[torakki]

Hi. I know my car isn't for this audiance but I thought I come to the best. I have a 911 front trunk, that when mocking up, all edges line up flat with fenders. After paint and a rubber trunk seal/gasket, the center of the trunk will not match up with the fenders. The seal is holding the trunk out up to 1/2" in the center. The rear where the hinges are, is fine and the front where the hood latch holds it, is fine. Any ideas on how to fix this and still have the trunk seal in place? I've thought of trying to raise the fenders but that would cause more issues. Thank you for any suggestions. Here are photos.

[painted jester]

This is common especially with a lot of the stuff their selling now! It should settle down with time if not change it! some of the seals sold now are stiffer or actually sized wrong! your at the suppliers mercy. Ive seen people try to cut em heat em stretch em etc, it just makes a mess! Some seals I get for doors are like automatic door openers you push the button and the door flies open and it takes a month to settle in! Im taking for granted theres nothing under your new seal when you installed it.

Jester

[tech69]

this is usually something you deal with before paint. If metal touches metal with no latch and it's lined up something will go wrong later with your seals. I try to look for it to hang a little low before metal on metal happens. You might want to look for another supplier or get another and figure out a clean way to shave it down some. The problem your dealing with is something I dealt with on old Chevy truck doors...what nightmares!

[torakki]

OK, Thanks for the responses. Yea, this seal is on the stiff side. But it's been, maybe 2 years, since paint was done and trunk was attached, (spent lots of time putting this all together) and no difference. I can call my supplier tomorrow and see if this is an oem seal or aftermarket. I'll guess, aftermarket. I know, I've gotten front window seals in the past, that don't have curves built into them so when they go around the corner of the glass, they buckle up. I'll also have to take a close look at the seal to see if it can be shaved. It seems to have a complex design to it though.

Thanks again for the help,
Bob

[General Martok]

Your 911 is welcome here ,why wouldn't be.

Do you know what the seal is made of,certain chemicals will soften rubber.

[torakki]

I really don't know what the seal is made of other then a kind of rubber. I think, one of the problems is that it sits in a channel and there is no room for the rubber to compress as the trunk is closed. It is aftermarket and the supplier has offered me a credit of it's value towards an OEM at twice the price. I'm a little concerned about pulling this one off and cleaning the channel without damaging surrounding paint. Also, I have an old 912 parts car that has 90% of it's trunk seal, I could lay it in the channel to see if the trunk closes corectly with that one. Hum? This is a two coffee pot think over....
Thanks for the reply.
Bob

[Supercharged03]

I'd check the channel that holds the seal for high spots. Have you confirmed that the channel is parallel to the edges of the trunk deck? Maybe the high spot in the channel is closer to the hinge and latch than to the midpoint where the gap is most prominent.