On Aldermog the original seal was a strip of self adhesive neoprene sheet about 3mm thick. Over time and 20,000 miles movement by the top of the side screen against the screen pillar had worn away the top of the seal on both sides, so that when going over rough roads the side screens rattled and banged noisily against the screen pillar.
I looked at a new Morgan delivered from the factory and noticed that it had an improved profiled rubber section, but I felt it would not be much better as it had no ability to adsorb the inevitable movement between side screen and windscreen pillar. The real problem is that the side screen mount is flexible so the side screen will always move and the windscreen pillar is solid, so a seal needs to be able to adsorb this movement and keep water out.
Another complication is that the way the side screens are made and fitted means no two are exactly the same and the gap between side screen and screen pillar varies as this photo shows:
First job was to make a template for the new seal, it looks like this!
Next I made a number of prototypes, first using a range of foam and neoprene strips: nothing worked well, 10mm foam worked in that it closed the gap but it is hard and it didn’t rally reduce the banging. Back to the drawing board! I new I needed some sort of soft tube seal but it had to fit along the narrow side screen frame. I found “Seals + Direct” on the web:
Seals + Direct and called. After some discussion with their very helpful customer services person I selected HHS 624, a self adhesive extrusion that has a foamed neoprene tube and wiper blade edge seal. It looks like this:
I cut out a new 5mm thick strip of memory foam, put a layer of masking tape on the outside face and temporarily fitted it so I could mark the edge of the side screen frame when the door was shut.
Next I cut another piece of 5mm foam so that it would fill the gap between side screen frame and screen pillar edge. Using carpet contact adhesive I stuck them together to make an “L” shape. This photo shows the glue stage. The masking tape remains from marking out the line for the filler strip and stops excess glue from going where the "P" section seal will sit.
I re-fitted the L section piece to the car and adjusted the fit, then cut a length of the “624 Seal” and fitted it in place.
Finally I cut a strip of the old neoprene strip to finish off the edge. Fitted it looks like this with the door open:
And it looks like this with the door shut.
This last photo shows all the bits you need to cut: a Stanley knife with a new and very sharp blade is needed, plus a pair of scissors and a can of spray contact adhesive.
So, does it work? A 120 mile round trip to “Williams” was all the evidence I needed: there is no noise or rattle from anywhere when driving over broken roads and bumps. Very occasionally a large pothole will cause the two Perspex sheets to bang against each other. But for the most part there is no noise at all from the side screens.
Is it waterproof? Don’t know yet, but it is draft proof, so I’m optimistic!
