Jason, thanks for the reply, yes m6 66 also had the remnants of sealer. TPP does not make the good door and RR seals for older Buicks, only 70/72 so my options are limited. I have Soft Seal for the doors, but have not purchased the RR seal. Was wondering if Steele are better? They cost more, anyone used them? Thanks Bill.
So today I tackled the passenger side rail. Since I had the drivers side under my belt, this one went a little smoother since I had the technique down. I took out the rear armrest and inner quarter panel and out drops a bunch of "Gremlins" trading cards and an old envelope with something inside. I open the envelope and find a wedding card! The kind you put money in! There's a reflection, it says "For the bride and groom" But, no money!!! Dammit!! See? There's a limit to my luck. I thought about loading it up with $100 bills just to break Frank St Elmo's balls but it isn't April Fools day yet Once I got the passenger side in, the glass was waaaay off. Worse than the drivers side. There was a large gap between the quarter glass and door glass. The main issue was the passenger door on this car is too far forward. There's a large gap between the quarter and door. So to compensate I moved the quarter glass as far forward as possible and basically maxed out the adjustment. Then after messing around with every adjustment I got the quarter glass to fit in the new seal pretty good. Once that was locked down the door panel came off and the door glass was adjusted. I got it the best I could. The real fix is to adjust the door itself rearward and adjust the door gap. But I wasn't opening up that can of worms today. Here's the final product. Glass is pressed into the seals pretty good and the gap between the glass is acceptable. You can see the large door gap One issue that I didn't really like was how the seal fit around the blow out clip. it has to go around it. Doesn't really fit well. I didn't have this issue on the drivers side because this clip is missing. And with the door closed. You can see the rubber lip is deformed as it rounds the corner
That’s the issue I have with the sofseal, both my clips are there and in tact, and as much as I worked them couldn’t get them perfect. I thought those there were premolded upper corner at the roof to A pillar?
I put them in so nice they looked like they have a pre molded corner! But seriously, these are the Soffseals- no molded corners where it transitions to the roof. The TPP ones I bought for the Aquamist car has them but those aren't going on till spring. We'll see how those fit. hopefully this takes care of my door glass rattling against the metal roof rail clips and all the wind noise.
Ahh, sorry I was confused. As I started before, I’m pleased overall with the complete car sofseal, but those inner corners just don’t sit well with me.
Took the beater out for a test drive today after installing the seals. Wow, what a difference! Zero wind noise, glass doesn't squeak anymore against the weatherstrip clips. Im glad I went and did this. Best $60 I ever spent. Im half thinking on doing the trunk seal now Just to give you an idea of what the old seals were like-
I used the TPP latex on my convertible for the doors and they are much better than any of the other brands that I have used. I will be using the TPP latex on my other cars as soon as they are done.
Well, the day has finally come. I was able to finally install the TPP molded latex roof rail weatherstrips with the molded corners in the Aquamist car. As with any product, there are pros and cons They are really soft and spongy. More like the originals that the soff seals. And they look more "original". Because they are more supple, the glass can really press into them and seal a little better. And they seem to be slightly smaller in profile so they fit in the track much easier. Almost too easy if you ask me. I would of liked to of seen them go into the channel a little tighter. The molded corners are nice but frankly, if you install the soff seal ones correctly, it really doesn't make a difference. All things considered, weighing all the differences between the two, I would of gotten the soff seals for the Aquamist car and saved my money. I honestly think the soff seals edge out the latex versions in overall fit.
And for the record, this job really sucks. Once the new ones went in, I had to adjust all the glass in the car like I had to do in the beater. I HATE adjusting glass. I must of opened and shut the doors 50 times trying to get it just right. And with any old car, you have to get it the best you can. The drivers door on the Aquamist car could be adjusted a little better but I drew the line. Didn't want to start getting into adjusting body panels. Next thing you know, the whole damn car is apart! Have to stop off at the local Chevelle place after work and pick up some outer door dew wipes. Once I slam them in, I can put the door panels back together. The car really needs door track guide bushings as the door glass rocks a little but for almost $200 a side for the whole kit, I'll live with the glass slightly loose in the track. Its not enough of a problem to warrant a $400 expense at this point. I have bigger fish to fry
On a related note- I stopped by the local Chevelle place to but a set of outer door felts. I was handed a box made by "Repops". Not a very good repro if you ask me. If you notice on an original door felt, the end of stainless bead on the door handle side is bent at a 90 degree angle on the original. Why? Maybe so it doesn't get snagged on clothing? Who knows. The Repop brand is not bent like that on the end. After calling a half dozen places, I called Ausley's Chevelle Parts. Mike, the salesman was nice enough to go into the warehouse, find the felts on the shelf and verify that the PUI brand felts have the end bent 90 degrees as per factory spec. He commented that he never even noticed that detail before. So I have a set of PUI's coming this week. And the Repops will be promptly returned. Might even exchange them for a set of Soff seal roof rail weatherstrips and swap out the TPP latex ones One of these days I need to get some meds to take care of this attention to detail thing I have going on
I use $100 bills Steve! So the window felts are in. The door felts were easy. They basically screwed right in using all the existing holes. The quarter felts were a different story. Had to take them in and out 5 or 6 times and drill a couple new holes on each side. Not quite bent exactly as the quarter panel. After some tweaking and fiddling with them, they actually fit better than the factory ones did. After they were in, I did a little more fitting of the glass and decided that I cant make it any better. All in all, it came out pretty good. The doors close much tighter now. Im going to drive it it on the highway and see how much the new weatherstrip alleviated the wind noise. Geez, must of opened and closed the doors 50 times trying to get that glass right. And in the end, you really cant get it "perfect". You have to draw the line and say, "this is as good as it gets". I definitely don't want to do this project again for a while. Ive had my fill of weather-stripping for now
This is a lot of help guys, so sorry there was nothing in the envelope Jason ! I am in good shape to do this as my interior is out. From the picture of the TPP seal, this looks like a better option. The first seal I tried was the soffseal, that was bad. So I will try the parts place seal and see what happens. My wife said to let her know when I am going to do it so she could be out of town that day ! Thanks , The red headed step child.
As always, thanks for the write up. Need to get rolling on getting my doors/windows/weatherstrip put together after getting back from Bowling Green.
Yep, hardtop car side glass is a constant variable, you got the body and frame bending, twisting, flexing, then the door hinges, then the floppy window guides/ regulators
