Morris Minor Owners Club

Due to repainting and water leaks I intend to fit new rubbers, front and rear.My question is this, should I rely soley on new rubbers sealing or should I use sealant as well. If I use sealant,should it be applied between rubber and body and rubber and glass as well.Also what sort of sealer.The car is a1969 2 door.
Any advise much appreciated,
Ian.

If you mean front and rear windscreens then most garages (and the Haynes manual) use some sort of sealant stuff (I forget what it is- if it's sealant at al).

Windscreen sealant is available in tubes for use in a mastic gun. Whenever I've had to renew rubbers (not often) I have only put sealant on the body/rubber side, as the glass is usually a good fit in the rubber and is tightened by the filler strip. This method has served me well, although not sure if it's text book procedure

when fitting the rear rubber be very caefull when pulling the string back out. it can pull and rip the rubber also you'll need at least two pairs of hands and patience. regular silicone is fine, bathroom stuff, and yes apply it wherever, in my view as much a possible cos that water always finds a way.

cheers, sb

regular silicone is fine, bathroom stuff, and yes apply it wherever, in my view as much a possible cos that water always finds a way.

Did not someone mention not to use that stuff on car bodywork because of the chemical make/up and only approved sealers should be used, but only if needed as I dont think they were always used on the rear screens (I am sure someone will know)

Hello all,
i would suggest that you go to a motor factors and ask for a tube of screen sealant. I wouldn't use silicone sealant.
good luck,
Alec

when fitting the rear rubber be very caefull when pulling the string back out. it can pull and rip the rubber also you'll need at least two pairs of hands and patience.

And use plastic string that won't break. Things were going OK on Rileys screen until the string broke The recovery involved using blutis instruments to hook the rubber past the steel but it left some marks in it.
lubricating the screen rubber with soap (like washing up liquid) probably makes it all go a lot easier. The downside is when you wash it off everything is wet so you need to wait for it to dry before using sealer.

if sealer is used i would imagine that it would need to be all around the rubber making a loop of sealer around the screen.

you can use siicone if it is neutral cure,(whats used on aircraft) the other stuff is corosive

lubricating the screen rubber with soap (like washing up liquid) probably makes it all go a lot easier.

What are windscreen rubbers made of? Cos I thought that latex rubber is degraded by detergents (washing-up liquid) if you dont get it all off, while soap is ok.

I'm not actually sure what they're made of, however there aren't many latex parts on cars, and windscreen rubbers need to be resistant to detergents!! (as you are meant to wash the car..)

Oh! Right-o. I've been in the habit of letting the mud stay on to help stop the salt-air getting in ;-)

It's probably no longer available but the BMC recommendation for sealing windscreens was "Seelastik" compound and for rubber lubrication, petroleum jelly.
It was always recommended that washing up liquid is never used on or around car paintwork (acidic?), whether this has changed, don't know. No doubt car bodywork cleaning detergent is o.k. to use as a lubricant though.

Petroleum jelly and any oils are disastrous for natural rubber! Keep them well away!

....Maybe windscreen rubbers are a synthetic petroleum-based material. I suppose that would make sense then..... anyone actually know?

My local garage fitted new rubber bushes on the front suspension and then gave them a good coat of grease. Will this harm the rubber?

Relfy wrote: Petroleum jelly and any oils are disastrous for natural rubber! Keep them well away!

....

I should have written "windscreen seal" not rubber It's in the BMC workshop manual. However, I wonder if the currently available seals are made of similar material though.

Suspension rubber bushes shouldn't be greased.

new rubber bushes on the front suspension and then gave them a good coat of grease.

Not if it was the right type of rubber grease was used rather than bearing grease