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Building a KIS Cruiser

Sealing Door Hinge

by

Bill Schertz, Feb, 2009


I just did an experiment on my door seals, opened the pilot side and poured water from a glass on the passenger side door hinges, both front and rear.

NO LEAKS

I used a rubber seal from http://www.aircraftdoorseals.com/ that is attached to the frame. There is a small space behind the seal that allows the water to drain off down the sideand exit on the outside.

The rubber seals come in 3/8 and 1/4 inch thick, 1/2 inch wide, with adhesive backing. You put them on, and then close the door and let it set for at least 24 hours. The first door closing is difficult, because you have to compress the foam. The foam then takes a set, and the subsequent closings are easy. I never leave the doors open overnight or longer, because the foam will gradually expand to the orginal dimension, but for several hours it is not a problem.

When I installed mine, I used the 3/8 thick, to fill the 1/4 gap that I had left. In the area of the door hinges, I cut the thickness down to ~3/16 where the hinge was going to close, then closed the door on it to compress it down to ~1/16. In putting it on the sides of the door, I had to do it in stages, because I couldn't get the door closed if all the foam were in place at once, so I put on a foot, let it set overnight, then put on another foot, and repeated until I had it all covered.