Dave Wellings on Screen Frame & Side Screen 'Weatherproofing'
This subject has appeared in one or two threads recently, and more details have come to light.
I made a start this week on the frame uprights.
This is how the uprights look from the factory (2005 spec).
The 'grey strip' appears to be 3mm neoprene.
Note also that my dashboard leather is not like polished PVC.....
It's a trick of the light, honestly, wink.
My latest roll of HD Polyethylene has a chamfered edge, which makes it suitable for an external water deflector........
This is how the two pieces looked cut to shape:
So with some deft use of heavy duty Bostik........
From the outside, it looks like this:
From the top, and this shows how the rake of the screen doesn't match the side screens.
(If it did, the hood would be too long!!!!)
Other side:
More will follow..........
I will be adding 'top seals' as discussed on Robbie's new car thread, and I might finally get on with some side screen seals over the weekend.
Tonight I had plans which were thwarted when it took absolutely ages to cut the two screen-frame-top-neoprene-patches to the right shape.
I've used 4mm standard density neoprene, but it's a fiddly shape, and even a new Stanley knife blade wasn't good enough because the neoprene is very soft and this makes accurate cutting very hard.
In the end I roughed it up with the Stanley, then trimmed with scissors and finished off with 240grit wet'n'dry!!!!!!
Actually MrsW's hairdressing scissors would be great for this, but I value my nuts too much to touch them.
First, here's Mr Stanley taking off a small strip of surplus seal which is in the way.
This is a masking tape pattern laid on the neoprene, before I discovered it was Mission Impossible.........
But after an hour and a half..........
(I made five to get two)
The side screen / door seals must now wait until 'tomorrow'
More to follow >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, due to other priorities, I've yet to do the sidescreen seals, but put the hood up on Sunday to test the fit of the top seals on the pillars.
They work pretty well.
This picture shows how the header rail nips the top seal, and fits quite well with the recently added water deflector strip.
If you have the latest factory hood you can compare the original set up with this.
This picture shows the inner hood flap in place.
There's still scope for water to get in at speed, but I might give this small 'gap' in the defences more thought on Saturday.
Tonight I've had a go.
As you might imagine I have a mohair scrap 'box'.
I also have a neoprene scrap box and a stainless/aluminium scrap box.
This is because I never throw anything away that might possibly have a future use.....................
Here's the container of mohair offcuts, from the spring gaiters:
I wondered if the triangles would be the right shape?
It turns out that once again, fate has provided a simple fix.
Heavy duty Bostik is my glue of choice for 'mohair'.
Only the front half is glued. Compare this view to that earlier in this thread.
When the door is closed, the side screen frame just holds the corner.
In wet weather it may be better if this was left to overlap the side screen - only time will tell.
Next the lower seals............
There was an element of trial & error in this next part.
The gaps in the side screens are around the two uprights, so two neoprene fillers are needed.
I wanted a round profile on top, so the first step was to roll the edge of a piece of neoprene and stick with superglue.
Next I trimmed to size, before the trial & error fitting process.
The trick is to keep the top edge well down, so it's not obtrusive, but to avoid spacing the screen from the door.
The lower edges are curved to fit the padding inside the trim.
It's held with double sided tape to avoid damaging the side screen.
I used 4mm standard density, which is thick enough to fill the gap but soft enough not to alter the position relative to the door.
The rolled top edge adds more thickness, but just along the top edge.
Front offside.......
Rear offside.......
Front fitted.......
Rear fitted.......
And the full door.......
This turned out to be very simple, but I would like to make a better job, even though you can't see the rough edges.
So, I will probably go for a mark 2 fix, and make up a symmetrical set.
More to follow >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Another idea hit me over the weekend.
The rear sliding portion of the sidescreen has a narrow trough in front of it, into which the front plastic window is secured with clear silicon sealant.
Closer look - difficult to show clearly.......
COH Baines sell angle neoprene (L shaped with one leg thicker than the other) - reference IRS0822EP at £1.06 per metre......
They have an online catalogue and this product can be found on page 38.
It is listed as a Stock Item (*) but you will need to make contact with them. A metre is all that you will need. -
The thick end slots in the trough and the thin leg fits close to the sliding window.
This means that when it's wet, much less water can get in that slot.
I've fixed it at each end with double sided tape.
Although the tape doesn't stick well to the neoprene (due to the waxy release agent I suppose) - it helps to hold the seal in the trough.
Just a small piece at each end.
Close up with flash (sorry about that dust........)
The only tricky bit is that there was some silicon residue at the fixed window end which took some shifting so the seal could fit properly.
But this is a nice and easy quick cheap fix.
And one day it will get wet again.......
And one day it will get wet again.......
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