I went round and round with Steele because the fullsize door weatherstripping they sell does not have the steel or plastic spine(skeleton) like OEM. It is at the ends where this is the most needed. I even sent them a fairly decent set of OEM to inspect. They were extremely polite about the whole event, but finally said that there would be no way they could sell them at an affordable price if their aftermarket design contained the inner structure. I finally just fabricated a steel backing plate to provide support and bonded it to the backside so that the weatherstripping would lay like it is supposed to at the ends. I told them I would gladly pay twice their list price for better quality.
I recently bought correct style latex rubber for the trunk from a Pontiac supplier. It appears far superior to the other stuff. Not sure why they cannot make this for doors as well. Only downside is it is from China or Taiwan. Cannot remember. I have not put it on yet so not sure how it fits.....Also noticed in the AMK catalog they list the plastic inserts for the doors that you complained about. They list them as being the correct flexible material. Maybe that would solev that problem. I would hesitate at using the bigger metal clips as it would be metal on metal. Not good I bet.
I know what you mean Jason...it's a two-edged sword >LOTS of the repro stuff just PLAIN DOESN'T FIT. I spent a ridiculous amount of time today trying to install a few heater hose and radiator hose clamps on a '67 442. This stuff came from one of the "top vendors" of Olds repro stuff..Fusick Auto. I know, I know...they don't make the stuff themselves. What they send you is the same size wire/pinch clamps for BOTH heater hoses...they fit on the 5/8" hose and WON'T GO ON THE 3/4" hose. Lower radiator hose at radiator....hose clamp WILL NOT WORK..and this is using the "repro" hoses they sent with the same shipment. They've been selling this stuff for years and this isn't the first time I've run into this on an Olds. Really makes you wonder....do these guys even own an Olds??? (Plug in BRAND NAME/VENDOR here). Have they ever BUILT/RESTORED ONE? Do they even know what one looks like?? Last Friday I went by a buddy's house with a '72 Cutlass convert he had put a SSBC "stock GM" front disc brake conversion kit on. He called thinking his SS1 ('72 wheels) wheels must be for drum brakes as they scraped bad on the caliper brackets. SSBC tells him they are GM pieces (which I seriously doubted). I go grab another SS1 wheel at a local salvage yard for him so we can try it out. I know this wheel was made for 70-72 disc or drum cars. It doesn't work either. We end up having to grind the crap out of the caliper brackets to clear the inside of the rims. Ridiculous again. The vendors CONSISTENTLY refuse to admit the stuff isn't quite right.....apparently they're either ex-politicians or have been listening to politicians too much!! It gets to the point where I dread even working on these things when there's repro stuff involved. Today was absolutely ridiculous. >FLIPSIDE---they HAVE the parts and have made them available at reasonable prices---better than nothing (sometimes). Does anyone here know???---is needlepointing like this??ou: Do they even have to deal with "repro" stuff. It may be time for a new hobbyuzzled:
Anyone have an idea how much to repop these CORRECTLY? It can't be as bad as block,head- foundry work -right?:idea2:
Man!!---that's an idea for sure. Like the bucket seat plastics, I'll bet these would the type item where A LOT of people wouldn't hesitate to tear off the old repro stuff and buy the stuff that is right. If so, then you have a HUGE POTENTIAL MARKET..not just cars that haven't been "restored" yet. You'd definitely have to do it right....metal wire inserts, latex covering and all. It's a HUGE MARKET...especially if a lot of people decide to do what I mention above. Couple of big questions??---If the current vendors have a license from GM would GM be willing to grant you an "exclusive" on these new, "exact weatherstrips". The reason I mention it is as soon as they caught wind of something like this coming out they would be up in arms about it and/or would try to crank out their own versions (if your license was not exclusive) and put you out of business. Also..how much pull do they have with GM?--if they have been paying royalties then they have done so for years and its added up....thus they may carry more weight with the licensor (GM).
Patton, check out www.amkproducts.com also for the hose clamps. They have both size heater hose pinch clamps listed under the GM part numbers and they are the correct colors. I have so many different sizes in those clamps it is not even funny becaues no one knows the coorect size but AMK takes the idiot out of it.
Since Ive turned my OCD to door weatherstrips, I made a couple of interesting observations. First, the Soffseals I recently bought were in fact defective. The drivers side molded end on the door latch side was cut differently that the right side. The drivers side was shorter. In other words it didnt come down far enough to cover the metal cutout. So a small section of the cutout was exposed. I returned them. Now I distinctly remember installing Soffseals in the 71 back in 1990 when I restored that car. So I took a drive to the storage garage I have it in to take a look. The 18 year old Soffseals look waaaaay different that the ones I purchased last week. They are thicker and overall dont look quite as cheesy. I wonder if at some point they stopped making them here and moved manufacturing offshore? Now, Im not saying the older Soffseals are/were acceptable, but they suck alot less that the current crop. And the 18 year old Soffseals seemed to fit better. Patton- I agree 100%. What would you pay for an exact, carbon copy repro door seal set complete with the wire and metal spine by the windshield pillar side? $200? $300?? I know I would. I wish these companies would get away from the mindset that its all about price with us. I dont care what it costs, just make it right! Maybe we can petition one of these companies to make it. The beauty of it is that it fits all 69-72 GM A body hardtops. Theyre not just going to sell it to us. Boggles my mind that it hasnt been done already.
