roof rail weatherstrip isnt fitting well

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trudysduster

trudysduster

FABO Gold Member
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I am replacing the weatherstrip on my 76 Duster and I bought the stuff from Metro and the door weatherstrip is fitting nice but the roof rail is not fitting like I want in the corner. The number is RR4005 and the man at Metro told me that is the correct one. I thought I read somewhere on here that they had this problem and they done something to fix it. Does anyone have any suggestions. Do I warm up the rubber somehow or what.Thanks
 
You probably won't get them to fit right. I went through the same thing on my 67 dart, as did many other people. I finally gave up and went to Steel Rubber. Everything fits great.

Dave
 
I got mine from Soft Seal and it doesn't fit the windows right on my 67 GTS. Any chance someone can post a photo of the orignial or one that is fitting correctly so I can see the shape? I had all the rubber replace on the restoration, figured 40+ years good idea, so I don't have the original any more. Old one was probably fine and fit. I remember the door glass sealing against a vertilce surface and some rubber above that in the shape. I've learned the hard way that a fair amount of restoration parts aren't really an exact replacement.
 
I found my old roof rail gasket. Looking at it I see that the vertical part of the gasket is longer than the one I got from Softseal. Also the top part of the gasket from softseal is the same shape over the entire length of the gasket. On the original roof rail the top part of the gasket changes shape right where the front door glass meets the rear window. That explains why the present one isnt' fitting correctly. Geez some of this stuff is really had to find that is made correctly.

I also found the front gaskets that are on the front vertical part of the door glass aren't made like the original including the plastic glide parts. You can see the shape and assembly in the service manual. Don't remember where I got the ones in there now but the ones from Year One I just got that are wrapped in Mopar packaging and are not correct either. Years ago when I change this gasket and plastic tabs, on one of the doors, the parts from Mopar were just like the original.
 
To be honest none of them will fit right. You have to install the roof rail weatherstripping, take the door panels off, and do the time consuming, PITA adjustments of the quarter windows, door glasses. It's the only way to get them to roll up to seal and look half way decent. We have a 69 mustang in the shop now and have spent every bit of 10 hrs on one side to get the door glass to work properly with the roof rail weather stripping. Next is to try to get them to seal so water won't run in the inside of the car.

I've got new roof rail weather stripping on my cuda and when I wash it I avoid direct aim of the hose pipe in that area or place towels there and then roll the window up. It sucks to chunk out that kind of money and have to do all that work to get them to seal. When the glass or quarter window runs out of adjustments to try to get them to seal properly you have to "RIG" up the adjustments. It's not the most serene job to accomplish.
 
On my door seal gaskets, i needed to use the plastic pin clips off of the old door gaskets and the old screws to hold them in place. The new fasteners that came with the new gaskets were awful.
 
I remember the guy in the shop working on the car saying the old gaskets look good I'd leave them. I didn't see the roof rail new verses old at the time since I was shipping directly to the shop. Should have left the old ones on. I was thinking 40+ years old better with new ones. I was assuming the new ones were just like the existing ones. Boy was I wrong. I still have the old roof rail gaskets. I may have to see if they can go back on.

The original roof rails on the 67 GTS had two profiles in the one gasket. It change profile at the rear window. Someone here said they got one from Steel Rubber and it fit good. I call steel Rubber and asked them about their gasket. They said it had two proflies so I ordered them. Hope I don't have to send them back. Getting tired of send back stuff that doesn't fit. Going thru that with the plug wires too.
 
I'm sorry for you.. been there done that, wish I had kept both old seals.
I've got the ones from steele rubber and they are the best fitting, not like the originals but at least they seal.
See this post for all of the heartache...
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=50949

..oh, and I did have to do the whole "window adjustment" thing... like 2hrs per side, and wasn't ever able to get the passenger side quite right...
 
I literally messed with the adjustments on my front glass and quarter panel glass for hours and days. I would quit a go back to it. It is time consuming but the window seals against the the rubber well.
I followed the instructions in my manual and just kept adjusting. It got really frustrating at times but I did not give up. Don't forget the door adjustment. It make a difference also.

Dave
 
Well the steel rubber gasket doesn't have the two profiles like the original. The original one changes profile right where the rear quarter window touches the roof rail gasket. The Steel Rubber gasket does look close to the original gasket on the rest of it. I just got it and did a quick comparison. I'm going to have to look at my original ones and decide if they can be reinstalled. The one I looked at looked pretty good except for a clean vertical split that could be glued. Why can't these places make these things like the originals?

Looking back I'm thinking I should have listen to the guy working on the car. He said the gaskets looked pretty good and he suggested just keeping them. I thought, without knowing the problems with repoduction stuff, hey the rubber 40+ years old good idea to change it. HUH....... Car wasn't parked outside for most of it's life so probably why the gaskets were in good shape.
 
Any experience with weatherstrips for 1974 2-door hardtop from Metro or Steele?
I ordered at both and want to tell my mech which he should try first...
 
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