I received the windscreen rubber from Cicognani today.
http://www.cicognaniguarnizion...iew&id=228&Itemid=24 I could see right away that it was not a reproduction of an original Mangusta rubber as it was significantly smaller. The lip that sits on the paint was way too short. The depth was wrong also - meaning it sits the glass about 3mm too low in the aperture.
I was hopeful that maybe it would still fit. When I tried the rubber on the screen the sides pieces where 30mm too long (where is runs up the A pillar). I could not gather it by that much over such a short distance so I cut them down, removed 30mm and re-glued the two corners.
I then installed the screen in the car only to find the rubber lip did not sit on the paint anywhere! the whole screen and rubber just sits in the aperture!
So Ben is right - it sucks! We paid Cicognani 340 Euros including shipping ($450 USD) for a generic rubber that is totally the wrong profile and not even joined at the right length. If that was not bad enough the corners are super glued not vulcanised!
The Mangusta rubbers on ebay being sold by Mr Fiat are from the same source - Cicognani. I called mr Fiat and asked him about them and he said they are perfect and he has never had any complaints...BS!!!
Cicognani started by sending me the wrong rubber, they sent me the two rear rubbers for the gull wings. I looked at them very closely before sending them back and decided the rubber profile looked correct for the rear as is was the very same rubber they sent me for the windscreen. I could not check the length because I had already installed the rear windows so I cant tell you if they have cut them to the correct length.
The Mangusta originally used the very same rubber profile for the rear windows as the windscreen. I always feel it looks too big for the rear and would rather have the smaller one sold by Cicognani. It's only just big enough for the rear though but looks neater than the big wide rubber that is so essential for the windscreen.
I have spent considerable time searching rubber extrusions on the net. I feel like I have looked at every classic car rubber supplier in world. I have also researched the marine industry. I can find lots of almost identical profiles but they all have the same problem - the rubber lip that sits on the paint points up not down. This means the lip, even if it was long enough would not sit on the paint, there would be a gap.
My friend Roger Brotton in the UK is going to have some rubber custom made exactly the same as the original. I may have to wait for him ( it could take 3 months) unless someone can point me in the direction of something that could work sooner. My customer wants his car back!
Ben how close to the original profile was the rubber you got from Hall?
I will post pictures tomorrow.
Johnny Woods
