TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Sep 07, 2008 2:53 pm

for my 69 camper, almost all my door rubber is rotted away and i get water in my car whenever i wash it. my problem is, door rubber is expesive, especially rear hatch rubber ($79 of sale at busdepot.) and it really adds up when you need to replace all the door seals and some of the weatherstripping on the windows too.
has anyone done homemade door seals using just some rubber or something from home depot or something?

thanks in advance guys.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 6:55 pm

The door seals need to be custom molded for a seal worth anything, so making one out of generic rubber probably won't work too well. If you can't do them all at once, I would recommend just working on them one at a time. They are a pain in the butt anyway to replace--I definitely would not want to take them all on at once.

Just keep in mind to not go and buy them by order of which one gets you the most wet when it rains. Instead, replace the ones that are likely to cause the most damage (rust) if left unattended and work in that order of priority.

In either case, make sure you are drying the vehicle out as good as possible with a towel at all pooling areas after you wash it or it rains. Also, spraying WD-40 all around the area is a way to temporarily protect those areas from rapid deterioration, but it is only temporary. You have to reapply the WD-40 once a week or so--it's just a get by until you replace the seals.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:30 pm

thanks dude ill be sure to do one at a time. like right now, if my back hatch water on it, it leaks down from the top and gets all over the westy bed and whatever i have back there, so thats one of the main seals i need to replace.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:45 pm

this is the best rear hatch seal I have found. You do not even have to glue it in! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VW-TYPE-2-BUS-REAR-...QQtcZphoto

I had first gotten a cheapo one from Bus Depot and it did not have molded upper corners. It made the water run in faster than if I had no seal in there.

Buy the best and have no regret.

Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:39 am

Like every one else, I wish you could do it correctly. However, if I had to rig seals. I would get some water pipe insulation. Hollow tubes of foam, available at hardware stores. I would cut it and glue it. Removing what did not work, and trying again. Good luck to you.

Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:51 am

Hmmm the rear hatch seal that I got from Bus depot was pretty good I thought. It looked grey too, and i thougth that it was defective! However, it fits into the mold without glue as well. At first, the door had to be slammed shut every time. Now though it closes really easily. I'm not sure if it leaks but in the few times I've washed the bus, it hasn't. :?

Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:56 pm

Yes I too bought the complete Busdepot seals (brazilian) and thus far:
Front door window channels/felt/scrappers were installed by a glass shop and the owner said it was the nicest fitting set he has installed to this day.
Rear hatch seal was real nice but I had to splice a 1" piece out, other than that fit was great no glue.
Sliding door seal was perfect, no glue or splice.
When I get the front door/engine lid seals done tomorrow I will update but I am very happy with the BD seals (Wish I could say the same for their headliner). vwdon

Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:59 pm

we had great luck with the german door seals from OeVeeDub. They are about 6 months old now and the doors shut and seal exactly like they came from the factory.

Glad to hear the brazilian ones fit now. They were too thick for ours when we tried them. We do lots of business with BD and Ron and his staff are good people.

Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:20 pm

Put on the BD "deluxe" mirrors. AWESOME!!!! Lots of great viewing/blind spot elimination. Well worht the money. Fit right in place of the OEM mirror. vwdon

Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:40 pm

vw donvieira wrote: Put on the BD "deluxe" mirrors. AWESOME!!!! Lots of great viewing/blind spot elimination. Well worht the money. Fit right in place of the OEM mirror. vwdon

Did you wake up this thread just to shill for BD? :roll:

I have always purchased German seals from Richard, (OEVD) as his shop is near my cabin...they never fail.

Sat Nov 21, 2009 3:45 am

no shill just very happy with the product. I don't see anyone else offering the mirrors and I was updating my rubber install. Should note I did comment (-) about the headliner. I don't shill about anybody unless it is desereved and I am sure the German seals are the finest but I am happy with the quality of what I received at a much lower cost by going Brazilian. vwdon

Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:59 am

vw donvieira wrote: Yes I too bought the complete Busdepot seals (brazilian) and thus far:
Front door window channels/felt/scrappers were installed by a glass shop and the owner said it was the nicest fitting set he has installed to this day.
Rear hatch seal was real nice but I had to splice a 1" piece out, other than that fit was great no glue.
Sliding door seal was perfect, no glue or splice.
When I get the front door/engine lid seals done tomorrow I will update but I am very happy with the BD seals (Wish I could say the same for their headliner).

To clarify on the origin of these seals, the rear hatch seal we ship is not Brazilian, but the same German one sold by the other vendors (despite the lower price). Similarly, our sliding door seal is either German or UK made, not Brazilian.

As for the front door seal kits, virtually none of the window seals are available in German. Even those sourced from Germany are made elsewhere. The best available quality is genuine VW/Brazil, and that's what we ship when we can get it (which is probably why your mechanic said they were the best fitting he'd ever seen). The front door seals themselves are available in a number of quality levels. The German ones are the only ones with the molded corners and are the best fit, followed by the OEM VW/Brazil ones. The various aftermarket options range from halfway acceptable to absolute cr*p. Our $100 front door seal kits come with the VW/Brazil door seals. You can upgrade to the German ones for the difference in price (about $40 per door) by requesting this in the "comments" section on checkout.

As for the headliner, shoot me a pm. They come from a well regarded manufacturer and we have not had any other complaints. Maybe you got the wrong one.