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Door seal attach lip

D

Dorfie

Well Known Member
Someone posted a description/photo of a tool he made to cut/sand the McMaster door seal attach lip to the correct thickness. I found what I believe to be the post, but the picture does not open. Shows as a "X". I believe this is the post I am referring, posted by Phil.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=89772&highlight=McMaster

I have tried many different computers without success. All photos posted and embedded by Bill Peyton does the same. I cannot open any of his pictures, again multiple computers tried without success. Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Johan
 
Search for Ivan Kristensen's Phanfare site. One of what looks like a photo of the door, is really a video that Ivan talks about all the nuances of trimming for the McMaster Carr trim. I don't have the link handy at the moment.
 
rleffler said:
Search for Ivan Kristensen's Phanfare site. One of what looks like a photo of the door, is really a video that Ivan talks about all the nuances of trimming for the McMaster Carr trim. I don't have the link handy at the moment.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob,
Been at his site many times. The video you refer to shows trimming the lip length rather than the lip thickness. It appears asif there should be a second video, but I have not found it. I have "borrowed" many of his ideas.
Johan
 
Door fit

Johan,
Few things that you probably are aware of already but just to recapture....Make sure you fit the doors to have equal distance between the door and the lip you are talking about trimming where the seal bulb rests.....then once you have this, establish your lip thickness. Then remember, the door fit to fuse will change once you install the seal and close the door...you may need to go back and adjust lip to door distance more than once. Take your time and it will come out perfect with seal collapse and door fit to fuse. Just a few hours of work :)
 
Johan,
I'm sorry the link must be broken on my photos. If you pm me with your email address, I will give you access. Jack is correct with his advice, the first thing that has to be accomplished is having your doors mounted and the latch mechanism working, and having a good extended working edge on the door frame The second item is to set the gap between the door edge and the door frame. The seal will not collapse 100%. 50% is what I shot for and has been adequate compromise between tightness of seal and the ability to get the door latched. Once that is set, the thickness needs to be set for the seal attachment by either sanding or adding layers of FG on the inside of the door frame.
It is a slow process, take your time, in the end you will be happy you went with the seal.

Once the door seal is fit, you can go on with the finishing of the entire cabin cover inside.
 
Maybe it's obvious, but here's what I did to get a perfect fit from the standpoint of adhering door seal to door frame... Cut a length of door seal - approx 2 feet. Fill channel with epoxy/flox mixture and let cure while attached to door frame. Remove. Rinse and repeat all the way around.

Jay
 
I have been using 1/4 inch clearance from outer surface of lip to inside of door. That seems to give me about 50% compression of the seal bulb. I have now established that gap fairly even at 1/4 inch all around. Next is to get the lip thickness to 1/4". I am using the McMaster Carr seal with 3/8" bulb and 1/4" grip. It has been a time consuming and exercise in patience to get this done!!
Johan
 
jaybob said:
Maybe it's obvious, but here's what I did to get a perfect fit from the standpoint of adhering door seal to door frame... Cut a length of door seal - approx 2 feet. Fill channel with epoxy/flox mixture and let cure while attached to door frame. Remove. Rinse and repeat all the way around.

Jay
Click to expand...

Wish I knew about this earlier. What you say is that the resin does not stick to the inside of the door seal, and that the door seal can be easily removed once resin is cured? Also, there are a few "lips" on the inside of the door seal (I suppose that seals and retain the seal better). I suppose these will leave indents in the newly molded door frame lip? Did you fill this after removing the seal?
Thanks.
Johan
 
I did the same

I used a piece of door seal and flox to build up the edge also. The seal peels off easily and can be used again to do other sections.

I did then sand a little, mainly to remove any that pushed outside of the door seal when squishing it on. 6" belt sander smoothed it out in about 5 min.
Any groves that are left will just help the final installed seal grip better.
 
Any pics...

...of this "using a piece of seal with the channel filled?" I think I have my mind around it, but wouldn't mind having it spoon fed. I'm a long way from doors, but one can always learn/prepare for the future...
 
ppilotmike said:
...of this "using a piece of seal with the channel filled?" I think I have my mind around it, but wouldn't mind having it spoon fed. I'm a long way from doors, but one can always learn/prepare for the future...
Click to expand...

Aaahh, you're going to "love" the doors....

John
 
ppilotmike said:
...of this "using a piece of seal with the channel filled?" I think I have my mind around it, but wouldn't mind having it spoon fed. I'm a long way from doors, but one can always learn/prepare for the future...
Click to expand...

Using the McMasterCarr door seal, it is a U channel with a bulb seal attached.
The U goes over the edge of the door frame. If you take a couple foot section of the channel, fill the U with flox, and then press it onto the edge of the door frame. Much of the flox will squeeze out, but what is left will build up the edge of the door frame to the exact thickness needed for the door seal to have a good grip. Once dry, the door seal will peel off of the epoxy/flox easily.
IMG_2388.JPG

Picture shows the seal being removed after flox set.
 
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