paul Barrow

Success at last! Have now received sample from NTG of profile R481. It is almost identical with the original, not too thick and quite different from all the others I've so far seen on offer. So I've ordered enough to redo all four doors and hope they will then shut without a bang.
Thanks to everyone for helping with the search
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Just a cautionary word to anyone thinking that NTG's new R481 door seal will solve all door-shutting problems. My trimmer friend thinks that in the case of my YB a contributory or even main cause of the problem may not be the door seals but the fabric covered beading round the door frame. He thinks the rubber section inside this may be too thick and the solution may be to undo the fabric covering and trim back the rubber section with a scalpel.
Am awaiting delivery of R481 seals and will then change those over and check the result. If its not a complete solution then we'll attack the fabric covered beading with that scalpel.
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

What are you using for draught seal? The proper stuff is available from Woolies (see the note on the Links page at www.mgytypes.org for Woolies). Because this is new it is a little springier than the old stuff you will be replacing it with and the door catches may have to be on their most outward adjustment while it "settles in".

Paul
Paul Barrow

Hi Paul,
Thanks, Yes am using the proper stuff and its quite possible it just needs to bed in. And its my trimmer friend who thinks that could be part of the problem whereas I'm hopeful NTG's new R481 profile will solve it.
Regards
Geoffrey
G H Wilson

Geoff

Just a thought but in case you wanted to get the proper hidem banding bobble lace material for the head liner - check out Mike Collingwood's entry on the Links page and the correct rubber trim is also available to fit this to from Paul Beck (part number RM68) seeing as how you sound as if you are wanting to do a proper job.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Dear Paul,
Thanks for further input. We've already got the correct lace stuff and what is supposed to be the correct rubber interior. It certainly looks very nice and it remains to be seen whether its hampering door shutting or not. But we should soon know.
Regards
Geoffrey
G H Wilson

Geoffrey

The stuff I was referring to is for the headliner not for around the doors - that is available from Woolies as stated earlier. Just in case there is any confusion.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Hi Paul,
Sorry I was confused. Roof lining lace all in place and super
Regards,
Geoffrey
G H Wilson

Geoffrey

Did the new profile R481 from NTG work on the door seals?

Paul
Paul Barrow

New twist on door seals-you can soften up the rubber by applying Dow Corning #55 O Ring Lubricant. It will soften by 3-5% and more easily conform. It will also prevent door seals from freezing to the openings after wet/freeze winter conditions. Its design purpose is to swell static O Rings to enable increased sealing ability.
As always, go to www.dowcorning.com and request a free sample, which will be enough to do several cars.
scott barrow

Humble apologies for failure to answer Paul's question as to how well NTG's R 481 door seals worked. Reason is there was yet another twist in this saga.
When I came to compare the new R481 section with the old NTG one fitted months before I found they were identical despite the fact that NTG had recognized a mistake in their catalogue which resulted in people ordering a different part number. So it was now clear that I already had the correct new-type seals and there was no point in changing over so I returned the extra set.
As a result it is clear that my trimmer friend was right and the problem is not the door seals but the fabric-covered rubber round the door openings which is too fat and/or too stiff. This is now evident because after some months the doors are beginning to shut better but the fabric-covered rubber is pressed flatter in some places, indicating too much pressure there. So his solution of cutting with a scalpel and trimming away the excess rubber looks the answer- and perhaps it may pay to apply some Dow Corning lubricant (grateful for that suggestion too).
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

Why not adjust the door gap - you can do this by inserting a piece of clean wood betwen the door and the frame and closing the door over against it. Works OK most times. I can appreciate not wanting to do this though.
David Mullen

I have been following this tread with some interest as my NTG door seals from about 1998 do not work well and was hopping for a solution. Looks like they still do not get it. Terry
Terry O'Brien

Just a final report on this subject. My trimmer friend has now cut back the fabric-covered rubber round the doors which now close somewhat better. The rubber there and in the door seals is he reckons harder than the original which probably accounts for a good deal of the problem. I believe mine is now as good as we can get and I should'nt make comparisons with the Talbot saloon I owned until recently whose doors closed with a satisfying soft clunk - but its not fair to compare a coach-built body with one derived from a Series E.
Thanks to everyone again for helpful advice.
Regards
Geoffrey Wilson
G H Wilson

This thread was discussed between 20/05/2007 and 10/08/2007

MG MG Y Type index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MG Y Type BBS now