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MG MGA - Clark's Door Seals

Todd is very specific that the flange have a maximum thickness of .120" to .125".

Mine are wider than that particularly where the previous owner replaced the sills. It some cases up to .25"

I can't grind them down, they are spot welded and hold the thing.

Is Todd being over cautious or am I just screwed?
Tysen McCarthy

Tysen,
Are you talking about the width of the flange or the combined thickness of the sheet metal?
S Jackson

Original configuration has three layers of 18-gauge (0.048" thick) sheet metal at top of the door sill (0.144" total plus paint). This works okay as original.
barneymg

I think US and UK gauge numbers may be a bit different but I reckon that the original sheet metal was 19 gauge (0.40") But I found that replacement panels were a bit thinner than 19 gauge and most probably nowadays made from 1mm sheet.

Mike Moore

For some reason my full thread didn't upload. I'll try again:-
Mike Moore

......
Mike Moore

I'm referring to the combined thickness of the sheet metal. It's actually 0.027

Tysen McCarthy

...3 layers plus paint plus gaps!
Mike Ellsmore

Tyson
Just looking at the pic, it looks like your sill hasn't been fitted up nice and tight, and has a gap between it and the other two panels---I'd be tempted to go along with a good heavy pair of pliers and squeeze the panels up tight and that will get the bulk of it right with a few tight spots where the welds are------------which you could possibly flatten a bit with a hammer and dolly
The seal would probably fit ok as is
He would possibly send you a little sample piece to try if you ask--
willy
William Revit

Now my connection problem seems to be cured I was going to say that Todd's range of 0.120 - 0.125 seems to be spot on to me. With the metal thickness of 1mm, and you've probably got replacement panels, you should have a total thickness of 0.120".

If the flange thickness is close to 0.25" in places I think you will have great difficulty in getting the seals on. I tried to push a short length of Todd's seal onto a 1/4" plate and it was nigh on impossible.

Don't forget that the metal clip inside Todd's seal is mild steel and not spring steel and the gripping potential will be severely diminished if the clip is opened too much.

Bearing in mind the high cost of Todd's seals I wouldn't risk it without doing remedial work on your flange.

One way to reduce the thickness of the localized areas would be to use a hand held spot welder where the electrode pressure is quite high and at the high weld temperature the steel is like butter and would nicely compress the overall thickness..............................Mike
Mike Moore

This thread was discussed between 26/06/2017 and 28/06/2017

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