Issues replacing the tailgate rubber seal on a RRC

Better wall thickness but it does look a little small.
See what it's like fitted & how much it squashes.

I'm particularly concerned because my lower tailgate is decidedly skewed. It fits perfectly flush to the right wing, but protrudes about 8mm on the left. I might have to post pics for a better explanation. The old seal coped with this gap. Just hoping the FF seal
can do the same. At least the lower tailgate strikers are easy to adjust!

As in level across the top & aligns with wing but sticks out rearwards?
Photo would help.
Presuming external closing lever?

Ratae said:

As in level across the top & aligns with wing but sticks out rearwards?
Photo would help.
Presuming external closing lever?

Click to expand...

Hi. Yes, an external handle. It is level across the top, but the entire left side doesn't lie flush with the wing (almost like the tailgate is hinged on the right-hand side!). I'll post a photo, but the RR is confined to my father's garage until I can make her watertight!

inthshed said:

Hi. Yes, an external handle. It is level across the top, but the entire left side doesn't lie flush with the wing (almost like the tailgate is hinged on the right-hand side!). I'll post a photo, but the RR is confined to my father's garage until I can make her watertight!

Click to expand...

I'm trying hard to remember, its been years since I've owned a Classic. Is there any shims that can be removed/added where the tailgage bolts to the hinge? I don't remember there being any adjustment where the hinge mounts to the rear crossmember, think its welded in place.

Had mine off a few times but can't remember any shims. Lines up fine, so I've never had a reason to see if any of the slam plates etc are adjustable.
Few things come to mind:
Damaged hinge?
Bent tailgate?
Not had a crossmember at some point that hasn't been lined up properly before it was welded?

Ratae said:

Had mine off a few times but can't remember any shims. Lines up fine, so I've never had a reason to see if any of the slam plates etc are adjustable.
Few things come to mind:
Damaged hinge?
Bent tailgate?
Not had a crossmember at some point that hasn't been lined up properly before it was welded?

Click to expand...

I've only had her for a year, and am unaware of any major damage historically. I'll have to take a closer look at the hinge to see if it is bent.

I've removed tailgates before: simple enough job, just undo the four retaining bolts on the hinges and pull! Unfortunately, someone has covered the inside of this tailgate with a sheet of protective rubber, which is fixed into place by 20 plus rivets! I just haven't had the time (or the heart) to drill them all out to see what lurks beneath. Strangely, there are (only) two very shiny boltheads protruding from the rubber, roughly where I would expect to find these retaining bolts.....I suppose it's possible has used two bolts instead of four?

Two photos attached, but they were taken in a rush, after I had removed the Britpart seal, and so the strikers are way out, and I now realise that I hadn't fully closed the lower tailgate....which certainly doesn't stick out THIS much! That said, the left is out further than the right.

The photos make the tailgate look very low.
I think you're going to need to remove the rubber sheet to see what's going on.
Could be hiding a multitude of sins.
Mines got the usual carpet held on with self tappers.

Update:
Island 4x4 have contacted Britpart about their oversized door seal and have received a refund...I'm assured that this will be passed on to me shortly.
The Famous Four version fitted pretty well, although unfortunately, the top horizontal channel had rusted out in places which caused the seal to lift up when I closed the upper tailgate
.

I removed the tailgate (again), wire brushed it back, primed and sprayed it in Sahara Dust, then, because the tailgate was lifting the seal out of the half-channel, used Tiger Sealant to bond the seal into place....not a pretty sight!

Tiger Seal - not easy to apply neatly!

So, good news and bad!
Despite a huge amount of Tiger Seal, the rubber still gets lited out of place on the upper horizontal bit of the goal post.
However! This does not appear to affect its ability to keep water out!
The original leak (on the left hand side) has gone and my spare wheel well no longer fills with water.
There is a 'new' leak where the lower tailgate meets the new seal, but I think I have resolved this with more Tiger Sealant pumped into and around the metalwork.
The upper tailgate was an absolute nightmare to close, and it took an hour of finnigling to adjust the strikers to the point where they both lock. I finally got them both to lock into place, but they need a full-on CPR like chest compression on each corner to achieve this...as Mrs C is several kilos lighter than me, I'm not going to recommend she tries this.
I'll keep an eye on the upper seal. Worse case, I'll trim it out, clean off all the black gunk, and re-insert the upper strip of the original seal (which is considerably flatter than the new one, wasn't leaking, and might have a sufficiently low profile to not get scooped up by the tailgate as it opens.)
The lower tailgate is still out of alignment. One day I'll strip off the rubber matting and have a look at what is causing this!

Hmm. Not quite what I was hoping to hear. Will stick with my Frankenseal for the moment.
As it's an ally one I always press on the corners of my upper tailgate when closing.

If your seal is maintaining its integrity, I wouldn't jump ship just yet for a shiny new one. I'm pretty sure my tailgate is aluminium as well. It looks so ridiculously brand new compared to its surroundings (including the locking mechanism). I keep meaning to bring a magnetic with me to check!

If pressed in the middle the ally ones can bow ever so slightly.

Bit of a resurrection, but been looking at the shape of the seals again & esp the pics from intheshed.
Found this site & I wonder if the seal intheshed got from FF is the same as this, unfortunately he doesn't seem to have logged in since Jan this year:
https://sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=68#86 Scroll up to 'Jaguar seals'.
https://sealsdirect.co.uk/pdf/ATJ1929DR.pdf