wayno Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 The original gasket I have that I cut to get a profile photo is very soft, you can see it is made of foam except for maybe the outside layer which looks like a thin cover, I can squish that piece to less than an eighth inch thick with 2 fingers, that is likely why it makes a good seal, but it is also the reason they fall apart removing them and where ones foot/leg drags on them, I have nothing left with original weather seals, but I keep the good pieces to have just in case. 3 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 I wonder if it's a situation where the original material hod more lubrication and let the door sort of swipe into place. There is such a thing as weatherstripping lubricant. Though I have not used it, I have had customers tell me about it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 Well I failed.... the purchase from mcmaster's arrived but was not what I hoped for.. I under estimated my need this time.... I should have gone thicker..... I'll loose a few bucks exchanging the part to mcmaster's but they do have something that's should work .... I'm gonna do some better measuring today.... 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 Is it the one with the little circle/built in welt seal that is the fail or both types? 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 Probably both.... I only recieved the one with the welt seal attached so far .... mcmaster's will give me my money back atleast... just lost the shipping which was only $8 so not to bad.... The stick on stuff was from Ebay and I already have my doubts about it and I haven't even received it yet.... only $8 so I'll find a use for it..... What I failed to realize is the newer stuff has a lot of compression.... what I bought was barely big enough to cover the gap so it fit but didnt seal.... So this new stuff will be the same width as an original seal but the round part will have enough compression to seal and allow the door to shut.... The welt seal is the same but with a larger round tube attached, before I send back what I bought I'm going to see how the welt seal parts fit with those aluminum trim pieces for the bottom edge..... I would rather just do one piece instead of having to add the stick on stuff too... I might even steal some of my kids playdo and make sure the gap for the door to seal surface is consistent..... I wont be so hasty to order this time..... 2 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 That is why I didn't mention that one type with the built in welt seal, it works alright on the 320, but I must have tried it on the 521 in the past and determined it was not going to work and that is why I was talking about the Mazda SUV seals. You will either use the type with a welt seal built in or find the type that has the very thin seam cover and use the aluminum trim piece to cover it, I don't think you can do both as the welt seal/cover is too large and the aluminum piece will not come close to fitting over it, as I said I do not have any 520/521 with the aluminum trim piece anymore, none of my trucks are even close to original so I just don't care about anything other than having no wind noise/air leaks. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 I just got those aluminum piece too from Daniel, I'd really like to use them.... plus I want them to help keep my carpet edge in place..... I have been looking for the Mazda seals too and even as stroffgren suggested some Chevy stuff..... but what I have found either doesnt have measurements or the measurements dont seem like they would work..... I might just slow down and install a half ass seal on my drivers door to keep the rattling down and do some further searching..... maybe take a ride down to a pick and pull about 30 minutes away and see if I can do a little recon work... 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 How much of that stick on type seal did you buy? Did you buy enough to go all the way around on both doors, can you stick the stick on type to the welting, that would likely put it out far enough to make a seal and then you could take more time to find what you want so you could use a seal that would allow the use of the aluminum trim pieces. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, wayno said: How much of that stick on type seal did you buy? Did you buy enough to go all the way around on both doors, can you stick the stick on type to the welting, that would likely put it out far enough to make a seal and then you could take more time to find what you want so you could use a seal that would allow the use of the aluminum trim pieces. That's a good idea but I only bough enough for the bottom edge..... 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 Oh well, thought I would ask. I looked at the photo of the original seal you bought, it looks like it is made of foam also, but it obviously doesn't squish enough to get the door closed properly, one thing to keep in mind that I never mentioned, when I first installed that Mazda SUV seal in my 521 kingcab I had to slam the door pretty hard to close it all the way, I actually still do but not as hard as I used to, now it is just a normal slam it shut/close the door, but every once in a while I have to shut it a second time with a little more force in(in the winter more often as everything is cold), or maybe I have just got used to slamming it harder, just something I thought I should mention, it does close flush/even with the rest of the sheet metal around it. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 OK, I never really thought about it before, but I went out and looked at all my doors and this is what I found. The 521 kingcab door closes flush. The 520 door does not close flush. The 521 work truck door does not close flush either. I guess I am not as picky as some are, the pass side door on the 520 does close flush, but the work truck pass door does not, the work truck I could care less as it is a work truck, but the 520 needs work on the drivers side, I do not know if this is a seal issue or something else. 2 Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 The way you check fit of the door to the weatherstrip, or against the door seals is to close the door with a dollar bill in the area you are checking. The dollar bill should have a medium amount of drag with the door closed. Do initial adjusting without the door catch, or latch in place on the rear of the door. Either roll the window down, or have somebody hold the door closed. When you are satisfied with the fit of the door, and again, you are only adjusting the hinges at this point, then you can put the door catch back on. The door should close on to the latch without moving up or down at the rear of the door. The door catch is only to control the depth of the door on the cab, by how much the door squishes the weatherstrip. Adjusting the door too tight to the cab makes the door harder to fully close, and also puts more stress on the door catch, and the door handle, because you need more force on the door handle to release the catch, for the door to open. Too loose, and the door does not seal as well, and you might have wind noise when travelling on the freeway, but the stress on the door catch and door handle is less. 521 door handles are getting hard to find. I would adjust the door fit more on the loose side, and this may cause the door to fit farther out than flush with the cab 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 I've basically done it like you said, I have the passenger side fitting nice to the body.... I'm gonna adjust the driverside side maybe tomorrow and take better measurements... I have a different set of seals I'm looking at the should seal properly and not stress out the latch and handle..... I did check if i could get the aluminum trim over the welt seal and it might work.... The difference is the mcmaster's is more square and the trim is rounded but about the same width... I'm going to try to see if I can pinch the top of the welt seal and get it to fit inside the aluminum trim.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2020 At least I got it out for a drive today had to run a bunch of errands.... It was only about 40 degrees out but that was good enough for me.... Days like this are when I wish I had the right seals in place.... heat work as well as a 521 heater does but I get alot of cold air coming in through the doors, especially If i hit the highway... the same will be the case this summer trying to keep the ac in.... 1 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted March 8, 2020 Report Share Posted March 8, 2020 Drove mine today too around the block a couple times. Haven’t driven in months and just needed to charge my battery and it fired up fairly quickly. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 I got to drive the truck for a few days this week which was nice... now the morning are back in the low 30s.... trying to plan working on the truck around the colder days.... I'm almost ready to purchase something for the door seals... the ones I like now have a 5/8 round tube on the seal, so what i did was I found an old heater hose that measured 5/8 and used that as a gauge.... the fit seems good plus and the seal has little extra width due to the edge of the welt seal its stuck to.... I'm going to align the driver side to match the passenger side fitment and make sure my hose gauge fits both sides... I wanna be sure I'm buying the right stuff this time..... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 On the topic of buying things a box from beebani showed up today.... Front coilover brackets... Rear disk brackets, since I'll have the rear axle stripped down for the 5link and coilovers I figured it's a good time to do it..... 3link plus watts.... I have one more box coming which are the crossmembers..... next winters project.... front coilover might get done sooner than later I'll have to see..... I still need to buy all the coilovers, springs and rear disc parts so I'll have to see what I can afford next.... 4 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted March 12, 2020 Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 Going ham crash!!! LMK how the front coilovers work out. Ray has them and IBe considered them as well. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2020 With how much I plan on driving the truck this was always something I wanted to do.... I have been saving money for a new daily when I realized I want my datsun as more of a daily driver... I really just need a winter 4x4 that not as bad as my chevy... So I was able to use some of that money for all the brackets... I'm thinking a pair of coilovers isnt too expensive and the front conversion shouldn't take more than a weekend to do so I might be able to do that.... the rear is another story that's going to take more than a weekend... that's also going to force me to actually strip and paint the bed finally.. 2 Quote Link to comment
greenthumb Posted March 13, 2020 Report Share Posted March 13, 2020 Following with interest. I’m curious how the ride will compare with the coil overs vs the stock suspension 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2020 Not to much to report.... got the driverside door lined up better with a temporary seal on the back edge.... Nice even gap on the inside checked with the 5/8 hose.... seems good.... I actually had to do a small repair or modification to the hinge... The top front of the door was in pretty tight and when I aligned it to look good I couldnt close the door. ( my previous repair to the hinge pin was a little crooked) There are some small pins that stop the door opening to far, while closing they came in contact with the hinge body.. not dig deal, just had to grind some clearance.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2020 Ordered the new seal from mc master today.... part # 1120A331 Should work good.... I hope..... Also added this to the back window from beebani .... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 I will say mcmaster's is quick to ship .... Got the seal in today.... I did a test fit and I'm pretty happy, it definitely contacts and compresses the round section and doesn't stress the door being too tight.. it was hard to get a picture of how it fit since it was still rolled up in the packaging ... so I'll try to get some good ones when I actually install it..... 3 Quote Link to comment
Greaser2 Posted March 18, 2020 Report Share Posted March 18, 2020 I just installed these today on mine and fit very well. Only negative is I can’t get my aluminum sill on now. Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2020 4 minutes ago, Greaser2 said: I just installed these today on mine and fit very well. Only negative is I can’t get my aluminum sill on now. Glad that worked out for you.... the one I previously bought were similar in size but didnt work out for me.... they fit but there was no compression to the seal, door barely touched.. Had you tried anything to install the trim? I am hoping I can pinch the welt seal and get the trim to fit.... I got the trim a while back but never installed it.... worse case I'm thinking a little hammer and dolly work on the aluminum but I'd like to avoid that.... 1 Quote Link to comment
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