Yet Another Door Question - Seal Gap

[Space Cadet]

I can't seem to find this question exactly on the forums: During the first fit check of the door while taped down to the cabin top, I have a large gap between the door and the edge of the cabin top. I realize that the door seals don't care about that gap, they hit the "center" of the c-shaped cabin top channel, the middle of the rain gutter if you will. But the distance between the door and that spot on the cabin top looks too large.

I have read elsewhere the doors will get pulled in more once they are trimmed to fit and the door hinges and latches are put one, but did anyone else check and notice a large gap at this stage? Seems too big. Van's was no help.

(Taking the week off to work on the airplane - yea!)

Thanks!
Dwight

 

[ddnebert]

The space at the top of the door looks larger than the sides or bottom from the inside, but as you guess, the seal fills in any air gap. The outside of the door should match the edges of the cabin top fairly consistently, other than around the hinges.

I got some McMaster-Carr door seal that clips onto the cabin top ($38 for 26 feet) but that seems to push the whole door up about 1/4 inch, so I pulled it off and will investigate where the problem lies. The advantages of this trim are that it fits to the cabin top and doesn't weigh the door down and also that it makes the door edge look much nicer.

 

[Space Cadet]

Probably not making it clear. On mine, the gap looks much larger at the bottom. I have the McMaster seal, and the Vans both, and the gap sure looks like it going to be bigger than both after a little compression in the seal. Going to keep working one door to see how it comes out, finger's are crossed.

 

[rleffler]

Probably not making it clear. On mine, the gap looks much larger at the bottom. I have the McMaster seal, and the Vans both, and the gap sure looks like it going to be bigger than both after a little compression in the seal. Going to keep working one door to see how it comes out, finger's are crossed.

Posting a picture will help others understand your situation better.

bob

 

[rv10soon]

GAP BETWEEN DOOR AND CABIN

I too was bothered by this gap which varies and you blame yourself for not trimming the door nice and evenly. With the door closed and latched, I put some electrical tape on lengthwise over the door edge to prevent the mixture from sticking, then mixed up some fiberglass resin, hardner, and microballoons to a consistency a little thicker than tooth paste. I used a plastic trowel to fill-in the gaps that were too wide. The Cabin top has a rounded moulded surface and to get it to fit tighter to the door you have to sharpen this radius to almost a right angle. BEfore the mix got too hard I used a utility knife to cut an even line the thickness of the blade next to the door edge tape. After the resin was hard I opened the door, pulled off the tape and cleaned up the cabin edge with sand paper.

This process was time consuming and I did it at least twice around each door to smooth the edge below the surface.

Hank

 

[sgjackson]

gap

I spent a lot of time getting the doors to fit just perfect and good gaps everywhere. Then the upholstery was installed and the seal was installed and all the gaps are screwed up.

My recommendation is this. Don't worry about that gap yet. Keep working on the doors until you get them fit as best you can without adding anything, that can be done later. (note-watch for pinch points at the top because they translate to the bottom i.e. not enough gap and screws from the hinge hitting the shock mount) When you are comfortable with the fit (including all the hardware and latches) you finish the interior of the door, including upholstery and seals. Then keep the interior of the door protected while you work on all the gaps.

Good Luck.

 

[PainterJohn]

Im currently working on a 10, making the doors fit properly.. And lots of other composite related stuff. www.airbornekustomz.com/RV10.html

The gap at the top is a bit large, so i made a template for making the gap smaller, just to see how it would look and function.
Unfortunately if this gap is closed up, the door will hit the cabin as it opens. I think this large gap will have to stay. Although i have an idea to build up a better rain gutter under the door, something more along the lines of how door gaps in a corvette works..

The weather seal will keep the rain out, and the wind noise down to a minimum. I did close up the gaps all the way around the rest of the doors.