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MG MGA - Door fit

I am about to install the new inner sills and door post beams. I will put the body on the frame, and before tacking things in place I will hang the doors and the rear fenders and adjust the doorpost gap for good opening and closing. Should I be adding the door seals to this procedure, or can I just make a reasonable allowance for it. With a bare fit, the body edge where the seal clips over seems a long way from the door edge, at the top of the front pillar.
How close should the bare fit be, between the door bottom and the sill, vertically and horizontally?
Art Pearse

The door width (inside) is 29" and the opening is 29.75" (not counting the 4 degree opening slope on the B-pillar face) so centrally placed the door to post gap is 3/8".

The inside edge of the door bottom is 3/4" above the very bottom of the door skin and the rebate on the outer sill is 1/2" so the inside gap is meant to be 1/4" plus the outside bottom door gap. If this gap is 1/8" then the inside gap all around is 3/8".

If you are using Todd Clarke's furflex which is claimed to be identical to the original then its rubber lip extends 1.25" outwards in a horizontal direction from the upright flange(where the seal pushes on) towards the door. The width of the rubber section filling the inside door gap is 3/8" to 1/2" so just filling the space..............Mike
m.j. moore

Art, A correction. The rubber lip of the furflex extends 1.125" not 1.25"..............Mike
m.j. moore

m.j, I don't have any trim yet. My question was - should I have it in place when rebuilding the body? Sounds like a good idea.
Would you recommend the furflex from Todd Clarke?

Art Pearse

I smell another web page brewing.

The body flanges are supposed to be double layer 18-gauge steel, 0.048"x2 plus paint or about 0.1" thick. The furflex binding is nominally 0.5" wide as installed, or 0.2" either side of the body flange. The soft rubber seal is nominally 0.25" thick, and it will compress to 0.2" thick with door closed, if properly aligned. That is, the soft rubber compresses to same thickness as one side of the furflex, so the furflex touches the inner door trim panel when closed.

The trim panel measures 0.15" thick with the vinyl covering wrapped around the edges. So the gap between body flanges and steel door inner shell wants to be nominally 0.35" wide before installation of any trim. I would call the tolerance +/-.03", making the desired range of gap width 0.38"/0.32" (3/8" max. to 5/16" min. gap range) for a very snug seal. When in doubt, set it up to be on the wide side (up to 1/2"). You can squeeze it a bit by door adjustment after assembly if needed for better sealing.

See here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int108b.htm
http://clarkespares.com/doorseals.html
The Clarke Spares instructions calls for the gap (steel to steel) to be 1/2", and says it is common for the gap to be wider at the front. If you have irregular gap, then I'd say make the widest space no more than 1/2".

If you have more than two layers of sheet metal after body repair work, the furflex will stretch wider (up to 3 layers), but the side gap requirement is still the same. If you have non-standard aftermarket door seal, all bets are off. The seal I had installed in 1986 was too thick and interfered badly with closing of the door. The seal I got from Clarke Spares in 2001 (installed in 2006) is as original and perfect fit. I think Moss Motors sells the same seal as Clarke Spares now (just have to assemble it yourself).
Barney Gaylord

I attempted to fit the furflex as sold by Moss Motors and had the most frustrating experience of recent memory. (Keep in mind this is coming from a married man...) The fur has to be attached with clips to the neoprene seal and the whole assembly pushed onto the flange on the car. Perhaps a man with the patience of Job and superhuman skill could successfully assemble the two, but I am skeptical. It made me say my Sunday school lesson backwards!

I gave up and purchased the seals manufactured and sold by Todd Clarke. Wow! They came preassembled, and installed easily. It took maybe 10-15 minutes per door.

Todd uses a different metal skeleton inside the fur than is used in the other seals. I am sure he would send you a sample if you requested it. It FITS!

I know his seals cost more than the Moss type but they would still be a bargain at twice the price charged by Moss!

Don't consider anything other than Todd's product in this case.

Safety Fast!

JMG
John Greenlee

Very similar to the Clarke seals, and a great deal robuster and hugely cheaper are the seals from Bob West. Having had a set of the Clarke seals, I found that they are not particularly robust (the recovery guys finally trashed the one on the drivers side on my car after the prang that happened just before I met up with Dave Godwin in the Alps last year.

I couldn't justify the cost of another Clarke seal, so asked Bob what he had. I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality, they DO fit, and there is enough between the two lengths to also do my hard top


dominic clancy

I would also like to add my voice for the door seals sold by Todd Clarke. I have tried just about every variation of seal sold and never found a design that actually fit until Todd started marketing his. They work great!
Keith Lowman

I was looking at Todd Clarke's seal and I've drawn it out as a section fitted to the bottom flange (see pic.).

Not only should the fur contact the door inside when closed but the rubber should contact the underneath of the door. I measured the height of the rubber and it was only 3/8" which is what I believe the door bottom to sill gap should be. This doesn't give much allowance for variation so I guess the seal is meant to be fitted after the carpet so that the fur section doesn't bottom on the sill. The extra 1/4" for the carpet would make all the difference.........................Mike

m.j. moore

Thanks everyone for their input! I guess I have enough info on gaps now to defer the seal purchase, which depends on colour choice also.
Art
Art Pearse

This thread was discussed between 10/01/2011 and 11/01/2011

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