Tailgate Seal Replacement

[scrumpyone]

My tailgate seal has finally given up. Lots of water dripping in.
I have a replacement but could do with some advice...

On the existing one the join is at top centre, is this correct or should it be at the bottom? I can't imagine it's been previously replaced as I've owned the car since it was 4 years old.

Also, how difficult is it to change? Would hate to start the job & not finish as car is parked outside.

Thanks

[unknownmale]

Shouldn't take more than a minute or two, just pulls off. Both edges meet at the top. You could switch it to the bottom, but I think this would increase the chance of it leaking

[mark1gls]

You may find the original seal is glued in, I did not bother glueing my seal back in and it's not leaked. Good time to give the area around the seal a dam good clean and if you can allow time to get it dry before fitting the new seal but it's a bit tricky at this time of year.
This is on my Mk1 but I can't imagine it's much different..

[scrumpyone]

Thanks for the advice guys.

[scrumpyone]

Done - job's a good'un

[mark1gls]

Good to hear it’s on, properly helped with the nice weather we had over the week end.

[the edmundator]

Just to check - the original seal has a small rubber section inside the hollow part of the seal. New seals don't come with this. You need to keep the old part and reuse it to keep things watertight. The originals are also sealed at the join with some kind of glue/sealant. I tend to just pack this with Vaseline or similar.

[scrumpyone]

Yes Ed, I transferred the small rubber tube. Thanks for the Vaseline tip, will give it a go.