[Healeys] BT7 soft-top header to windscreen seal

m.g.sharp at sympatico.ca m.g.sharp at sympatico.ca
Sun Sep 27 10:10:28 MDT 2020


Hi all,  I am replacing the soft-top on my BT7 and rebuilt the wooden header
piece that secures the top to the windscreen.  The rubber seal that goes
between the aluminum strip and the windscreen is causing me grief.  The seal
I removed I believe is original.  Although deteriorated in sections, it was
surprisingly good in places, so I feel I have a reasonably good example of
what was there.  Also the ends appear to be molded in a curve to match the
aluminum strip, as opposed to being cut as a replacement would be.

 

This (possibly) original seal was a solid piece of compressible foam rubber
about ¾” wide and appears to have tapered in thickness, from ¼” to 3/16”,
although this seems unlikely. I recognize that 60 years of compression makes
exact measurement impossible and uneven compression may have made it appear
tapered in section.

 

The replacement I got was hollow and narrower.  Compressed slightly, enough
to just squeeze the hollow centre closed, it was ¼” thick.  However, when I
installed it, the top bow would not go onto the windscreen without a huge
amount of effort and force, and I was never convinced it was on properly.
The top bow always used to fit on the windscreen snugly and with ease in the
past (I have owned the car for 46 years).  I don’t understand this, as the
new seal when compressed would seem to be the same thickness as the
original, but “the proof is in the pudding” – it does not fit!

 

To experiment, I cut the replacement seal to half the thickness, so it is
now 1/8” thick, and the top bow mounted on the windscreen with ease.  So the
problem is the seal.  However, I think 1/8” is too thin and it will likely
leak.

 

The Concours Guide, Supplement 1, page 5, provides a photo of a 100 seal,
but it is silent on whether this seal was carried through to the BT7 or was
changed at some point.  Does anyone know?

 

Does anyone have any comment on the above, and more importantly a source for
a replacement seal that is closer to the original?

 

With thanks, Mirek

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