Boot seals that work on dodgy body shape.

[Dean]

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... ot#p406398

I have a boot leak.. (tell me something new you ask)

After taking advice from the thread above I looked inside my boot from the rear passenger compartment. I noticed that the boot seal does not touch the boot lid due to an apparent curve in the body work out of radius to the boot.

Looking at the picture below (boot seal removed), the area in between the arrows touches the boot lid, the remainer has about a 3/8" or 8mm gap.

The area that touches, when the seal is in place and the boot closed prevents the rest of the seal that side from creating a seal.

[frame][/frame]



Do you think I'd be better trying a non standard type seal or try/attempt to planish the offending curve away from the lid?

For example from the following link
http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.a ... tmentId=68


The seal I have in mind is the one labelled:
ETS59

the one I have fitted is the standard one labelled
ATMM1946

[mogbob]

Dean
Either way you are going to have to experiment.
1.Bodywork adjustment...considerations.Is the exterior boot fit " good ", if so , leave well alone.
If the bodywork needs to move outwards to make up the gap in places then ..using stiff cardboard ..does the bodywork curvature seem wrong, in the offending spots, compared to the rest of the " normal " curvature, i.e is it blantly out of shape ?
( previous damage ?)
If your panel beating skills are up for a challenge, then I would shape a decent lump of wood 12 " / 31 cm long to the curvature you require.Because it is fairly robust ( flange in the metal ) it will " need some wellie " with a club hammer I suggest, hammering from inside the boot.
Place a panel beating sand bag/old blanket with a plywood offcut... to lean against the exterior bodywork..to provide some resistance.A second pair of hands would be useful at this stage.If you don't do this, you might end up with some cracked paintwork.Mask the inside lip of the boot opening to protect the paintwork.Increase the power of the blows, checking frequently with the cardboard template you made earlier.You don't want to overcook the correction to the curvature.

2.Seals alternatives..See if, Seals Direct,will supply a small sample of the seals you think would do the trick, so you can experiment.Making up short sections of thicker rubber along a length is not as easy as making up a uniform gap,all the way along
mating surfaces.Their website has some useful hints under their Technical section.
Happy New Year
Bob

[Dean]

Thanks for the reply mogbob. After reading and thinking about planishing... the more it worries me to attempt this method.

The boot lid from the outside appears to fit very very well. I'm not even convinced it is previous damage, if it was, appearance wise it was repaired very well inside and out.


My first attempt will be to create a slit with a knife inside the existing seal to make it sit lower on the bodywork where the offending curve is. This may help to make the seal make contact with the boot, where currently it doesn't.

Another thought, is to get some kind of odd leg scriber, run it along the inside of the boot lid and scribe a line over the offending curve (in between the arrows). Perhaps consider grinding the top of the offending curve that the seal sits on, towards the scribed line. Would need to do bit at a time as I don't want the boot to catch the bottom of the water channel on the outside.

[kennatt]

are you sure its getting in past the seal,every boot leak iv'e had was through the boot fixings,hindge,number plate etc,I now always smear the back of all the bolts inside the boot with sealant even if the outer seals look ok..just looking at yours there seems to be a rust stains on the two bolts. I would try the sealant on all inside fixings before chopping the seal and frame about. May just cure it.