The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors HELP... a lot of confusion out there on door rubber!

HI....we are about to begin to glue the rubber seal around the DOOR. We will start at the hinge side bottom corner and work around to meet at the same spot again....NOW...on my 54/3100 there is a piece of trim called a Door Seal Retainer its a steel strip with a couple of folds and about six round headed sheet metal screws and is sold through Chevy Duty along with its own piece of rubber. This retainer sits up from the bottom of the door by approx. 1-1/2" and is screwed into the door....NOW...how in the HECK does all this stuff come together? We have seen NO Retainer, retainer homemade no rubber, no door seal at bottom of door and or various combinations thereof. Please guide "US" to the correct way which to install all this stuff.... a picture would be GREAT! There has to be a way that Chevy put all this stuff together. We thank you for your time and T/C...Steve :mad: :rolleyes: :confused_smile:

Hi Steve,,I started mine in the middle of that piece.
If i can find your e-mail addy,,I'll send you a couple pics of mine.
Happy Truckin,(and weatherstrippin)
Marty

I have some confusion about this, too ... what is this part they call Lower Cab Windlace - See Here[/b]

And then the above also has this Retainer - [b]See Here

Marty.....you had better send pictures as we are all confused you started in the middle of the retainer? Then how did the rubber part go on under the retainer?.....OK, we will wait until you give us the word and thanks!..... Steve

Steve this is really getting confusing. If you are working on a 1954, 3100 then the rubber that goes around the door starts on the bottom 14" from the front pillar and is one continuous strip all the way around the door till it meets again at the bottom. There is a "Z" shaped channel with a reverse 180° rolled up edge that can be seen in this picture:
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2395785850098611668qDSomp
On the edge of the floor in the door opening is a strip like the one in Alan's first link. This runs the full length of the door opening and is held down on the corner by a "U" shaped channel. The channel that is in Alan’s second link is for pre-1950 trucks.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I get it now.

Thanks, Denny!

Hey Alan, you been keepin a low profile for the last month or so, what'ca been up to???
Denny G

I'm here every day, Denny ... mostly in the Electrical and Interior Forums but I don't post unless I have something to say.

Just waitin' for my truck to be finished with the painter. He's puttin' bear claw latches in now and all the body work is finished.

Next, I'll be looking at some paint color samples that he's sprayed himself ... a couple of versions of the candy burgundy with a fine metal flake and the cream color. I'll pick the final colors and he'll paint!

I sure do miss my truck, man! I guess it'll be back to me sometime in October -- it's been gone since May 16th.

Hey Denny....thanks for the picture....so as I get it the strip for my 54-3100 (that funny looking reverse Z with the 8 holes)holds down the door rubber and is best to start gluing at the middle of the door? I did look this part up in the assy manual section 0 4.01 for gluing instructions but the manual is incomplete and shows chassi frame? Do you have any suggestions as far as the installation as this will be our first time at this T/C Steve

Here are all my notes and pics, Steve:
Click Here

Hey Alan....Should the start point be at the center of the bottom of the door now that we know what that funny retainer strip does??? DO "we" need to admend our notes? Maybe Denny G. will chime in with the word....Thanks for all of your help!!! T/C Steve

I started mine at the front corner. I don't see that it matters whether it's at a corner or at the center.

Am I wrong?

Alan...if the retainer strip is there I guess starting in the middle would make sense...one butt joint....my computer is sick and will not go on-line so I'll read your instructions tomorrow....Elk is GOOD! T/C Steve

Steve, mine was the original weather strip and both doors were the same.
"starts on the bottom 14" from the front pillar and is one continuous strip all the way around the door till it meets again at the bottom"
There is a 90° corner all the way round the door just put your finger on it and run it all the way round the door you will see that there is really only one place for it to go. 3m adhesive on both door and rubber as its a contact adhesive.
Denny Graham

Denny...is there a way to print your photo of the door? Also Steele Rubber has two part numbers for the rubber strip that goes under the retainer...weather strip LOWER DOOR 60078-73 and for the years 1950-55 another 60-0313-73 DOOR BOTTOM and it says retained by metal strip on page 348 of their catalog??????They look like two different parts but both say lower door or bottom of door????I guess the metal retainer strip holds the door weather strip and another piece of rubber....What gives with these doors.... and this retainer strip ...still confused...Steve

Steve,

Steele's 70-0145-73 is the door seal - a single piece of seal that goes around the entire door - one piece. As described above, the joint is in the middle of the metal retainer at the bottom of the door. This is shown in the Factory Assemble Manual. There is not a second seal held in place under the retainer at the bottom of the door.
[img]http://166.82.96.3/gifs/sechead/trkdoor.jpg[/img]

The other parts from Steele are confusing.

1. 60078-73 - "All Commercial, '55: 1st Series"
This seems to be for 1955 1st series (why the change in early 55???). Does any one reading this have this shape of a seal on their truck?

[img]http://166.82.96.3/gifs/60007873.gif[/img]

2. 60-0313-73 - "Commercial, 55: 1st series"
This seems to be for 1955 1st series (why the change in early 55???). This looks like the lower cab/door windlace that is held to the cab floor under a metal retainer in the door opening (for late 1949 through 1955). Steele's seal is black but the originals might have been gray or light maroon (depending on the year and model of truck).

[img]http://166.82.96.3/gifs/60031373.gif[/img]

Go to the bottom of the page in Steele's catalog (1954 Chevrolet & GMC trucks)) and select the link for your model - the two "questionable" seals above are not listed??

I'd buy the door seals from Steele (or from Classic Parts of America) and the windlace from a repo parts vendor (Jim Carter or Class Parts of America).

Tim

Right on Tim, very clear explanation. Classic Parts of American (Chevy Duty) has the windlace in black or the gray. I used their door seals also and they fit fine, no problem with the door closing or wind leakage. the box that the seal came in was marked with the GM approved reproduction label.
I have personally seen problems with the door seals from Steele for the AD trucks.
Steve, I don't mine helpin ya out at all but why don't ya get out to a show or swapmeet and look at a couple of AD trucks to get a better picture of what's going on, it's really not all that complicated unless you have made somekind of modifications that you haven't mentioned.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Classic Parts of America was the only one who had the rubber right ... LMC was ridiculous and a professional guy did a silly job for me ... finally I did it with the Classic Parts stuff (make SURE you use BLACK adhesive!) and, Bingo!!!

If you look closely at the assembly manual, Sec. 1, Sheet 20, you'll see that the weatherstrip was supposed to be applied in two pieces. A short piece that ran roughly from the beltline on the hinge side down to about 10" in on the bottom of the door. I assume they did this so they could apply the short, hinge side piece, mount and fit the door, paint the interior and exterior, then apply the rest of the strip.
I has problems with the Steele weatherstrip. Was a slightly different profile than the stuff I got from ChevyDuty, plus was noticeably stiffer. Couldn't get the doors to shut at all, stuck out almost a 1/4" at the back on both sides. I took it off, repainted the doors, and applied ChevyDuty's. I can now shut the doors though they still stick out maybe a 1/16" or so. I'm hoping it settles in some after it's had a month or two to sit.

Bob

the mouldings are not that hard when ya look at them for awhile

replaced all the mouldings on my 50 3600 chev pu. What a difference. Made everything nice and solid

had a heck of a hard time gettin wheels for my truck. Finally got rid of the man killer split rims and put white spoke 16 inch on. If anybody needs split rims I have 6

Bob,

I read the diagrams/pictures on Sect 1, Sheet 20.00 a little differently. I think you are referring to the lower drawing and the seal cut-away on the right side of the door, above the lower hinge, labelled with a 2 and a 5 in a cube. That seal cutaway is, I think, to show that 3 oz of cement is required to seal the whole length of the door seal (under the seal). I think that the one butt joint is under the lower retainer, second screw in from the hinge side of the retainer (passenger-side door in this diagram).

On that page and on Sect 1, Sheet 28 (COE door - driver's side door in this diagram), the butt joint is in the same relative location; and, a butt joint is referred to (not butt joints - plural).

I do not know if my interpretation is correct but it is different from yours.

Tim

Never noticed that before Bob. Mine was original I talked with the guy that maintained it for the small town that bought it new in ’50. It was one piece so they must have painted the doors on this one before assembly. In fact the paint under the WS was blue on mine.
The bottom butt joint on mine was at 14” and from the illustration it’s not exactly clear where the joint would have been at the top, if they did apply it as two pieces. Your guess that it would fall at the beltline looks to be the most logical place for it.
I’ve heard guys say that they put the WS on with the doors mounted and don’t understand how they did it. It’s bad enough with the door laying flat in front of you on horses.
And you’re the second guy that I know who said he had problems with Steele’s WS.

Sure wish you were with in driving distance Don I’d take ya up on those wheels. Where’d ya get the wheels, were they trailer wheels and what about the offset?

Hey Tim, I think what Bob is referring to is the note in the upper left corner of that page where it says “when front weatherstrip is applied before cab enters paint oven—“. That would indicate to me also that it may have been applied in two pieces at some plants.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks for the clarification of what what Bob stated very clearly - I misinterpreted the info in the drawings. It does look like there were two butt joints (in the upper right picture) - just as described by Bob. I even had the side of one of the doors wrong.

The COE picture does not seem to show the two joints. I will check that out tomorrow (on my COE).

My interpretation has changed.

THANKS Tim...I have to throw out another question the rubber weather stripping has one 90 degree corner therefore can be glued up two diffrent ways...which is the correct way is the question? We have been to some car shows and have seen them all higgly piglly in installation. The assy. manual that we have is not too clear....THANKS, Steve

I did a bit of searching and found a Steele product catalog with a picture of the door weather stripping. It seems the wedge end goes in to the door opening frame...BUT... you can install the thing backwards and it looks right....tricky thing this weather stripping business...T/C Steve