Door rubber metal channels - tips?

[amazon69]

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.

[123GT-AMAZON]

Originally Posted by amazon69

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

[Bob Meadows]

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.

[norustplease]

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.

[amazon69]

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.

[Bob Meadows]

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

[Burdekin]

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

[Underdrive]

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.

[Derek UK]

You would likely need special arms for doing this. They would need to be small and pointed at the ends and maybe cranked to to fit inside the corners of the door. If you use a copper pad on a handle to go inside the door you can use a mig if you make holes in the trim to allow it to be plug welded. This trick can also be used to close small holes in panels as long as you can get the copper pad behind the hole. Welding wire doesn't stick to the copper.

[Salop Farmer]

The 544 has similar metal channels to hold door seals. I was forced to make new ones from 1mm sheet on a bender. I drilled them 6mm dia. every 50 mm and flood welded to door frame with Mig welder. Any excessive weld was carefully ground off with the edge of grinding disc on 4.5”angle grinder. Hope this helps.