No, this image is not of the contents of my car boot sale. There have been discussions here about the efficiency of the front boot sealing from time to time and it has been pointed out that the original seal is not all that good. I haven't had a particular problem with rain driven into it and luckily I have a very close fit where the bonnet meets the wings. But in winter I can feel that the icy wind is rushing through the gaps around the switches from under the bonnet. I bought some bargain compressible rubber seal from Lidl last week, like you do;

MAL_6297 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

It was intended to improve existing rubber seals on a sliding door to the house. It did just that and worked a treat, but I had 8 meters in total so a few metres left over So I stuck it on the top of the existing bonnet rubber. It stuck very well, took all of thirty seconds to do and it even helps the bonnet to release better when I want to fill up with petrol because of the slight additional compressibility. Only bad thing is that it's brown and increase the mods to my car.

Wow looks good!
Is that a standard D shaped rubber seal?
I was looking at getting a 14mm wide by 12mm high D shaped seal as I have nothing at the moment. Do you think that size would fit well?
How does one fit them?
Thanks for any tips!

I think the contents of your boot add a new meaning to "What essentials do I need to take on a road trip"....

Do I see two oil containers? didn't think you burnt that much,...
and a funnel... is that for filling up the washer water?
the fuel filler and oil cap are of a reasonable size..

BambinoClassic said:

Wow looks good!
Is that a standard D shaped rubber seal?
I was looking at getting a 14mm wide by 12mm high D shaped seal as I have nothing at the moment. Do you think that size would fit well?
How does one fit them?
Thanks for any tips!

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I'm looking for the box that the seal came in and will get the measurements. This one is a"P" shape but "D" would be fine. Your sizing sounds fine but if your bonnet sits well at the moment you want the seal to be as minimal as possible under compression. My recommendation applied to the UK as Lidl has odd items like this for a few weeks at a time and then they disappear. It couldn't have been easier to fit, with a self-adhesive strip with just enough sticky to hold well but allow repositioning....although it actually almost falls into place.
The original style seal is meant to be secured using rubber pegs which push through holes in the strip and on the top of the wing and the front panel; you can see them in my image. But this is a poor fixing method and the holes simply let rainwater right into the inner arch and the spare-wheel well...places which are always very rusty on an unrestored car. I recommend using panel adhesive, impact adhesive or PU sealant to fix a seal unless it comes with its own sticky, and block the holes, if they exist, using a similar product. I think this is an area that is often given insufficient attention when people slavishly try to emulate the original without working out its function; I was one of those people.:bang:

Bigvtwin996 said:

I think the contents of your boot add a new meaning to "What essentials do I need to take on a road trip"....

Do I see two oil containers? didn't think you burnt that much,...
and a funnel... is that for filling up the washer water?
the fuel filler and oil cap are of a reasonable size..

Click to expand...

Essentials even for a trip to Sainsbury's.
The one oil container is only to be used in a real emergency as it's a little bottle of 10W40 that I bought at a remote filling station one day when I noticed the rocker cover hadn't been tightened properly and I had lost a lot of oil when I was 60 miles from home. The grey container contains a bottle jack as I don't have (or trust) the original. The funnel is because I hate the smell of spilled petrol and I'm too tight to buy a new fuel can after losing the spout. Incidentally, the funnel is very useful when topping up engine oil because the filler is in an awkward location which even makes using my proper, old-fashioned, Castrol filler jug hard work.:bang:
The ziplock plastic bag contains spares such as ignition leads, bulbs, a coil, a gear linkage rubber, driveshaft splined rubber connector, spark-plugs and a fully assembled distributor with brand new Marelli condenser (never yet needed). There are blocks of wood to help support the jack and for other uses and in addition to the original Fiat tool set there is obviously a good selection of my newest and best tools as applicable to the car.
I'm your man if you break down on your 500.

Bigvtwin996 said:

I think the contents of your boot add a new meaning to "What essentials do I need to take on a road trip"....

Do I see two oil containers? didn't think you burnt that much,...
and a funnel... is that for filling up the washer water?
the fuel filler and oil cap are of a reasonable size..

Click to expand...

I am quite surprised any draughts actually manage to make their way past the contents of the bonnet.

I think it gets "funnelled" in.

I noticed when I was driving at the high way this summer and had plenty of time to fool around inside the car and noticed things you can't in the traffic that there was air coming from behind the Speedo, ashtray, lighter switches and every other hole on the dash so what I am thinking is to seal all those with tape since my heater is deactivated and it is really chilly during winter.
Thomas

gordinir8 said:

it is really chilly during winter.

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No,o,o,o Thomas .... don't destroy my illusions about warm and sunny Greece.

But I have to tell you that one of the delights of the Fiat 500 is driving along in the cold weather feeling toasty warm and seeing if you can bear to touch the base of the handbrake lever as it superheats.

My bonnet-seal mod. has made a big difference to the air rushing in, but previously I have sealed up some unused holes in the sloping panel under the fuel tank, which made a slight improvement.

well...... the other option...
I once had a different Italian car and the boot space at the back had a zip over cover that prevented water and such entering the luggage space...

No I am not suggesting such a complex modification, but just a few strips of industrial cling film or a bin liner and gaffer tape...

too much over engineering...

Bigvtwin996 said:

I am not suggesting such a complex modification, but just a few strips of industrial cling film or a bin liner and gaffer tape

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That wouldn't work for me as I wouldn't be able to access my collection of oil funnels.
I'm surprised that no-one has offered the simple suggestion of not using the car in the winter so as to avoid the draughts.

fiat500 said:

That wouldn't work for me as I wouldn't be able to access my collection of oil funnels.

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complications.....
simply gaffer tape in a couple of strips of Velcro

Well I had an enjoyable morning because it was spent doing a quick, easy and successful job on a 500. How many of those are there?!

Very happy with this seal. As with Peter, I not only get a better seal but the bonnet releases more easily.

I used a 14mm wide by 12mm high seal and it’s perfect.
Plus it was less than ten dollars shipped to my door.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/263076538010

and had plenty of time to fool around inside the car

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Precious little fooling' around inside my car recently (or anyone elses). And anyway, not sure there's enough room.

I assure you Tim, depending on your technique, there IS room for 'fooling around' (that was so quaintly put!) in a 500----and yes, I was a LOT younger and, NO, I am not going to elaborate!!

the hobbler said:

I assure you Tim, depending on your technique, there IS room for 'fooling around' (that was so quaintly put!) in a 500----and yes, I was a LOT younger and, NO, I am not going to elaborate!!

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Whilst I have no personal experience of the sort of fooling to which I think you allude, one of my brothers did once mention (from his own experience) that the open sunroof could be used to advantage in that respect.

not to distract from more interesting activities in our 500's, but a question somewhat related to the original topic ...

regarding the sunroof opening... is there supposed to be a seal there, or felt, or trimming of any kind? I just successfully replaced my convertible roof, and though the sheet metal roof opening is in good condition, there's no treatment of the opening at all - just a painted sheet metal lip.

It does not appear that the new roof will be harmed in any way, but I'd like to know if trimming out the roof opening is wise. If so, what have you used to do it?

They were never fitted with a seal although a lot of owners fit the roof rubber listed here
https://www.fiat500vdlaan.nl/en/webshop.php?CategoryID=22
It doesn't get in the way of the hood closing. It wont improve the noise but it will help prevent any corrosion around the lip of the aperture. although some might say it can make things worse as it could trap moisture in the joint.


the choice is yours

I thought about that for my D, but the roof edge around the top has a pronounced lip to it, so I'm not sure how one would get a seal over it

The VD Laan 'Roof Rubber' looks to me to be just a standard 'pinchweld' seal that you can buy by the metre on ebay.

BambinoClassic said:

I thought about that for my D, but the roof edge around the top has a pronounced lip to it, so I'm not sure how one would get a seal over it.

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On the later cars the steel around the roof opening finishes as a simple straight upstand whereas the D, and I presume the N, model has a different profile as you say. This would be yet another way they altered the cars for the F, L & R 500s