New Door Seals/Weather strip
11-04-2004, 09:54 AM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
New Door Seals/Weather strip
'Listers,
Just an fyi for those contemplating the installation of new door seals or weather stripping.
As some of you know I'm of the daily driver/gran touring camp as opposed to performance/racing camp. I like my car quiter and more luxo which may or may not be your cup of tea.
Anyway - yesterday I installed new door seals on my 968. These are the ones that mount to the door and go all around the perimeter of the door. The effect is noticable and this is after some serious treatment with Dynamat and new hatch and sun roof seals.
I would say that the effects are the obvioius ones
1. the car is slightly quiter overall with less wind/road noise and
2. the doors are noticably harder to close
I originally orderd the seals from Pelican for about $150 for the pair. When they arrived I noticed that they were of different design than the ones on the car. So I returned them and went to the dealer - and of course I paid twice as much...
I would say that the new seals were about 1/8 to 3/16 taller/thicker than the ones I took off the car and the rubber was also stiffer and harder to compress.
There was one unexpected benefit that might be of interest to you performance guys. Now that the wind and road noise has been reduced, the most prevalent sound is actually the sound of the motor coming through the windshield/ firewall. The bad news is that the sound coming from under the hood is much more noticable - the good news is that the music being made is sweet.
Happy Motoring,
Just an fyi for those contemplating the installation of new door seals or weather stripping.
As some of you know I'm of the daily driver/gran touring camp as opposed to performance/racing camp. I like my car quiter and more luxo which may or may not be your cup of tea.
Anyway - yesterday I installed new door seals on my 968. These are the ones that mount to the door and go all around the perimeter of the door. The effect is noticable and this is after some serious treatment with Dynamat and new hatch and sun roof seals.
I would say that the effects are the obvioius ones
1. the car is slightly quiter overall with less wind/road noise and
2. the doors are noticably harder to close
I originally orderd the seals from Pelican for about $150 for the pair. When they arrived I noticed that they were of different design than the ones on the car. So I returned them and went to the dealer - and of course I paid twice as much...
I would say that the new seals were about 1/8 to 3/16 taller/thicker than the ones I took off the car and the rubber was also stiffer and harder to compress.
There was one unexpected benefit that might be of interest to you performance guys. Now that the wind and road noise has been reduced, the most prevalent sound is actually the sound of the motor coming through the windshield/ firewall. The bad news is that the sound coming from under the hood is much more noticable - the good news is that the music being made is sweet.
Happy Motoring,
11-04-2004, 10:03 AM
#2
Racer
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Hey Phil..
Thats on my very long to do list... My seals are Ok for 15 years, but they need to be replaced. If I reach about 90mph I can hear the air start sucking at the seals, drop below and the sound changes as the seal close up again... anyway..... I was contemplating having it done at the guys that work on my car... but seeing as you've been down that road.... give me a rating 1 - 10 ( 10 = don't even try if you are looking for the engine in the back)
I've had a preliminary look to guage the size of the job, and besides a bit of glue... what am I missing?
Sorry for the long post....
Thats on my very long to do list... My seals are Ok for 15 years, but they need to be replaced. If I reach about 90mph I can hear the air start sucking at the seals, drop below and the sound changes as the seal close up again... anyway..... I was contemplating having it done at the guys that work on my car... but seeing as you've been down that road.... give me a rating 1 - 10 ( 10 = don't even try if you are looking for the engine in the back)
I've had a preliminary look to guage the size of the job, and besides a bit of glue... what am I missing?
Sorry for the long post....
11-04-2004, 10:14 AM
#3
Racer
Thread Starter
Hi,
This is the easiest maintenance I've ever done with the possible exception of replacing a fuse.
Total time per door is about 15 - 20 minutes. Unless too much glue was used, the old one should just peel off in one continuous strip. The new one should just slide into the same place on the door.
Start at the top rear corner of the door where the seal makes a 90 degree turn and work your way arround. At the bottom of the door are 2 or three places where the sheet metal is buckled slightly due to some manufacturing issue so you'll have to more carefully/forcefully work to get the seal to seat properly in there.
I didn't even use glue initially although I'm going to. There are some areas where the curves are severe enough that I'm sure the glue is required, but it did work without it. When I do the glue I'll also spend a few minutes cleaning out the old glue, but that won't be an issue.
I suspect you are getting more noise from around the doors than you think - it just gets more noticable as speed goes up. In my case it's not day and night, but I am conscious that with the exception of some exhaust note all noise seems to come from the engine bay instead of having some element of noise coming from all around me.
Cheers,
Phil
This is the easiest maintenance I've ever done with the possible exception of replacing a fuse.
Total time per door is about 15 - 20 minutes. Unless too much glue was used, the old one should just peel off in one continuous strip. The new one should just slide into the same place on the door.
Start at the top rear corner of the door where the seal makes a 90 degree turn and work your way arround. At the bottom of the door are 2 or three places where the sheet metal is buckled slightly due to some manufacturing issue so you'll have to more carefully/forcefully work to get the seal to seat properly in there.
I didn't even use glue initially although I'm going to. There are some areas where the curves are severe enough that I'm sure the glue is required, but it did work without it. When I do the glue I'll also spend a few minutes cleaning out the old glue, but that won't be an issue.
I suspect you are getting more noise from around the doors than you think - it just gets more noticable as speed goes up. In my case it's not day and night, but I am conscious that with the exception of some exhaust note all noise seems to come from the engine bay instead of having some element of noise coming from all around me.
Cheers,
Phil
11-04-2004, 10:17 AM
#4
Three Wheelin'
As you open and close the door over time it will get easier. My new seals were harder to close at first. Did you re-glue yours? I didn't but did scrape out all the old glue.
11-04-2004, 01:13 PM
#6
Drifting
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I need to replace the seals on the 968 too, but mine is a cab, so i'm guessing the seals are going to be REALLY expensive...
Phil, did you happen to notice how much the 968 Cab door seals were?
Phil, did you happen to notice how much the 968 Cab door seals were?
11-04-2004, 02:42 PM
#7
Instructor
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Phil- I'm about to replace my interior carpet, and I'd like to do weatherstripping down the road...does this mean I should put extra layers of dynamat up by the firewall/footwell?
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11-04-2004, 03:21 PM
#8
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It's on my "to do" list also, but a little way down at the moment. I did do the rear hatch seal as part of chasing down an annoying leak; it was likewise a very simple replacement and gave me immediate perceptable benefits. It bugs me that I hear the wind sucking through the doors above 90. Grrrr. I'm in your camp - I want to be able to do well into triple-digits quietly, smoothly, with nothing but the hum of the engine and the "whoosh" of the turbo. 
If you can't carry on a conversation without shouting, what's the point? If I wanted "bare bones, down & dirty" (such as with a race car), I'd go tear around on my bike for a while.
If you can't carry on a conversation without shouting, what's the point? If I wanted "bare bones, down & dirty" (such as with a race car), I'd go tear around on my bike for a while.
11-04-2004, 04:17 PM
#9
Racer
Thread Starter
Hi,
First off, no I don't have the prices on the cab door seals but I think that you can price them online at place like Pelican or even on the Porsche site. Go to your dealer site and see if you can find a link to ordering parts online.
Secondly - I think some Dynamat on the firewall would be a good idea and would help with engine noise.
However that is all conjecture onmy part. There may be noise that is coming through the cars ventilation system or elsewhere as well, but if if I had the carpet out and was doing that work I would put Dynamat all over the firewall, floor etc. It wouldn't take you long and it all helps. Another thing I'm contemplating is putting some insulation on the underside of the hood. I'm sure that would help some with the engine noise as well.
Don't use the regular Dynamat - use the Xtreme or some other brand that is similar. You will pay more but it will hug the curves and angles much better and regular Dynamat has a bit of a 'tar' smell to it. I wouldn't want that stuff all over the floors where the odor might seep into the car. I used the regular stuff behind the door panels and sometimes when I first get in the car I get the scent of it, but it vents out quickly.
I started to pull on my carpet to put Dynamat on the floor boards and firewall and discovered the carpet is glued down really tight. So given that the carpet is in pretty good shape I"m leaving well enough alone for now.
While you are doing the Dynamat thing also do the areas on and behind the rear wheel wells and the area where the spare sits. That panel that in the front of the spare is thin and resonates like a drum...
Phil
First off, no I don't have the prices on the cab door seals but I think that you can price them online at place like Pelican or even on the Porsche site. Go to your dealer site and see if you can find a link to ordering parts online.
Secondly - I think some Dynamat on the firewall would be a good idea and would help with engine noise.
However that is all conjecture onmy part. There may be noise that is coming through the cars ventilation system or elsewhere as well, but if if I had the carpet out and was doing that work I would put Dynamat all over the firewall, floor etc. It wouldn't take you long and it all helps. Another thing I'm contemplating is putting some insulation on the underside of the hood. I'm sure that would help some with the engine noise as well.
Don't use the regular Dynamat - use the Xtreme or some other brand that is similar. You will pay more but it will hug the curves and angles much better and regular Dynamat has a bit of a 'tar' smell to it. I wouldn't want that stuff all over the floors where the odor might seep into the car. I used the regular stuff behind the door panels and sometimes when I first get in the car I get the scent of it, but it vents out quickly.
I started to pull on my carpet to put Dynamat on the floor boards and firewall and discovered the carpet is glued down really tight. So given that the carpet is in pretty good shape I"m leaving well enough alone for now.
While you are doing the Dynamat thing also do the areas on and behind the rear wheel wells and the area where the spare sits. That panel that in the front of the spare is thin and resonates like a drum...
Phil
