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Spitfire Mk3 Hardtop Front Seal Questions


krissto2015

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Hello,

Thought I would have a quick trial fit of my OE factory hardtop  today, after many years off the car during its rebuild -  and I am really struggling to get the front seal to work.  It is part number 806144 and is common to Spitfires 1-3, TR4-6 etc.  It is the seal that locates onto the top of the windscreen capping and meets the front of the hardtop.  A picture of it on this Rimmers link https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-806144  I place this on top of the screen and lower the hardtop onto the car.  Passing the two long bolts through the pre-punched holes in the rubber, but the rubber then disappears in the centre and there is no way of pulling it forwards to make a decent seal.  Also, there is a 'lump' at each end which I assume is supposed to slot into the tops of the drop glass seals which are at each side of the screen frame.  If that's the case then the moulding is nowhere near correct and is way too short.  Or are those lumps supposed to do something else?  It's really tricky to put into words in this post, but has anyone else struggled with fitting this seal?   Are these pattern mouldings poorly made such that they don't follow the contour of the screen capping correctly?

Thanks,

Chris   

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I think I know what you mean - if you place the bolts then the rubber straightens out rather than following the curve of the rail.

Just a thought - can the seal be glued to the hardtop prior to fitting? I'm assuming you don't use it on anything else, ie once the hard top is removed then it's no longer required? Glue a section, let it dry, then stretch the next length into place until it;'s all correct? Otherwise it will be a case of letting the hardtop rest on it, pull it into place bit by bit, and secure when it's all correctly fitted but not until. It may be a different grade of rubber from the original, or else a poor repro.

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