1932 LaSalle (or Cadillac) trunk rubber molding

[Steve Hammatt]

I'm in need of the (assumed to be) extruded rubber molding for the trunk cover on a 1932 LaSalle Town Coupe with the built-in steel trunk. Has anyone found a suitable cross-section that will work or better yet, maybe someone's already had a die made and run some molding. No reason to re-invent the wheel when there's already a solution at hand.

Super thanks,

[Guest wombvette]

The master parts book list part number 4056342 for some coupes. It also states that this is the same through `37 for many styles of Cadillacs. The only picture that I have of a known original is this `35 convertible coupe. It has sheet metal retainers to hold the strips. My `33 did not have any retainers on the rumble seat lid, however the parts book calls for the same strip.

If you are talking about the outside trunk lid, that part number is 893391, but I have no idea what it looks like, unless it is the same as other trunks of the era. If it is, that is an extruded piece that fits the channel. I used a stock piece that fit the opening, but it didn't have the part that goes down into the retainer.

Edited September 19, 2010 by wombvette (see edit history)

[Steve Hammatt]

According to my checking, the Cadillac Part No. is 893391 (Group No. 3.0797) and is the same for a number of models: LaSalle Models 345BC Series 672. Cadillac Series 4985, 5085, 8-222, 12-222 and 16-222. All of these cars apparently have the vertical style trunk with lid that seal both on top and upper front, viewing the trunk from the rear. If you know of a source for this specific replacement rubber sealing (weatherstripping) please advise. If you happen to have a piece of the old, original seal material, I'd like to borrow same to have a extrusion die made to duplicate the correct cross-section and then run some lengths. Here's a photo from the rear, showing the vertical style trunk. I suspect that the rubber extrusion would be something of a "T" shape with the flat top of the "T" doing the sealing and the vertical portion of the "T" slides down into a groove.