Sunday, May 17, 2009

Glove Box Door Seal Install

If I were to do this all over again I would:
1) Put the glove box door to the side.
2) Apply Super WeatherStrip to both the metal glove box door and the strip -- running my finger along it to make it smooth.
3) Let them both dry.
4) Cut several pieces of painters tape and put aside.
5) Apply a new coat of WeatherStrip to only the rubber gasket. Avoid using too much. This stuff goes a long long way.
6) Carefully and quickly put the gasket on the glove box frame.
7) Tape it down with fierce pressure.
8) Put the glove box door on.
9) Close and lock the door so as to ensure the gasket has pressure on it and that the gasket fits properly.
10) Peel the tape back and quickly wipe up any excess. This stuff will eat your paint. You need to clean it up immediately and while it is still wet and wipes up like rubber cement. If it even thinks about drying you are too late.

My advice is, prep and practice a dry run so you do not have any excess to wipe up and use a black Super Weathership to match the gasket. It's tricky business because if you skimp on the sealant it will not hold your gasket in place. But if you use too much you will make a terrible mess that can't be 100% cleaned up.
I am not happy with the outcome of mine. My error was in the lack of prep. It could have been a cleaner job. I had to go back a second time and reapply sealant to a couple spots.

I usually use 3m Super WeatherStrip and I have a bias for that brand.

Note: I suspect that the absolute best way to do this is to purchase Super Weatherstrip Tape (made by 3M). It's double stick tape. Tape it to the gasket and cut the excess off. It will provide a cleaner and more consistent seal. This tape cost a lot more than the actual glue I used, but my glue job is just okay. The tape job would be perfect! There is also a 3m spray mount style adhesive that may also work extremely well. My mentor, Tom G., uses contact cement.

Broken fuel rod lever

It is rare that the metal fuel rod levers spin or come off the fuel rod. It is much more likely to happen to a plastic one.

I was so surprised when my brand new fuel rod lever came off the rod when I turned it. I wrote my mentor Tom G. about how to handle it. I suggested JB Weld.

Tom said:

Hi Jeremy. I've seen that happen with the new plastic fuel rods, but not (until now) with the all metal ones). I don't think JB is going to do the trick for this -- but I guess it is worth a try. If you do, you might want to slight rough up both surfaces to be joined with a dremel, to promote adhesion.

Another method, and a surer one I think would be drilling straight through the handle and rod to the other side, then tapping the hole, and screwing a small diameter machine screw right through. You might use an aluminum machine screw, and then cut off and peen the ends, and polish. Will probably look good, but quite a bit of work to salvage a not too expensive part.


At this point, I believe a replacement part is what is called for. I emailed the dealer, Gene M. of Scooters O (he's a really good guy), and he asked me to try JB Weld first. If not, he'd exchange it. He is also looking at his batch of fuel rods to ensure the rest are okay.

Note: Just graze it if you use a Dremel as I did loose the tight tight fit it had.