Agree with others - thanks to Les for being a part of this forum, and for responding to all comments, whether positive or negative. Good to see also that posts are not getting rude or personal, as I've no doubt they would on some other forums that I frequent.
Les, it looks like I'll be needing a full set of door rubbers for an LC sedan which I am currently working on. It is a low km car with no damage to doors, apart from a slightly sagged LHF door (which is one of the things we'll be fixing). I haven't used rubber magic before, but if it works as you say, I'll be keen to try it. I was going to give it a go on my LX hatch, but this car is in storage while I work on the LC.
I'll have a chat to Ian or Andrew in SA about the door rubbers, fitting them, and rubber magic, and I hope to be finishing the LC off by end January or early February. If all goes well, I can give some recent first hand feedback then.
Just a few personal observations about door seal fitting and car condition - LCs and LJs do not have much room at all at the front edge of the front doors for the door seal to compress, ie the gap between the A pillar section and the front face of the door. If there is any rust inside the A pillar which pushes the outer panel out at all (and this might not even be visible from the outside, as it is a triple panel), or if there are a few more coats of paint (or bog) on these panels, then that can make the problem much worse. I reckon it is this area which is causing the doors to be difficult to shut. Saging hinges is also a factor, but not as big a one, I reckon. Having said that, the doors (Rarespares door seals) on my XU-1 are still bloody hard to shut after 14 years, even thought it spends 99.9% of its time with the doors shut. This car is in A1 condition - no rust, no door sag, no dodgy repair work - maybe just a little more paint on the A pillar and door than original. One thing with LC/LJs too - don;t ever use the door handle, or just in front of it to push on to shut the door - you will dent it eventually. I always push on the window surround, or the window itself to shut the door.
As for the LX hatch seals (can't comment on the sedan ones, as I haven't used them) although the door shutting problem is far less of an issue, the Rarespares seals seem to be just a litle wider, or not sit as flat on the trailing edge of the door. If the door hinge has sagged at all, or if the seal is not glued down flat across this whole area, I've found the seal to catch on the B pillar plastic panel, and make the door harder to shut. I also think that the Rarespares seal hasn't got the same corner shape on the top rear corner of the door as the original seals.
Lastly, one other thing for all of us to keep in mind - yes, the doors used to shut easily with the old door seals fitted, but don't forget that it may be because the seals aren't sealing too well anymore, allowing the air pressure caused inside the car by shutting the last door to be dissipated. Fit a whole set of new seals, and you've improved the sealing of the car, which may well make that last door harder to shut.
Over all, I'm glad we have Rarespares around, to keep our cars in good nick and on the road
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