By Corky Guenther
Sometimes I just don’t know which of the first two is appropriate. The latter becomes a necessity.
Early on during the refresh of our ’67 MGB, I ordered everything I thought I would need during reassembly, knowing full well that I would forget something, probably several things. That, while frustrating and the cause for self-flagellation, is nothing compared to the frustration incurred when simple parts previously ordered and put away don’t fit.
Such is the case with the gaskets for the tail lights and front marker lights for the B. I’ll confine this discussion to the tail light Body to Base gasket although the Lens to Base gasket and Front Marker gaskets exhibit the same symptoms. After first attempting to install the front marker lights and finding the gaskets too small I moved on to the tail light assemblies. Guess what? Both gaskets (Lens to Base and Base to Body) were too small and they were the gaskets supplied with the “Premium” assemblies. Obviously, they’ve never been assembled, just placed in a box. So just for giggles, I tried the Body to Base gaskets supplied with the paint kit. Same issue. So, I emailed the vendor explaining the problem and included several annotated photos. The response I received: “As far as the gaskets are concerned, there is variation from batch to batch, but from the photos it appears that the new gasket will likely suffice, its only job is to keep metal from touching metal, and if the thickness is correct, it should do that job. It may not be as long or wide as the older gasket, but it should work.”; and: “The current stock has been the same since at least 2010 – and we have no failures or returns due to quality on file.” emphasis mine. No complaints, really? Secondly, the gasket, in addition to preventing metal to metal contact, also provides a dust and water seal. Undersize seals leak. Our cars are driven so that’s important.
Next I ordered the items from two other vendors with the same results, undersized pieces. I sent emails with annotated photos to both new vendors with copies to the original vendor. Everybody is going to investigate. I placed another order with a fourth vendor (Canadian) since I was ordering something else from them anyway. Turns out they did not have the tail light Base to Body gasket and don’t plan to restock any of the ones I ordered as they are concentrating on their own products but, the other gaskets fit. Go figure.
A couple of comments: First, it doesn’t seem likely that there would exist more than one (maybe two) sets of dies to punch out each of these gaskets. I should also mention that the gaskets received with a front marker assembly were of a different material (thicker by about 50% - 3/16” vs. 1/8” and gray rather than black) and the correct size. Second, what is the likelihood that the dies would be deliberately designed to be something less than 95% of the original size? To minimum spec – possibly. To less than 95%? Not bloody likely, to coin a phrase. So, what’s the problem? I await the results of the promised investigations, but I’m still breathing regularly.
Alright, since I don’t want the car to leak into the boot, I decided to make my own gaskets. First I ordered some self-adhesive 1/8” closed cell foam. Second, since I had a damaged (bent) base from the collision precipitating the refresh, I was able to modify it by removing the bulb reflectors/sockets and straighten it sufficiently to use as a pattern. From there it was a matter of clamping the pattern on top of the foam and a piece of plywood on the bench and cutting around the pattern with an X-acto knife, marking the outlines for the reflectors/sockets, cutting them freehand and marking and punching the holes for the mounting studs. Then I peeled the protective backing from the adhesive and applied the gaskets to the tail light assembly. Voila! I should point out that the same “pattern” could have been used for the Lens to Base gasket as well merely by cutting the foam to fit just inside the base lip. Similarly a front marker body could be used for those gaskets since the same gasket is used between the lamp and car bodies and the lens and lamp body.
I probably could have saved both time and money by just ordering the foam and cutting my own gaskets to start with. But, who knew? The gaskets cost about $16.00 without shipping. I ordered multiples of some. I’ve been reimbursed for the material cost. It cost about $24.00 to ship the defective ones back to the three vendors. I probably invested 8 hours constructing annotated photographic documentation of the problem(s) – remember without pictures, it didn’t happen. The foam sheet cost about $20.00. I spent about 2 hours preparing the pattern and about an hour cutting the gaskets. My head hurts trying to do the math. Maybe that’s why there have not been any complaints. It costs more to ship the gaskets back than they are worth so it’s easier to fabricate a fix. Also takes less time than documenting problems with parts that cost from $1.20 to $2.50. Who knows? What does that say about me? Maybe I don’t want to know!
I still don’t know whether to laugh or cry but I’m pretty sure the boot will be dry – at least behind the tail lights.
