Door rubber metal channels - tips?
 

Hello.

Has anyone got any tips as to how to replace the metal channels on the doors that hold the rubbers in place? They were spot welded on every inch from the factory. I could drill holes every inch or so on the new channel and then weld them on, but I will not be able to clean the weld back smooth for the rubber to slide in as they are too narrow for any grinding tool I can think of/have. I could weld the outside of the channel but that would not look good and would almost definitely burn through the edges of the thin channel. Any bright ideas gratefully accepted, thanks.

Clean and prepare , then weld smal spot welds along edge and use a needle sander to clean up or use a grinder carefully no other way other than sticking them on with liquid metal but most fail when they have tried in past .

It’s one of those jobs horrible but much needed 😎👍
All the best

Kind regards
Robert.w

If you aren't hung up on originality too much then this may be an alternative:~

I own a Riley that has aluminum channel sections holding the door seals- flat bottomed with rounded sides, on this car it is screwed into the door frame with self tapping screws - I use stainless (countersunk holes- wood framed doors/body)
You may be able to do similar or adapt to suit etc.

(The Volvo 240 uses the channel sections you mention - spot welded & can rust out)
Trust it helps.
Bob.

Mine were pop rivetted in place when I redid the bottom of one of my doors. Whether original or not, I couldn't say, but I used the same fixing method to reattach them.

Thanks all. I'm still chewing this one over. I'm going to also take a long look at
aftermarket modern seals that use adhesive to attach and see what I can find.

This company has some:~ https://coh-baines.co.uk/
Bob

Wonder if you could Tig plug, or braze or solder them in place.

I was thinking about this problem because my doors had seal channels that were damaged and rather than replace them, I just glued the seals into the channel where required with seal adhesive.

But there might be a day when I need to do a better job. My thought is that you can epoxy the channels in place. In the States I use a two part paste epoxy by JB Weld. I might use sheet metal screws at strategic places (near the corners and bends) to hold the channels in position, with the plan to remove those screws once the channels are in place and fill the hole with additional epoxy. I would also probably let the epoxy ooze up in that bend along the sides for additional strength.

My understanding is that cars are now assembled with "structural panel adhesive" so I might also consider that option - although it is probably just another form of epoxy.

On the straight runs, you might also consider a structural contact adhesive. I've done a few small projects using contact cement and the results have been satisfactory.

I would use countersunk pop rivets but make sure you have a countersunk tool that fits into the channel

I haven't looked but how expensive are spot welders? One of those would do the job properly. Given the amount some people spend on parts and equipment to do a good restoration surely this would be a good investment and could be used in many areas. It could even pay for itself by offering to fit other peoples channels as well. Or just sell it when you've finished.