Testarossa w/strips with black felt found

Okay, sorry it took so long but I had planned to do this on the red car when I pulled it down and this took time to get to.

No problems. Thanks to Kerry for sending the sample and to Phil obviously for finding it in the first place.

I've located a couple of seals here in Oz but NOTHING comes close to the factory seal unfortunately.

Anyway, what we are all waiting for was direct comparisons between the UK seal that Phil found and the factory seal.

Long winded post with heaps of pictures, so grab a beer, settle back and read on................



My car is stripped down to a rolling shell at this time so it's easy to compare the seals. I can fully close the door and can see the crush effect on the rounded, tubular section of the seal with the encumberment of the door trims etc in the way.

I started this comparison by fitting sections to the B pillar of the car about half way up the quarter window. Simple section, not too much leather to crush and a straight part of the door.

The UK rubber is the 8" long section that Kerry sent to me.
The Factory piece is a leftover from my car and is only 3.5" long and it came from an area where there was a slight curve, like the bottom corners of the doors so it has a bit of shape to it and won't flatten out. Take this into account during your thoughs as in some images it appears to sit just as high as the UK section, but in fact, it is much shorter in overall depth.



First images show the two rubbers fitted to this area.
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You can already see that when the door closes, it has a different effect on the two rubbers due to the position and size of the tubular section. The UK rubber gets forced away from the door and into the gap, the Factory seal gets squashed by the frame.
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Then I moved on to the middle of the lower door frame, or the centre of the sill area.

Both seals fit, but the taller UK seal takes a lot of effort to push it down hard into the carpet before it rests properly on the steel. You can see the same problem exists here. When the door is closed it gets pushed downwards rather than getting crushed fully by the door frame.
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All of these images have been reduced to 1024 x 768 yet the software is shrinking them more and distorting the embedded text.

I might have to post them up on my site and link to them.

I'll get back to it tonight with the remainder and the A pillar shots which appear to be the most demonstrative.

 

Thats great work Robert, thanks for posting and providing such clear and precise descriptions.

P

 

Here's a few more images that may help.

A pillar fittment.

In the fourth picture the door is not fully closed yet you can see where the door comes into early contact with the factory seal.
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In the first picture below you can see that the UK seal gets crushed between the A pillar and the door frame. It gets forced into the gap where the factory seal sits in a totaly different place.

Also the additional thickness makes it a bit difficult, but not impossible to get past where the dash virtually touches the leather at the base of the A pillar.

The second picture is crap, but you can still see how the original tube gets foldeed around the door frame to seal in two directions.
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Next I fitted a couple of sections at the rear of the door frame and folded them up towards the map pocket. You can see here that the UK seal is too high and won't push down fully onto the metal join strip, and then has to be flared out on the bulkhead section heading up to the map pocket as there is just no depth in the trims there to tuck it away properly.

Still looks neat enough from inside the car, but I wasn't that happy with the crush of the tube once the door closed on it.
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I have two samples of the UK seal. The black that Kerry sent and an identicle red sample that I managed to locate many months ago from a local supplier. When I checked against Kerry's black sample they were the same exactly.

This first pic I used my red sample and closed the door against it where the map pocket sits.

You can see how the tube crushes against the door edge when closed.

The second picture is the facory seal fitted to the same place. In this case the larger rubber tube balloons more and contacts the edge of the door frame over a larger area.
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Last picture.

I will post all of these pics up on my website in larger res so we can use them for reference as required.

Once it's done I'll link to them from here.
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I noted a number of vendor/manufactures selling seals at last years SEMA show. I did not have a piece for comparison, but a few looked very close. If anyone who has already replaced theirs would be willing to cut a small cross section (maybe a 1/4" or so) off the original and drop it in the mail to me....I will pull out the vendor list from last year and request samples of anything close and post pictures and pricing with my findings.

Thanks,
Bill

 

Dear Ferraristi,

As usual, very thorough work Uzz.

...so I'm kinda vindicated.....for now


Shamile

Freeze....Miami Vice !

 

How about a compromise.......

Buy and fit the cheap alternative, change it every 2 or 3 years.....

No leaks and still change in your pocket. Surely thats a winner

 

No problems Robbie. Just took me a while to be in a situation to do this properly.

Phil, I don't believe this UK seal to be a cheap product. It's actually a top quality product and; in fact; I've ordered a full amount to do the doors of the Pantera.

The real issue is how and where it seals the door in comparison to the Factory seal. It litteraly seals and forms itself into totally differnt shapes and places, so will the door seal well enough and will it whistle at high speed.

We really need Kerry or someone who has fitted aa full set to come back now and give an unbiased report on speed noise and also high pressure water to see if they seal effectively.

My testing wasn't to see if it was a good seal, it was a comparitive test between the two to see how they fitted and formed to the car.

The seal the Robbie and Phil sorted is excellent and cheap, but it has limitations as can now be concluded by my testing.

 

I thought I saw Kerry post that his wind noise was drastically reduced once he fitted the new seal. I am not sure he looked at water seal...

I am just glad that mine is still in good shape.

CC

 

Another development.

I was scrounging ebay the other night looking for parts for the DeTomaso when I stumbled upon this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Detomaso-Pantera-Door-Gasket-Set-Body-Gasket-New-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230340f817QQitemZ150378444823QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The Pantera has a woven cotton cloth instead of the furry velvet of the Testarossa, but the profiles are virtually identicle.

I wrote to the guy and here's what he came back with:

"We do not stock the rubbers at this time and pictures are being updloaded as the parts are sold for the first time as this is a whole new line of parts for us and we did not have the time to order and take 4000 pictures. We do have a 14 day return policy should the rubbers not work but the company in Italy that makes the parts specializes in Italian car history and we have been carrying their rubbers(mostly for Fiat) for almost 4 years no with almost no problems."

Regards,
David Besharat
Italian Auto Parts, Inc.
Phone: 678-637-5103
Fax: 914-829-9018
Web: http://www.mrfiat.com


So looking at this blokes website it appears that he has located an Italian supplier who is remanufacturing parts for Alfa, Fiat, DeTomaso and Ferrari.

He seems to be in Georgia somewhere and may not have the stock on the shelves, but if one of you guys happened to wander by his store and plant a seed, who knows, maybe he can also source and supply a suitable door gasket for the Testarossa.

I'll write back to him and send him pictures of the TR genuine strip and see if I can get him to send those images on to the Italian supplier. No harm in trying.

 

You have come up a humm dinger again there Robert. Great job!

P

 

Thanks Phil, all we need now is someone in Georgia to wander down and check out Mr. Fiat and see what he has available.

 

Did anyone determine if the Pantera door seal fit?

 

Water seal is fine...though I had no leaks with the OEM either.

Dry Me

 

Get me an address and contact number and I will make an appointment when I am in that neck of the woods........usually every couple of month I am in the southeast with plenty of time on my hands............

Need a 10-20 Me

 

The guys that own Mangusta's have had some issues with Mr Fiats products not quite being what they are made out to be. For example window rubbers that are supposed to be original spec too small in profile and where the original corners were welded rubber his are glued. I have not used his products but I suppose anywhere is worth a look!

 

In the Fiat community, Mr Fiat has a rep of some of the higher prices but usually good stuff, mostly sourced from Italy and sometimes with a long wait. People seem generally pleased.

For door seals, try these places (which I've used for Fiats and Alfas for awhile)

1 - Centerline Alfa - www.centerlinealfa.com - here in CO, great folks, Alfa but not Fiat, though the two are often the same for door seals. Excellent highest quality.

2 - Chris Obert & Co (sometimes called Fiat Plus) - www.fiatplus.com- Chris has a lot of odd, harder to source stuff and an amazing depth and breadth of knowledge. A truly great guy, though occasionally impatient with fools! His is the kind of place to snail mail a sample to and watch him have exactly what you want. Chris' prices aren't the cheapest, but after you get the perfect part a few times you understand why.

3 - BD Company - Denver auto trim and stuff - had perfectly matching window channel for my GT4 when I went there in person. I'm not sure about their web presence, and my entire experience has been good but always one of bringing my part into the store with me and them matching just what I needed.

B-D Company
1361 South Broadway, Denver, CO 80210 (303) 744-1405 ‎
http://www.b-dco.com/ (website not working for me)


Jonathan
Denver, CO

 

1. i want to replace the weather strip in my 512 M which has some gaps in it now.

2. i am sorry but i cannot follow all the discourse in this thread and do not see a conclusion anywhere.

3. has anyone successfully replaced the TR weather strip other than Shamile (who got it from the f pimp) ?

4. if so, please post the source.

.......thanks