MkIII door window channel seals

The MKIII Elf had a two-part window channel seal, the first part is a fabric-covered u-channel, felt lined. This extends down inside the door, the window slides in it. The second part is a rubber seal, it fits in the upper (window frame) part of the door, on the indoors side of the u-channel.

Down inside the door, at a point even with the door lock, the Elf window channel becomes narrower, one side of it jogs away from inner door skin, towards the outer door skin. It is narrower for about 4 inches, then goes back to its original dimension. This provides room for the handle mechanism to get behind the channel. The original metal u-channel is not as wide as the channel inside the door, to clear the narrowed zone it is spaced over to that side of the metal door frame. In the window-opening part of the frame, it is spaced over by the rubber seal piece. At the bottom, inside the channel, two spring clips hold it in place.



I purchased a pair of window channel seals for a wind-up window Mini, hoping they would fit the Elf. Part numbers are PAM3076 and PAM3077. The PAM3076/7 are one-piece units, with part of the window channel cut away about a foot from one end. I see now that these are not going to work.

I found the following information in the Somerford Minis catalog:

"Doors - Riley and Wolseley MkIII Saloons

Doors on these cars were very similar in most respects to the familiar wind-up window, internally-hinged doors used on Minis from 1969 onwards. It is, however, preferable to find original, repairable second hand doors to use; if this proves impossible then the replacement door assemblies listed here can be regarded as a starting point. The difficulty lies in the areas of the doors which accept the lock mechanisms and interior lock levers, which are completely different. As a result, considerable metal working skills will be required to to make the replacement doors useable."

I have not found a source for the original u-channel, or for a seal/channel that I could modify to fit the Elf.

Can anyone suggest a source? Thank you,

J.R.

Have a chat with Nigel Coles of Phoenix Supplies (they cover most of the mini shows) Tele 01884 849294 mob 07795 660194 or email phoenixsupplies@hotmail.com if their website is up and running yet (I'm not sure) www.phoenixminitrim.com

thank you, I will try them tomorrow.

I'd be interested in finding some of these as well. Let us know what you come up with.

I might be able to make the MkIII Mini replacement seals work. I might be able to reverse the Mini right-hand door seal to make it work in the Elf left-hand door. I will give it a try and post results here.

[edit] I decided to do some more searching first, before cutting anything. I found a USA supplier, they have all kinds of window channel. Their part number 8-A-2 appears to be the same as the Elf channel.

its on page 8 of their catalog here: http://www.restorationspecialties.com/catalog.htm