The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rubber And Windows

Ok what company does everyone use thats restoring these old trucks? I have found three sources, Precision, Steel and one little company thats has more stuff for these old trucks and cars than any other company. That company is called Restoration Specialties. I spoke with them this morning and their new catalogue will be ready in a few days. Really impressive was the hard to find hardware. But back to talking about rubber which is more about quality and fitment. Look forward to hearing your comments on this.

Again Thanks
Shade Baby

Steele is generally considered to have the best quality overall. Their prices reflect that.

I've used LMC rubber window rubber and felt, door seals, and window seals on a couple Ford trucks and have had no problems with it. It's been installed for over 10 years in one case.

Restoration Specialties is a good company. I've bought door windlace and various hardware from them. Jeff is very responsive and helpful.
But Steele is the go-to for rubber products. I used generic vent window seals (you won't have that issue as your truck doesn't have them) that didn't last at all. The vertical portion of the seal stuck to the vent window and ripped right off. I have a replacement set of those from Steele waiting to be installed.

Ok sounds good

Thanks
Shade baby

On my 37, I had two different windshield seals on it and neither would let it close unless it sat in the sun, neither would seal. I ponied up for the Steele Rubber seal and it works perfect, seals good, very flexible, and has been on for 15 years with no sign of deterioration. The parts vender rubber bushings, seals, stops, and wiper blades all last five or six years before breaking down, import rubber/plastic junk. Restoration Specialties has good stuff, I used a lot of small items when working on my uncles Stanley Steamer.

One thing i did notice was the door seal for a model 3100 has a peel and stick version from Steele, which is very tempting, But my gut tells me if you want it to stay stuck then the 3m adhesive is the way to go. I watched a video from The Filling Station so installation seems to be straight forward, lots of patience. Dos anyone have experience with the peel and stick, how does it hold up.

The last time I did this (about 3 years ago) I used a window rubber piece made by SoftSeal. I've installed more than a few of these over the past 55 years and this was the best product I've used...by a very long shot. It was made for the stainless windshield strip, by the way. I also used their product for the back and corner glass. Very impressed...particularly for the price. Steele is terribly expensive as others have mentioned.

One important tip: As for windshield sealing goop, you can't buy the best stuff any longer (3M discontinued it) and the product made by others is...well some say it is okay and friends who run body shops don't like it. And I should add they tell me they will turn down work rather than use it because it is thin, stringy and messy. However you don't have too many alternatives. If you have to use it (CR Laurence makes it) just mask the area very well and apply in stages if you can...by that I mean install the windshield and rubber first with no sealer and then apply the sealer in maybe 3 stages letting each stage dry before applying the next one---not all at once. There really isn't a great way to apply it. The problem and point of frustration happens when you try to seal the underside of the windshield rubber. It tends to dribble out between the rubber and cab so you get a mess but it doesn't seal very well. 3M's product was mixed with talc and powdered shale and was coarse and not runny at all. I have a tube of "Big Stretch" in black that I'm going to use the next time I do one of these. It cures into a flexible rubber when it dries (takes around a week to dry) and should be a very good alternative. It is water based and I have had excellent results sealing door frames at our house using it.

Please don't use urethane sealer on your windshield rubber to cab. You can use it to seal the windshield to rubber if that is needed but it wasn't really made for sealing the rubber to the cab. It was made for running a bead on the body and laying the glass on top of it...a completely different installation procedure. Also you will not need any sealer for the back nor corner glass and if you are using the chrome-look lock strip I wrote a tutorial about how to install that like a pro maybe 4 years ago. Good luck!