Door seal question RV-10

Gents
I have noticed two part numbers for the McMaster door seal material.
Pn 1120A311 and 1120A313. It looks like the difference is the thickness of the material that the seal is attached to. Which one is correct.
Also wondering if the material removed fron the standard door opening area to accomodate the seal causes any appreciable strength loss in that area.
Last, I notice that in Vans catalogue for engines , there is a after one of the 540 model numbers, What does the stand for.
Just finishing a 12 now, sold my 6A a month ago.
Thanks to all .
Dale

re: (Y)

One of the engines comes with a ring gear with 2 belt grooves (one for alternator, one for air conditioning); other just one (for alternator). I don't know which is which! But standard alternator in finish kit is for the one groove set up.

Something else to know is that there are two types of grooves available in the ring gear for an air conditioning belt. V belt and Serpentine (the latter preferred).

I thought the Y indicates a Lycoming engine that was sold through Vans specifically.

dhmoose said:

I thought the Y indicates a Lycoming engine that was sold through Vans specifically.

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That used to be true, when it was a prefix, e.g., YIO-540 was an experimental engine (XIO-) sold thru Vans. But now the Y is a suffix.

i was wondering which seal is the right one as well. guess the engine question took over.

You want the thinner seal. That said, I don't use them. My doors get a thin layer of padding and I use a pinch welt which is the same thing without the sealing bulb. The welt seals all around the door, can be adjusted, and you don't have to cut away the door gutters. Saves a lot of hours. Also, no seal bulb for people to drag their feet and stuff on.

Seal

Actually, I think most people opt for the seal that fits on the 1/4" surface. One seal is for 3/16" and the other for 1/4". The bulb is the same diameter for either seal and it is 3/8".

Using the 1/4" part number, you will end up building up the cabin top flange to about 1/4". There are a couple of areas that are actually thicker than 1/4" so these get trimmed down.

As far as the strength goes...well, as an observation, many people have done this mod with no known issues other than a substantial amount of work...

I am working on it now and can attest to the additional labor. I like the finished look of the mcmaster seal...once again I think it comes down to what YOU want to do. From talking to guys that have completed it, it looks nice and works exceptionally well.

McMaster seal

Ya, I would try the 1120A411 which is the same bulb as the 311 but has a 1/4" lip. The 311 has a 3/16" lip. I started carving my top for the 411 and ended up with the 311. Make sure you at least have a 1/4" gap between the lip and the inner door skin for either the 311 or 411 to fit. Otherwise, there is too much pressure for the pins.

Strasnuts said:

Ya, I would try the 1120A411 which is the same bulb as the 311 but has a 1/4" lip. The 311 has a 3/16" lip. I started carving my top for the 411 and ended up with the 311. Make sure you at least have a 1/4" gap between the lip and the inner door skin for either the 311 or 411 to fit. Otherwise, there is too much pressure for the pins.

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I agree with Sean. There is also another variation, which is which side of the channel is the small barb. You want it on the inside of the cabin.

You will need to add a couple layers of glass strips to build the door back up to 1/4". This will help with compensating the strength lost when the rain gutter was removed.

I used the quarter inch seal

I choose the 1/4 in seal.

I cut off the lip that curled back towards the door, then extended the existing lip by: Drilling and inserting steel pins every 2-3 inched. Making an additional lip using Bondo fiberglass filler. Many applications, much sanding. The bottom lip has to be moved (inboard I think) quite a bit. Made 1/4 gauge to sand the lip to exactly 1/4 while at the same time keeping the lip 1/4 inch from the door.

Made a special fixture to sit inside the canopy and open and close the door to measure. A 1/2 wide belt sander was very handy.

I made up a fixture for my dremel and machined a groove on the inside for the seal barb to snap into.

It was a lot of work... but I am happy with the results.

Jack,

Any chance of you taking pics of the tools/ jigs you built? Doors are still a long way away but if you've found a way to make this arduous task easier, I'm not shy. I'll copy your work with glee!

I used the 311. Not sure what all the hubbub is about with regards to building the lip back up. I just cut it back to parallel to the door, and had to sand the heck out off bunch of areas to get it thin enough to fit. Wasn't really that bad and came out great. The doors fit great and esp with the third latch, they pull in nice and tight all the way around.
Maybe my cabin top is different than others, but the gutter on mine was super thick.