TR6 Outstanding TR-6 Fuzzy Door Seals

[Mark_Gibson]

I just received my new black door seals from TRF and they are exactly like my buddies original door seals on his 76 TR-6. I've gone thru many samples trying to find the original pattern for my restoration, and this is the real deal. Just thought someone else could save themselves the aggrevation of ordering something that doesn't look right, and definitely won't fit correctly.

Mark

 

[Guest]

Don't you hate it, Mark, when a spoil-sport jumps in. The seals I got from TRF for my TR6 lasted one year before they started to separate. Got the last set from Moss. Guess they will do the same. I think they all come from the same manufacturer, none of which are as good as OE. I haven't found one rubber good yet that was worth a darn. Every thing rubber on my resto-mod has been changed after a few years. Just the tops seem to last, till some a-hole takes a shank to them.

Bill

Bill

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi Mark,

I hope your new "draught excluders" hold up well.

I have an odd situation on my TR4. It doesn't have fuzzies.

I'm not sure if the previous owner changed them. That seems unlikely since the car was "just" 13 years old when I bought it and he hadn't done many changes to the interior. The only things I'm certain he changed inside the cockpit is installing poor quality, vinyl in place of the original leather seat covers and adding a "street" roll bar.

Perhaps the non-fuzzy seals on my car came that way from the factory. They are a rough textured plastic, similar to what's used in many other cars and are a good color match for the original Midnight Blue interior. I thought maybe the factory used these with this rather rare interior color (for a TR4). Perhaps they had difficulty getting fuzzy type seals to match. (All the repro interiors and fuzzies that I've seen are Shadow Blue, which is much lighter.)

Does anyone here know if cars were sometimes fitted with something other than the fuzzy type of "draught excluders"?

P.S. "Draught excluder" sounds to me like something to prevent you from drinking your beer... but that's what they fuzzies are called in the original spare parts catalog.

Cheers!

Alan

 

[Mark_Gibson]

I'm not sure if the TR4 came with fuzzy door seals or not. I would think you could find out at the VTR website tho. As for the new seals from the RF, they come with a 5 year guarantee not to fall apart like some you've mentioned Bill. I had installed a "new" set from VB and realized the rubber seal was way too big; you had to wind up and slam the door to get it to close. These seals at least look like the originals and allow me to close the doors without slamming them. How long they last will remain to be seen I guess.

Mark

 

[Geo Hahn]

I think 4s generally had the fuzzy seals but as Alan notes the Midnight Blue interior was rather rare, confined mainly to use on Powder Blue TR4s. Perhaps some alternate materials were used to match this color.

 

[MDCanaday]

The tr4 had a fuzz draft excluder that had no seal, the seal went into a chanel on the posts and rocker.This often rusted away to nothing and was replaced with whatever the PO could find. The 4 has trouble using the latter style fuzzy with seal because the lower corner of the door is different where the seal hits the door.
I recently gave up my dream of getting tan fuzzys for my 6,The black is all there is likely to be from now on. But there are 2 levels of quality to be had (per TRF) Get the good stuff is my motto(when you replace the cheaper stuff in 2 years you'll know why)
MD(mad dog)

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi again,

Oh yeah! TR4s use separate rubber and trim seals. Later cars use the one-piece design. I'd forgotten that change.

I was referring to just the trim seal, normally a "fuzzy" on TR4s I believe. But, possibly non-fuzzy on some. I notice J.C. Whitney offers a "universal" plastic trim seal that looks very similar to what is on my car. Don't know if they have the right color, though, especially since their weekly catalogs are largely printed in black and white on recycled newsprint. I'll look on their website, but it's not usually a great deal more helpful.

Mark, I've asked aroudn and never gotten a solid answer. TR4s in general seemed to all have fuzzies. The Midnight Blue interior might or it might not explain the odd, non-fuzzy trim on my car. Geo, I've confirmed through the BMIHT certificate that this car was originally built with Spa White exterior paint over Midnight Blue leather interior. I plan to return it to the original colors. (Currently signal red/assorted primers and black vinyl interior).

Back to the original theme here, I agree that TRF is generally a very good source of quality materials.

For me, the best comparison of TRF parts with others came by chance. I found I had three complete sets of rear axle bolt locking plates on hand, still sealed in original packages, one from each of the "big three". The ones from TRF were zinc plated, nice and shiney. The ones from both VB and Moss were plain stamped steel and arrived pre-rusted. All were perfectly usable and would do the job, but the TRF items obviously got a little more quality control attention. John Swauger and others at TRF clearly appreciate feedback on any problem items and will try to improve on items whenever possible.

Now, if they could just resolve some of their backorder issues!

I'm currently awaiting some parts ordered in early January. Easily two thirds of the items on the initial order were backordered. Items have been straggling in one at a time for 3+ months. (Watch out, separate shipping charges add up, although the original order was large enough to earn free shipping.)

On another order in February, the single most important and urgent item was confirmed as in stock on the phone at the time the order was placed. But, it too ended up backordered and has yet to arrive.

But their "Guiness world record" with me came when they sent a note last October, a part had finally arrived but my credit card info was out of date, from a 1999 order! Fortunately, it wasn't a critical item.

Patience is a virtue, right?

Cheers!

Alan

 

[KVH]

?????: Outstanding TR-6 Fuzzy Door Seals

I have a question. The prior owner put fantastic "door seals" on my TR4A. I haven't been able to find them anywhere, at least by catalogue description. They are sort of "laced" with a black and gold criss/cross pattern. They really look great (classic), but I want a new on at least one door, due to some fraying. Any clues? It's hard to explain, but these seals add a lot to the look of the vehicle. thx

 

[Mark_Gibson]

Re: ?????: Outstanding TR-6 Fuzzy Door Seals

Alan,

I have the same problems with TRF. Wonderful parts, but the backorder stuff just drives me crazy. I've had a sunvisor kit on BO for 3 months now, waititng for one part in the kit. Patience is definitely the order of the day as far as TRF is concerned!

Mark