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When to trim flange for McMaster-Carr seals?

sritchie

Well Known Member
Hey folks,

I've done a bunch of research on the door installation and the mcmaster-carr seal modification, and I think I have a handle on how to do both of them. (Here's a link to one great PDF from the Matronics list on how to install the mcmaster-carr seals: http://forums.matronics.com/download.php?id=32109)

The thing I haven't been able to figure out is how to sequence the two operations.

Should I do the seal modification BEFORE I bond the doors and trim them to the canopy? Should I wait until after and leave the curled flange on the inside of the door openings in the canopy?

Does it matter at all??

It FEELS like the mcmaster carr seal modification makes sense to do first, but my concern is that without the actual seal in place there won't be enough material for the door fitting. Maybe this makes no sense.

Would love some input! Thanks in advance, all.
 
You need the doors in place to be able to adjust the flange spacing for the seal. You'll want a consistent 1/4" gap (more or less depending on which bulb size you choose) between the interior door surface and the flange. The 1/4" comes from 50% compression of a 3/8" bulb. That's 3/16" and then add the 1/16" for the exterior grip flange and you get to 1/4". Only way to determine that gap is after doors have been trimmed to fit. In some areas you'll have to sand the flange to increase the gap and in others you'll have to build up the flange to move it closer to the door surface. You'll also need to make the flange width appropriate to the size grip on the seal you choose.
 
Having just gone through this, my suggestion is wait till after doors are hung. If anything prevents you from getting the shells from fitting on the opening just trim that part back. I had to go through a lot of extra work from over trimming. It's all perfect now but if I had to do it again I would of waited.
 
Having just gone through this, my suggestion is wait till after doors are hung.....I had to go through a lot of extra work from over trimming.

This. Wait on trimming the top until you know exactly where you need to cut. I created a lot of work for myself by trimming to the lines scribed into the cabin top... They were off by enough to matter.
 
And

And I trimmed mine before the cabin top was installed using Ivan K's measurements. It turned out really nice...
 
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