I am not willing to fork out £400-£500 for the window/door waist seals, even if I could find some. The ones that badly corrode from the inside. So I am currently in talks with a manufacturer. However I want to gauge interest before I take it further, part with money etc.

So I have started a new topic on forum. Please put all your replies/suggestions in there so I do not have to keep bouncing backwards and forwards between forums.

Here is a link to the topic I have started. https://www.jaguarforum.com/showthre...=1#post1152985

So take a look. Tell me what you thing, via link above.

Thanks! :-D:-D

 

Hmmm I am surprised there is no interest. If there is no take up I may just scrap the idea.

These are the seals I am talking about, the one marked with the arrow on the right.

 

I don't see a picture showing up, no arrows

 

Looks good to me.

 

I can see them too. Do you want me to send you the photo?

 

I'm not seeing the pic either - tried 3 different browsers - IE and Edge just display a small box with an x and Chrome doesn't even display an image. I've even logged out, cleared cache and still the same

 

Mozilla Firefox works for me, the pic showed immediately. "must be the Government Shutdown" :-)

 

Works in Safari!

How about:

 

Hi,
good initiatve but I guess it would be too costly to manufacture a remake of these seals.
also because the alternative is a minor paint job. you just have to ensure that that the treatment of the aluminum subsurface is done professionally.

Fritz

 

I can see the pictures with Safari on a Mac.

I am interested but only if the cost of new ones is less than having a body shop fix them up. Would they still retain the dorchester gray?

 

Better get them resprayed if you want the cheap option. This solution is not just about the outer metal strip. This is not an alternative to spraying but to replace the whole seal rather than just repair the insides of it.

I have repaired mine twice and written an article in the Jaguar magazine on how to do it yourself. These seals are for those that want a proper replacement rather than a bodge job and do not want to fork out $518 + for EACH new seal replacement, if you can even find some.

Cannot give you a price as the seals have not even been designed yet. The manufacturers picked up the seals from my car yesterday to start the whole process. Remember its NOT just a case of respraying the Dorchester Grey. I will try and dig out a photo for you of the blown ally inside the seal.

The top of the photo is the metal bit in Dorchester Grey. The next two bits of rubber are supposed to be together but the water has got in. The ally inside has 'blown' and expanded. This is the bit that grips on to your door. If your not careful you can easily bend the seal quite badly when you try to remove it, and you swear someone has super glued it on.
The bottom rubber bit and the distorted rubber bit above is where your window slides pass. Not very nice is it?
That is why the strip is so hard to remove from the car and your window has scratches on it. Remember I am NOT doing this as a commercial venture. I will be just happy to get the money back I pay out for design and manufacture.

 

Hi Frank,
wow, this one looks pretty bad and i understand what leads you to look for an OEM replacement.
Did´not realize that as i postet the "minor paintjob" remark. The reason is, i pulled one of the door seal of my MY 2003 XK8 and guess what, the rubber/inner part were in top condition, not a trace of corrosion. simply the outer aluminum trim has a few tiny bubbles under the dorchester grey surface.
Wondering how the condition of nearly equal old car parts could be that different.

Fritz

 

 

Thanks for understanding guys. I am really glad yours do not have this problem, got to admit each and everyone I have seen up to now have been 'blown'. I, and many others, have looked at every supplier we can find and there is simply non in stock. If you could find them they are listed at £400 uk + tax + delivery. Some were much more. Stupid price for a seal.

So at this point mine obviously needed either replacing or repairing. As non were available I repaired mine. Take a look click here to see my repair work. There is also a bit more later on in my postings. click here to see the later posting. I have also written an article for a couple of Jaguar magazines on how to repair. Would seem a shame though to have just this one bit of our lovely cars not properly fixed. You can never get anything 100% but you can have a dam good try!

I do not like bodging things and although pleased with my work and looking at my doors you would not be able to tell they were not in their original state I am not happy with them. Hence the above. Both trims have gone off to a manufacturer to be assessed, re-designed and costed. They think the ball park figure for re-design and manufacture of the mould would be around £600-£700 UK pounds + the cost of actually producing a strip. Certainly not cheap. However I am aiming for a comparatively more modest resale price. As long as I get a new set for my car, cover my costs and help out those that need replacements at a decent price I would be happy. We will see.

 

Frank,

When I read your first post I thought it was an excellent idea and was suprised the idea met with such apathy both here and the UK forum.

My 2005 XK8 had the waist rail problem seven years ago but I was fortunately able to refurbish them:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...q-55561/page2/

This issue is not going to go away and the passage of time will make it an increasing problem. OE replacements are a horrendous cost and there is no guarantee the current supply is any better than the original.

Good luck with your investigation of a re-design and manufacture. This is the correct approach to resolve the problem.

Graham

 

Thanks for you support Graham, as usual. Its appreciated.

 

 

Thats right. The inner seals are just rubber. That is why the new outer seals will be just rubber. As for finding a set well done! Whilst you were there you should have picked up some hens teeth at the same time.

 

Update.

The manufacturers have had my own seals for over a week now and have apparently produced some samples for me to look at. They are hand delivering them this Thursday 31st January. Will be interesting to see what they have come up with.

 

Disappointed.

Got the seals back a few mins ago. Hand delivered. Give them their due it was well wrapped. Two separate tubes heavily wrapped in film and tape. So happy to say my original seals were undamaged. Had thoughts of getting them back bent etc.

So after all this time what was the result of the design and costing process? What were the 'samples' like?

First off the samples turned out to a 'sample' and not of a designed product but a strip they already sell. When I emailed them I said my strips were similar to a particular strip they already have for sale. Yep you guessed it. All they have done is send me a sample of that strip. No design work or manufacturing sample. Nothing like what I asked and was prepared to pay for. I just get the impression they could not be bothered. Apathy?

So at this point I cannot see me taking it any further. Not much interest on the forums, but thank you very much indeed for those that took the time to reply. No interest from the manufacturers, well this one anyway.

As I said I am very disappointed but if I get the enthusiasm back I just may try another manufacturer later on. Thanks for reading anyway.

The sample seal looked a bit like the one below. As for as I am concerned ok it might work but I wanted as close to the original as I could and properly designed. Certainly not a "this will do".