Battery Cover Seal

What is the best way to stick the seal to the battery cover?

I didn't even replace the seal on my MGC's cover. And that was in 1996. No rattles...no vapours....no problem.

I suppose a little contact cement, or maybe even some clear silicone would work nicely, though.

Silicone rubber is not suitable for use around a vented lead-acid battery; even a hint of sulfuric acid will attack the silicone elastomer and cause it to revert (aka breakdown) to silica. Given enough time, it will literally turn into something very much like sand. Try a solvent based rubber cement. I can't think of any reason why contact cement would not work, but remember that it is an instantaneous bond.

Silicone rubber is not suitable for use around a vented lead-acid battery; even a hint of sulfuric acid will attack the silicone elastomer and cause it to revert (aka breakdown) to silica. Given enough time, it will literally turn into something very much like sand. Try a solvent based rubber cement. I can't think of any reason why contact cement would not work, but remember that it is an instantaneous bond.

Didn't know that....good reason not to use anything, I suppose.

In the case of contact cement...an instant bond might be a good thing. I attempted to get the seal to stay in place...it kept rolling off center...hence my giving up rather than having a good looking, efficient seal. With contact cement, place it and it stays...the drawback that I see here is having to coat both surfaces, allow them to tack up, then install. Could get messy.

If this is the round rubber cord that Moss sells, let me know what works. I tried to get it to stick on my car and gave up.

I ended up buying a roll of window insulation material, the rubber kind with a sticky backing from Home Depot. Cheap and it worked great.

You can glue the round rubber strip to the cover with the help of some shoemakers cement but it is not really necessary.

On the V8 I have taken away the rubber seal 30 years ago (making it easier to lock the cover), no issues (may be due to more modern batteries nowadays).

On the 71 and 75 Roadster and the 77 GT, there are also no seals anymore. Never missed them.

I got something very much like the original at Home Depot where the window and door seals are . Self adhesive and very reasonable.