I want to add a bit to the discussion and express my enthusiasm for a new source for replacement A2 dooor seals. I need a few. $50 would be a deal.
A couple of points of realism must be factored in. There are two seals on each door, an inner and an outer. The inners, at least mine, seem to last pretty well. The outers are much more subject to wear & tear, not to mention weathering. Some parts are harder and come off in chunks. The inner ones are extrusions and cheap to make but the outer ones (with flock on them in spots) are mostly moulded and therefore much more expensive to reproduce. Rubber extrusion dies are very cheap to make. Generally small rubber parts produced from tooling are practically free on a per piece basis when produced in quantity. The mark up in the auto parts store is around 100~150X. Dies to mould the outer mouldings must be quite large and therefore pricey even with chinese labor doing the tooling. I would love to have a supply but I am not optimistic.
Eric 85 GTI with VR6 Power
snip Physically, the quality of the door seals is there, the rubber really holds up and doesnt dry out or ever crack if you take care of it. Over time, however, the adhesive that holds the seals along the door frame weakens from the heat/cold and the rubber seal basically peels away and fall off the door frame. To solve my problem, what I did was use a silicone-based rubber adhesive (similar to shoe-goo) to glue the seals back along the inside of the door frame where they are supposed to be. Then shut the door to hold the seal in proper position for drying overnight. I used silicone based glue becuase it will always keep a rubbery-wet consitancy while providing a stong hold on the door seal. Glues that dry out and harden to a rock are more likely to crack and breakup when exposed to the elements, casuing the seals to fall off again. Did the trick for me :) You'd never know the seals were re-glued if I didnt tell you. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Les Noriel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 9:26 PM Subject: [a2-16v-list] A2 Door and Window Seals > A source for replacement door and windows seals has been discussed on this > list before with little success in locating a source. Some dealers still > carry the items for our cars but aftermarket has fallen short. Parts that > are available have been expensive. > > PAP Autoparts, one of the Vortex sponsors, is working with manufacturers > over seas to explore the idea of making replacement seals for our cars. > Prices have yet to be determined but there seems to be a high degree of > interest. Much more so than any other group-but scenarios that I've seen in > the past. > > Hopefully something comes of this > See the thread > > http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1819804 > > -Les > > > _______________________________________________ > a2-16v-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list > For list archives, see listinfo link above. _______________________________________________ a2-16v-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list For list archives, see listinfo link above.
