Replacing The Outer Sills - Follow Up

I finally finished replacing the sealing strip around the front door. These strips crimp the outer black rubber door seal to the door frame.

Rusty sealing strip....... 

Water creeps up inside these unseen. Don't let anyone tell you they have a rust-free DS if they haven't replaced these!

It was the UK Citroen car Club's 'D rally last weekend and I took the opportunity to order one of the front door sealing strips from Citroen Classics. They are a very awkward shape to post but Citroen Classics usually have a stall of parts for sale at the rally and will bring along parts ordered and paid for in advance. It was too good a chance to miss.

The crimping strips have a 'W' profile to grip the rubber seals outside the doors and the trim inside the cabin. 

The crimping strip is '1' in this drawing

Removing the old section.......

Cutting through the spot welds

...........revealed quite a horror story!

Not what I wanted to see!

Though it turned out it was only really the thin metal crimping strip - the bit I was replacing - that had rotted away. Crumbling pieces of old old dried seam sealant made it look worse than it was and the ridge of the chassis, that the channel fixes-to, was actually in quite good shape once it was cleaned up. 

Even though the strip I'd brought was shaped for the curve of the front door frame, some significant fettling was still needed to get them to fit the curve.

The patch doesn't quite follow the curve

Because the metal needs to be soft enough to be crimped, it's quite thin. Many DIY car hobbyists rely on MIG plug welding. The problem with thin strips are that they are difficult to plug weld with a MIG without burning through. There are modern automotive adhesives that could be used instead but, with the patch needing help to follow the curve of the door frame I wasn't convinced an adhesive would hold it and decided I would spot weld it - just as I had done with the other sections. 

Paint stripped off and ready to weld

I started welding at the top and forced the strip onto the seam as I went along. It was never going to follow the curve 100%, but I was pleased with the result. I plug welded the bottom part where it sits on the outer sill and it was every bit as tricky as I'de been told - especially for a welding novice like me. However i got there in the end and, with this past piece done, I'm one step nearer to painting the front half of the car!