Just spent the entire day installing all the window sweeper weatherstrips in the doors and quarters on my 67 Wildcat - also the vertical vent window post strips. AAAAARGH. What a GIGANTIC pain in the a$$. Took me until the last set to figure out all the tricks to make it a bit easier. However, it sure looks great now - I HATE crusty looking rubber seals. ERIC
Sure Jeff, I'll be right over. After all, I had SO much fun doing mine that I can't wait to do another set! ERIC ou:
How about posting some of those "tricks" you just learned. Hopefully i'll get to that point in a few months. (a year is more likely, tho.) Rick
Rick, I'll sit down here in the next day or so and try to articulate the things (tricks?) that made the 4th window SO much easier to do than the first! ERIC
Okay. As per Rick's request, here are some of the things I learned during installation of this kit. First off, CARS does not list a kit particularly for the 1967 Buick Wildcat Convertible. I took a flyer and ordered the kit for the 1968 Wildcat. No problem - everything fit perfectly on my 67. This kit is from Repops and it includes eight pieces. Inners and outers for all four side windows. There are "instructions" included, but these are really more like an excellent set of tips for installation. FAR more important is having the Fisher body manual for your car. This explains in pretty good detail how to remove the door panels and inner rear panels. Once you have one of your door panels off, you will immediately see your first problem: You cannot get to all the screws holding your outer sweepers in place as the door window does not lower far enough. After a LOT of trial and error, I found that I had to loosen ALL the window adjusting bolts - even the ones holding the window to the sash - in order to get the window down far enough to get to all the screws holding the outer sweeper in place. Of course, you can look at this in two ways: One, "CRAP, now my window is going to have to be readjusted!" or Two, "All right, now I can finally adjust this window properly!" Since I had wind and rain leaks on pretty much ALL my windows, I chose to look at this from the latter standpoint. If your windows are already adjusted perfectly, use a Sharpie to make reference marks before loosening all those bolts! Once you remove the old outer sweeper, you need to do a couple things before installing your new one. First, make sure that the screw holes in the new sweepers line up with those in the stainless door top trim. Mine didn't, so I had to redrill the sweepers in a couple spots. Also, the new sweepers have directional, triangular "spikes" that look like they SHOULD slide into the slots on the door stainless trim. They don't. Instead, you will be best off by slightly bending these spikes OUT almost perpendicular to the sweeper. Then start at one end and slide the first one into its slot. Push the sweeper hard against the trim at that point to bend the spike back and hold the sweeper against the trim. Continue in this method, putting screws in as you progress. No problem. Now you can adjust your window properly (again as per instructions in the Fisher body manual.) Put a blanket or towel on your workbench and lay your removed inner door panel on it so you can remove the inner sweeper. The tips that come with your kit mention that the original sweepers were held on with staples and that you DO NOT want to shortcut by using rivets. That's good advice - you CAN see the crummy rivets. I know this because my sweepers had been replaced in the past and were held on with rivets. To remove rivets - simply drill them out. I understand that it is a lot more difficult to remove the staples - but I can't help you with that. The instructions list some tips for removing the staples. Once you have the old staples or rivets removed, you can pull off and discard the old sweeper. Line the new sweeper up on the door panel and use either masking tape or Vise Grip welding clamps (I used a combination of both) to hold the new sweeper in place while you DRILL the door panels for the new staples. Cleverly, the new sweepers are already drilled for staples, so you should use these holes as your template. Here's where it gets a bit tricky: It's easy enough to push the new staples (included with kit) through the sweeper and the new holes in the door panel. But now you have to bend these VERY stout staples to hold the sweeper in place. I found that using a pair of bent-nose needle-nose pliers was the easiest way. I tried several other types of pliers, but the bent-nose seemed to work best. Put the pliers on both ends of the staple and squeeze them together first to get them sort of pointed at each other. Then, you can bend the prongs, one at a time, with the pliers from the top and bottom of the staple. If you do it right, it works easily. If it is fighting you, you are doing something wrong. If you are using welding clamps, move them down as you go. When you have all the staples installed, simply reinstall your door panel (don't forget the water barrier - you may need new tape) and you're basically done with one door! Same thing for the other door - and for the rear inner panels. Unfortunately, you will ALSO have to remove the rear seat cushion and seat back on a convertible or coupe in order to remove the panels. The good news is you then get to vacuum spots that you haven't cleaned in a long time! That's about it. Sounds fairly simple. It isn't. But is also doable by anyone with reasonable tool and hand skills. Of course, if you're a bit ham-handed like me, you will end up with some pretty significant gashes in your fingers and hands! Have band-aids handy. Good luck. ERIC
Thank you Eric !, Now that I have finished the fuel sending unit project on my 67 convertible I was looking into doing the window sweeper kits. It will give me an opportunity to properly lubricate my window mechanisms but also get some of the wind noise. Thanks for sharing your findings and also the kit you were able to use on your 67:gp: Kevin
Kevin, Good luck with the new window sweeper kit! Let me know if you have any questions as you go. I, however, need to do the fuel sender replacement on MY 67 'Cat. Since you just finished yours, can you give me some insights? Where did you get the new sender? How big a deal was the replacement? Did you do yours on the floor? Or did you use a lift? Anything to watch out for? Thanks! ERIC
Hello Eric, Did the tank right on the floor just got the back of the car up high enough to maneuver under it and made sure the tank was near empty. Dropping the tank wasn't too bad because my Wildcat was clean underneath and i didn't have to deal with any rusted bolts or rust related issues. First I disconnected the 2 rubber hoses from the sending unit, second disconnected the grounding and sending wires, and then there is a bracket at the top of the filler neck near the gas cap which has a single screw holding it in place. After all of these items were set the only things left were the two nuts fastening the tank straps in the back near the rear bumper. Had a friend on hand at this point to help guide the tank down. Once the tank was out I removed the sending unit so that it could be sent out to Tri-Starr in NY (http://tristarrradiator.com/ ). It took about a 10 days and $225.00 w/shipping for them to rebuild my unit and send it back to me. My original sending unit was a canister unit, during the repair they replace the canister assembly with a more modern set up. The sending unit is essentially a variable resister with a float attached. O ohms = empty and 90 ohms = full . I tested this with an ohm meter before re- installing the rebuilt sender in the tank just to be sure. I spent some time with the tank out to clean up the underside trunk floor with a wire wheel/brushes, hit it with a rust converter, undercoat, and then a semi gloss paint. I would have liked to bring the tank back to the original steel finish, but it wasn't worthy so it was given the same treatment I gave to the trunk floor. Prior to re-installing the tank I strongly suggest that you replace the rubber hoses that go from the sending unit to the metal fuel lines . My car had 5/16" fuel hose for the feed and 1/4 " for the return. Before going through the effort of dropping the tank I ensured I had a good ground for the sending unit on the frame near the tank and tested the gauge by unhooking the sending wire and attaching it to ground which made the gauge register empty. Now that everything thing is installed my gauge is working , but reads 1/2 a tank when full and far below empty when empty. So I have some more troubleshooting to do at the gauge itself in the dash, but I know i'm getting the right signal from the tank. Prior to replacing the sending unit my gauge didn't move at all. Will keep you posted on what I find out with the gauge itself. Hope this helps and don't hesitate with any questions thanks Kevin
Kevin, EXCELLENT explanation. Probably should be its OWN thread! I will probably not be doing my sending unit for another month or so. Thanks again! ERIC
Nice write up, I wish I would have had this when I re-did my felts. I pretty much ended up doing what you did. I had a lot of trouble with the rear 1/4 windows, especially around the back area when it makes that sharp curve. I had to cut slits in the outer radius of the felt to allow it to flex and fit the shape of the curve (only reason why I thought of doing this was because the old set had them!) The felts actually went in better than roof weather strips. I think I totally screwed the pooch on those! No matter how I adjust the windows, I can't get a good seal, especially on between the driver's side window and the 1/4 window. Did you replace any of the weather strips?
