The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk window seals

Have any of you replaced the inner window seal on your truck? This is the horizontal seal that was originally stapled to the inside lower edge of the window trim. There is another rubber seal that goes against the glass on the outside of the window. If you've replaced the inner one, how did you attach it? I'm thinking probably weatherstrip adhesive, but I'm not sure it will hold over time. I thought about rivets, but I'm concerned they might protrude far enough that they could scratch the glass as the window is rolled up and down. Any ideas? Thanks.

When I went to replace the worn out window seals in my 53 I got the anti-rattle kit from LMC. It came with replacement staples along with the new inner seal. I just removed the inner window trim and installed the weatherstrip using the existing holes from where the old weather strip was attached. I put the back of the staples facing towards the glass and had a pair of duckbill pliers to bend over the legs of the staples. Worked like a charm, and the back of the staples don't make contact with glass as they are below the level of the felt part of the seal. You could also use stainless steel lockwire and tie the tail on the inner part of the window trim. Best of luck with your project.

Rick,
I tried to use the new staples on mine but could't get them to work. I ended up using small pop rivets, no problem with scratching glass. Others have used small screws or even construction adhesive

On the outside rubber one...it slides in a groove...no adhesive needed. It took longer to get the old brittle one out than to put the new one in.

I have used 1/16" in. stainless steel welding rod to make my own staples.
Drill new attatching holes with a 1/16" bit and bend them over on the back side with needle nose pliers.

Now Rick, ya gotta keep in mind that I’m kinda picky bout doing no harm and keeping things as original as possible. So I’m not an advocate of pop rivets or drilling new holes for screwing the strips on to the garnish.
Chances are the staples you get from the vendors are not going to be on the same hole center line, the ones that I bought weren’t. So I made a fixture up to make my own staples from SS safety wire that was the same diameter and spacing as the original ones.
I used a 90° scriber to transfer the holes to the weather strip (catswhisker), one staple at a time using the previously drilled holes to hold the strip in place as I transferred and drilled the next one with the Dremel. I used a half dozen small 1” composite soft jaw clamps to hold the strip in place during the work.
Bending the staple over on the inside is not as easy as it sounds. Because of the way the window garnish is formed the staples are back behind the lip. I bought an inexpensive set of pliers and ground the jaws to bit around the lip. I started the fold in the staple with another hand folder that I made and used the pliers for the final clinching of the staple. This assured that the staple was below the surface of the whiskers. When done you can’t tell them from the original other than they are not worn out. All of the original holes were used and no new ones had to be drilled or opened up. If you can find the strips pre-bent, DO IT, that was actually the hardest part to get right, I made a special bender in order to get the tight bends that the original strips had at the ends. If you just try to bend them over a form they will kink on you and the roll formed edge will open up on you.
Here are a couple of pics of the process and fixtures that I used, scroll to see the rest: http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2106811790098611668DKqsDI

Just a note on the seals: I talked to Nancy Goetz from Northern Kentucky Street Rods at a car show about their Soft-Seal Inc., weather stripping and Detail procucts. She claims to understand the problem with bending the strips and that their product can be bent with out kinking. If anyone has ever used their products I would like to hear your thoughts or the results. I used strips I got from Chevy Duty and Restoration Specialties and they were both straight and could not be bent with out kinking the rib, enter my bender which holds the rib flat during the bend the same way angle iron is bent.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

This is great information guys. Denny, I like your approach and will give it a shot. I'm with you. I haven't tried bending the strip yet, but it appears to me that it will kink when I try it. Thanks to all for the tips.