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Canopy seals

Brett Proctor

Well-known member
OK the adhesive was just delivered.
I got one question
How does the seal go on. See I knew I would need pictures or instructions to install this*laugh*
I assume the flat section goes against the fiberglass but what about the lip?? which direction does it go in

Tubes are small. only 3.5oz I'll probably need more if this works
 

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Brett Proctor

Well-known member
The UK seals are the OEM style that are shaped like a large-ish 7, with a flap:

There is no way this seal looks like a "7"
To get it to look like it is in the picture I would have to install it like this
PC090002c.jpg
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
And I think that's what Alex did (in that photo). Applied a great heap of sealant and set the piece where he wanted. The triangular "stretchers" are also glued in place. But to answer the question, the wide flat goes underneath the lip, not on the side you have it pointing to. Flip it over where your forefinger is, and allow the flap to extend out just a hair past the edge of the canopy. I'll try to get a photo of mine tomorrow if I can get to the garage through the coming snow...

Oh-oh! I found a shot of my first car and you can make out the seal in the upper left had side of the photo. Like most, this one was held on by screws if memory serves...
Sterling.jpg

You can also see the large rubber seal that I placed around the perimeter of the canopy on the body tub as well. Of course, that profile is no longer made (was essentially the same as the upper seal, just from foam rubber), and man what a difference it made in quietness and weatherproofing..
 
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Brett Proctor

Well-known member
OK lets see if I understand this

Starting from the back it shoud look like this
PC090005d.jpg

Then as it rounds the corner going towards the front it makes a transition*hmmm*
PC090006d.jpg

and it ends up looking like this in the front
PC090010d.jpg

I'll test out the glue tomorrow. Not sure if there's a certain temperature range that it needs to be applied in but we're getting freezing temperatures at night now so I'll wait till tomorrow when it will be warmer.
 

CyCo

New member
Yeah, I had looked at that new seal, and the photos of it installed, and wondered how it was even made from the same seal in the first place. Looks like it was made from a section from an old used and stretched out bit of seal from a car, rather than from a piece that had never been used. To me the cross section looks totally different.
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Almost. Your transition is still on the wrong plane. Cyco is correct, these seals, while being touted as OEM, were probably from the Elam period in the UK. The seals used here in the US have a much longer "flap" and tail in order to fasten them with screws. Assumably the larger seals were universal at one point in time. I'll get some photos tomorrow as time permits and try to show each curve and placement. It's gonna be cold here too - highs only in the high 20's by mid week...
 

mud4fun

New member
You may want to test glue a small piece first just to see how it pulls off after curing. I have tried several different glues with the same 4 inch piece and it always stick to the car well but not to the seal. Silisone does not like to stick to silicone.
 

Brett Proctor

Well-known member
So an old worn out seal was used to pattern the new seal from!!!???!!!??

How stupid.

Well this just keeps getting better. Right now it seems like I wasted my money on this.

I got a seal that wont seal and nobody has found a glue that will stick to it*laugh**sigh**humpf*

I'll test out that glue today. It says it takes 7 days to fully cure.

Brett
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
I can't imagine it won't seal. This was the second group buy, so it must work on some level. As for the glue... well, all I can say is that's the primary reason these things were screwed or riveted to the fiberglass, even the early rubber ones (for the most part). The adhesives today weren't around in the '70's.

canopy1.jpg

canopy2.jpg

canopy3.jpg


The seal on my current car, and I stand corrected on where it was mounted. The things you take for granted when you see them every day. In any case, around the top half I stuffed a D-shaped rubber seal to bulge the OE seal downwards a little. In this cars case, the canopy doesn't quite fit the body so I needed that little extra. I still need more, but then the top wouldn't close all the way! Note that they simply "crinkled" the seal around the corners in the front. Personally, I would have cut relief cuts to eliminate that, but whatever.
 

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Brett Proctor

Well-known member
Glued the test sample to a piece of fiberglass that was a cutout from my dash. Cleaned both surfaces with acetone. thought about using sandpaper on both surfaces but I figure if it sticks without any other prep other than acetone then that will be the real test.
Instructions say that it will be fully cured in 24hrs and max strength is in 7 days so at this time tomorrow we'll see if it will stick or fall off.

Glue is clear.
PC100008.jpg
 

Brett Proctor

Well-known member
Glue test results

Surface prep was just cleaning the two parts with acetone. Nothing more was done. Sanding the two surfaces would probably have helped

CA glue was the easiest to remove. Hardly any effort was required to remove it. Glue stuck to the fiberglass but not to the seal.

Contact cement was the next to let loose. Alittle harder to remove but it still didn't stick very good to the seal material.

So that leaves us with the GC #10-150 adhesive
This stuff is working. I wish I had some kind of a scale that would measure how much force it takes before it lets loose but I don't. What I can tell you is that the test sample of the seal stretches when I pull on it and it still doesn't come off. At that point I quit pulling on it and it's still attatched to the fiberglass piece.
 

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Brett Proctor

Well-known member
Not too scientific way of testing but it's the best I can do for now.

3 pound (1.361 kilogram) hammer plus the weight of the wrench
 

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vpogv

Active member
I think that has some great holding strength especially on such a small area. I am no scientist but I would not have an issue with using that adhesive.
 

CyCo

New member
I'm still wondering how this seal is meant to work. As far as I'm concerned, a roof seal on these cars should perform two main purposes. To help keep the environment out (mainly rain & wind, sound to a certain extent), and to protect the body tub from the underside of the roof. I can see how the original seal was meant to keep the environment out, but how does it protect the body tub.
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Why should it protect the tub? If that had been (or is) a concern, a simple rubber flat gasket would keep the pieces from rubbing as you move along. Try to make a gasket do that as seal as well, and you'll wind up with areas that might wear through. I don't think there really is many contact points around the perimeter as you might expect; the hinge assemble keeps the front end pretty well spaced off the tub; the back of the canopy might rub if not aligned. If you look at the shot of my first car with the seal on the tub portion, there was only one area that was really under any serious compression - and that was a short way back behind the hinge. I think it was strictly a mis-alignment, as the other side did not have that compression damage. The rest of the seal, however, showed an even compression impression all the way around the cockpit, meaning that once the top was down, it was resting on either the guide pins in the bodywork and/or the latch mechanism at the back.
 

Nic

Active member
WOW, that stuff aint cheap. $28.00 for 3oz? I don't think 3oz is going to get you very far.

We recently put some bamboo down at the house and was sold something called Bostik Best. It's SUPER thick and sticky and when it cures, it really holds. And it's about $6.00 for a standard calk tube size. I was thinking that might be a good alternative. I'll have to pick more up and do a test.
 
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