Lancia Motor Club

I've been cutting away old metal on the rear end quarter of my coupe and there are rubber strips that sits between panels. Looks original and were stapled to the body. Anybody got any idea as to the purpose of these?

Photo?

On Sports they used a rubber foam strip between inner and outer .....

I'll take a photo over the weekend

Apologies, trying to attach an image but message says too large. Any idea how to rectify?
Rodders

Should be possible to right click on the image, select edit and then reduce size to suit.....possibly 50% or even less, then save
and try again.
Good luck.

Thank you John, hopefully this works. This taken from below and should show the staples still in place

And with the rubber strip

On my Sport the inner wings are separate from the outer panel and had the rubber strips as seal.  There was a strip fitted round the edge of the inner wing. On my Coupe the gap in the wing was filled with ?fibreglass (now sold this one).   I presume this is something similar but have not seen it so far as I remember on either of my cars.    Just been to check the Sport and the equivalent seam is welded.    I have filled the gap between the inner wing and body panel on the Sport with builder's foam which adheres very well and prevents water getting in.  Strange design quirk all the same.
I suspect your stapled rubber strip is a bodge but willing to be corrected on this.

If you're not too concerned about originality and want to ensure a good seal between the panels I can recommend Tigerseal. It's seriously grippy stuff and will remain flexible for years, widely used in the body trade.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Seal-UPol-310ml-Polyurethane/dp/B002SQY852

I use Light Image Resizer (free).

"I suspect your stapled rubber strip is a bodge but willing to be corrected on this."

Perhaps not. This rubber strip is very similar to that inside early Beta front wings. Before plastic wheel arch liners Betas had a metal shield bolted inside the back of the front wing the outer edge of which had a stapled on rubber flap that sealed against the outer wing.

I think this is an early attempt at crash absorbing structure, Alfas have a similar arrangement where the sides of the boot floor are not welded to the rear wings.

Sean

Many thanks for all the answers. I'm inclined to lean towards it being a Lancia originated feature. It looks too neat to be a bodge. Needless to say I won't be re-using it. I'll have at the Tiger seal
Thanks again
Rodders

I am pretty sure that is factory.

I worked for Vauxhall motors for 24 years, and back in the 1960's, and probably later we used a similar method on some smaller panels.

Brian
8227 8)

My S3 coupe has these. Car is completely original unrestored.