The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop "Old stock" windshield weatherstrip

Either something happens to these bits of rubber as they fly across the Atlantic, or I've been unlucky twice.

Brought a replacement strip back in September 2007 from a guy in Canada whilst I was on vacation. My guy came to fit it a few weeks ago, phoned me and told me it was no good 'cos it was too old and had lost its elasticity.

Bought another one on e-bay, sent it up to him..... yep, same problem.

Now, please don't take this the wrong way, you guys, buy the windshield fitter used by my repair guy does a lot of old American iron, and he tells me it's a common problem; because it's a racing cert that the weatherstrip won't be sent back due to shipping costs, the seller sends you an old one that's past its sell-by date or else a cheap repop one in lieu of a good one.

The rubbers are REALLY soft and won't hold the windshield in place; I've compared the ones I've got to one he's fitted to a 64 Chevy and that is MUCH better fitting.

Anyone else come across this hassle? I'm really sore about it because it means I can't use my truck for my wedding next weekend.

My repair guy's been really good, he's lent me one of his cars to do the wedding in........




........ problem is it's an ex-NYPD Crown Victoria, means this Stovebolter's gonna go to his wedding in a goddam F*rd!

Still, at least it's American!

Kev - sorry to hear a problem like that - may be the wrong 'brand', but old rubber will be hard, not soft .... if the ones you've had were from SoffSeal [sp?] I understand, try Steele Rubber part #70-1714-50 $68.20/ea, no reveal molding [63 GM truck] ..... it'll be right - if the previous ones were from Steele and wouldn't work, they should give ya satisfaction

Bill

That was what I thought too, Bill.

These need a good soak in Viagra I think!

I paid $35 for the one from e-bay; just noted your price quoted is nearly double that so I guess it's the old adage about getting what you pay for!

My man's getting one from his source which he says is reliable.

Thanks for the heads-up. On the plus side, everything else is now fixed and apart needing to set the front brakes up (slight imbalance) it should sail through its MOT test, which is the British roadworthiness test we have to go through every year.

Regards

Kev

Kev, I found on my 38 that all rubber vendors are not created equal. I bought a window "kit" from Chevs of the 40s that was supposed to have everything I needed to do all of the windows (rubbers, seals, sweeps, screws, staples, bowdrill cloth, etc.) of my coupe. The quarter windows had to be shoved in using a porta-power because the rubber was too thick. The windshield center divider was too short. The vent window seals were too short. The door window sweeps were too short. The back glass rubber was too long by about 6" plus after we cut it down & re-glued it we found it didn't fit the glass (glass channel was too narrow). I found excellent replacements that fit right at Steele. They're expensive but they are cheaper when you only have to buy them once.

Ain't that the truth! Even more so for me since the shipping cost the same as the parts!