Hello, just a couple of lines to let you all know of a little repair I am planning to the rubber gasket on the doors of my new kitty.

The old gaskets in the U.K can only be bought together with the door handle and are skywards of £700, I know there are aftermarket ones available from Welsh Enterprises in the U.S but it was still about £100 for two without import charges.

So I believe I have come up with a nice solution, it is just a rubber ( I think it is rubber, just feels like an " O " ring ) cord of the correct size which I found by accident. I have a before pic, but cannot find out how to shrink its size to get it onto the post.

I tried a dry fit last night and it looked great. Will go for a full fit this weekend, my car is now in storage and about 10 miles from my home. My drivers side door gasket has crumbled to the extent it comes away with fingernail pressure, but I intend to trim it back with a craft knife very carefully where it is still in situ.

Then I plan to stick/glue the trim into the recess with either clear silicon or maybe good old superglue. The silicon option I am more inclined to go for at this time. I will take some pics at the weekend and try and do a before and after show.

If it works it will cost me around the £15 mark, which is considerably less than the other alternatives I have seen so far, however if some one else has an easier option please let me know.

 

A rubber moulding kit might be a solution to replicating the gasket. This one is from Frost in the UK:

Rubber Moulding Kits | Frost Auto Restoration Techniques

Plenty of equivalents and alternative sources on the web at lower cost.

Be interested to hear if anyone has tried this process.

Graham

 

the gasket seems like a hard rubber or plastic - I recently replaced mine - bought a pair of gaskets from jagbits for $100. I don't see why something like this wouldn't work, but the gasket not only goes around the edge of the handle but there is a piece in the center that goes across the inner handle mechanism

 

Many thanks for taking the time to reply Graham. That kit is over £60 and looks quite involved as a mould has to be made then the mixing process then a strip down of the door and a refit.
I estimate ( could be proved incorrect ) it should take me no more than 15 minutes tops to fit my little gasket as the original which is behind the handle does not need to be moved. I've got it now, so have to run with it, I'll try and get some pics to let you all be the judge.
Thanks again for your comments.
Kind regards,

ArtyH

 

Hello sklimii, thanks for your comments also, its ironic the Jag is made over in the U.K and they only sell the gasket with a handle for silly money. For me to import the gaskets from the U.S was over £100 and not including import and customs charges. That is why I looked for an alternative. O.K its not going to be a new full gasket, it is a cover which will sit in the recess around the remains of the original and is for cosmetic reasons only. I think the merit of this application is it is not to difficult to do and should be quite quick and tidy.
We shall see at the weekend!

Kind regards,

ArtyH

 

Arty - understand it is not cost effective and appreciate the effort to find an alternative. Based on the condition of my old gasket - I anticipate I will have to replace in a few years again just due to the heat of SC - so rather than another $100 set of gaskets, alternatives will be considered. This time around, I just took the lazy approach of ordering rather than try something else.

 

Steve, was the main part of the gasket deteriorated also?

I see these in my future also, only my Scotishness has been holding me back, I liked Arty's idea but if the main gasket is also toast the whole thing is the way to go.

 

the oval portion is what had crumbled to bits on both doors (all that was left was the top left quarter of the oval) - the H piece was still together. I did cheat on the install - I didn't see the real need for the H piece but left it in place and simply sliced the bottom 2 legs so that when I reinstalled, I didn't have to completely dismantle the handle assembly and I could slide the H portion into place.

 

Yesterday, my driver's side rubber started to crumble, and I figured I could cut away enough of the remaining rubber to allow me to glue on a tiny rubber cord (if I can find one). I'll see what I can find in the next few days and post.

 

Here's a Gasket Kit listed on eBay:



Jaguar XK8 Doorhandle Gasket Kit Both Sides | eBay

The seller's description includes original purchase price of $69.95 which suggests they are available separately. However, I can't find a part number!

Graham

 

jagbits lists the PN for the kit as JLM12035-gasket

 

Welsh are a bit cheaper P/N JLM12031GSK & JLM12032GSK

 

Can anyone let me know how to upload a pic from my hdd on my computer to the forum please? I hit the 2nd last icon with the envelope ( after the world and chain link ) and it asks for the url of the link with a HTTP:// . Don't know how to proceed, I'm sure it is easy if you know how.
Regards,
ArtyH

 

Arty - click the advanced button then look for the paper clip and it will allow you to browse your hdd for the specific pics. Select the pic, then hit upload. Once all pics you want have been loaded, then scroll down and close

Once pics are loaded - you will see them listed - you have the option to preview post or save post

 

Thanks for the info sklimii, tried it but pic size is to big, I need to be able to reduce its size for the upload, I'm getting there, thanks for the help.

Success at last, many thanks sklimii.

Regards,

Arty

 

Here is the result of my work today on the door handle.


.

It was a bit dusty up there today so please take that into account, need to clean out the polish but was in a bit of a rush as the match was getting near start time.
Used superglue to fix and it worked pretty well. Join is on the bottom under the small stone chip on the handle.

 

Just a quick note to say this repair took about 20 minutes, its best to have a helper to keep the free end away from the paintwork especially as I applied the superglue in 2" segments. One hand to hold the rubber the other to hold the glue, slow and steady is the game.
Regards,
ArtyH

 

Nice 1 ArtyH,
I think you did a good job there, well done and thanks for sharing that,now I don't want to look at my handles!!! Stu

 

Arty - good job and a lot easier than having to remove the door card, fight with trying to get the handle unbolted, etc., etc.

 

Thanks guys, you are welcome, its nice to put a bit back so to speak, this is a great forum. The rubber is 2mm by the way.
Take care,

ArtyH