Some hints and tips on fitting replacement rubbers
Perhaps the most important component group in your car is the collections of seals and weather-strips that are called body rubbers. If they are old and perished, they will let the water in, where it will mix with dust and dirt to form a mud layer that promotes rust.
The Rare Spares rubbers are made from a high density tough skinned synthetic rubber compound. It’s more expensive than soft sponge rubber, but lasts five times longer, and doesn’t promote water to soak in, and create rust. All clips are made of plastic now for the same reason.
The clip on type dust seals are quite easy fit, and on an EJ or EH, they are on the boot, tailgate and door. To fit them, all you need to do is remove the old rubbers, and the new ones will clip on in the same holes. There will be two clips that are closer together than all of the others. This is where the join is in the rubber, and is usually located in the vicinity of the catch inside the door. It is possible to fit the rubbers inside out, and you must make sure that the flap of the rubber faces towards the door opening, not the door itself
For EJ’s there is also a glue on type rubber on the opening of the door, and some patience is required to fit these. You will need to work a small section at a time if you do not have the confidence to whack the whole thing on all at once.
The other door rubbers are a little harder, and you would be advised to have a workshop manual to help yourself along the way. First of all you need to lower the glass down inside the door by undoing the bolts that hold the winder regulator in. Inner and outer door belt rubbers are removed and replaced in the same way as each other. Remove the old strips, and any remnants of the old clips. Check the holes before you start to make sure none of the holes are bent out of shape. These need to be fitted last, after your quarter window is done, and your bailey channels, but before the glass is lifted back up from the bottom of the door. When pushing the clips into the clip holes, push them carefully, so that you do not bend or break the clips.
Once you have the door disassembled, you will need to do the front quarter vent window rubber. The quarter vent assembly is not too difficult, but there are a couple of things you will need to remember. When undoing the hinge, drill out the rivets that hold the hinge on, not the rivet that forms the centre of the hinge itself. When undoing the nut at the bottom of the pivot, where there is a large pressure spring, make sure that there is no rust on the threads, as these break really easily. Some penetrating oil will help dissolve this rust.
The bailey channel is the stuff the glass slides in. These are very difficult to fit if you are fitting the original type with the stainless steel edge. You will need to take a lot of care, and a lot of patience is necessary to achieve satisfactory results. Use your old bailey channel as a guide to cut, bend and make the ends on your new ones. One handy hint is to bend the bailey channel around a paint roller, and you won’t scratch it. Do it slowly, and don’t kink the stainless section, and make sure it doesn’t pull away from the channel. You will find that the mould will shrink as you bend it, so you will need to allow for a little extra when bending.
There is a cheaper and quicker alternative, and that is to fit HQ type soft bailey channel. It is about a third of the price, and can be fitted in minutes per door. You just need to make sure you put a few drops of adhesive in a couple of spots to stop the channel from sliding. It doesn’t look original, but if you are building a modified vehicle, this may not be of importance.