Reatta weather stripping - door and window adjustments

[Fox W.]

Hello, I will soon post pictures to better show what things look like what to see if things appear incorrect when compared to the Reatta's of other members.

Basically I purchased a replacement driver-side window from Mike at buickreattaparts.com, because the factory-adhered plastic guide on mine had come apart from the glass. (It was like that when I bought it 6 years ago.) This caused no issue except having to guide it up by hand by pulling the glass inward a little, otherwise the glass would go up along the -outside- of the door-vent rubber.

But anyway, after installing the window, I am finding it is very tricky to get all the factors right, such as window going up/down in a smooth and quiet manner, angle of both window and vent window being the correct level of aggression against the door seal, etc.

I cannot seem to get any factor right no matter what I try. The upper corner of the vent glass pushes against the seal firmly before the door even touches the latch. This makes shutting it not very easy, and it almost 'pops' off when you open it. It also just feels wrong to see the vent-window almost flex a bit just trying to close the door.

If I keep all 4 bolts loosened for the vent glass, so that it can push outward as much as it pleases when the door closes, it still doesn't behave as the passenger-side does, though becomes tolerable.

On top of that, no matter what I do to any adjustments, the window makes a bad groan when it goes down if it hasn't been lowered in a few hours (if you go up/down a few times it remains quiet.) I have lubed EVERYTHING with a specialized product that is for automotive window sills. It just seems to suggest something is off. The other thing that suggests this is the window eventually went off the vent-window track after I put everything together.. which is why I took it apart to revisit this and get it all right. I got it back in track, but I don't see what I had off that made it come out before.

There was also an acute leak of air that could be heard from 40+ MPH, but I somewhat corrected that by making the stops allow the window to go up to the highest position possible.

I even went as far as buying a better condition driver-side door seal on Ebay that is indeed nicer than mine.. I installed it, but overall that didn't help.. in fact I made life slightly harder since it wants to push-back against the glass even more.

I wouldn't bother people here with something silly as this, but I have put may hours in to the original project, and now far more in to trying to futilely adjust things so they work even nearly as nice as the untouched passenger-side does.

One thing I noticed is that the door seal on each side is different in design where the vent-glass corner meets it.. Is that normal? I will take pictures soon.

Any advice is appreciated.

I just heard that Mike has been sick, and I really do hope he is feeling better and makes a full recovery soon! He just contacted me today.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Fox W. (see edit history)

[padgett]

I need to pull the passenger doors apart on black and white, any suggests on which adjustment is best to just loosen the sliding glass a bit ?

[Fox W.]

Sorry to hear that.

[Fox W.]

Sliding glass, as in the main window? Loosen it in what manner to what end? I feel like I am an expert on taking it apart and back together again! Hehe. Just apparently terrible at making it work smoothly.

[Fox W.]

Sorry to hear that.

He just contact me via email, glad he is feeling better.

[padgett]

Are binding just a little as go up and down. Which is the best point on the tracks to loosen just a touch.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

TO adjust the upper window edge to the door seal:

[Fox W.]

Thank you both. I called Mike and he gave me similar helpful advice, and I think I should be set, I will update this when I have a chance this week to give it a try.

[Roadster90]

Thanks for your post....I think a lot of us have "situations" in this area. Please do update with any sucesses ...... and or not so good attempts.

NW

[Fox W.]

Status of Metro Moulded Parts Inc. (Same as always!)

"Chris,

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, due to low demand, low production numbers and market considerations these are pieces that we will not be developing in the near future. However, I will log your request in our master request database for future consideration. Thank you for your interest in Metro Moulded Parts.

Best regards,

Mike Hinshaw

New Product Development Manager

Metro Moulded Parts, Inc.

11610 Jay Street, P.O. Box 48130

Minneapolis, MN 55448

Direct Phone: (763) 231-7836

FAX: (763) 757-7228

E-mail: mikeh@metrommp.com"

[Fox W.]

I am sorry I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet.. So far this is what I found: (nothing that most don't know already though)

My wind noise was purely caused by the upstop not allowing the window to raise by another 1/4 inch, which makes a huge difference.

In my case, I had done something stupid.. I had a nut that I put between the door and the bottom adjustment to the 'front run channel' because this seemed to make the window happier for smooth operation.. but I wasn't paying attention to how much of a difference that makes in the vent-window angle toward the door seals.. it makes a huge difference.. really nearly 100% of all adjustment is made using the vent window. For me in general it seems what works best is going with the least aggressive (vent window being inward to the car) angle possible without getting any water/air leaks. The more it is angled inward to the car, the worse the door closes/opens for me, it gets that old car feeling, akin to sagging hinges (which I am sure we all have to a degree) in the sense that it takes a greater slam to close fully, and opens with a slight pop off of the latch, less smooth operation in general.

The only factor that is left now is it still makes that groaning noise when going down sometimes.. no matter how much I lube things.. If I put it up/down several times it gets quiet, until it sits for a day.. I hope it will just break in eventually and remain quiet.. I imagine it is just because the guide on this window had been broken in on a different car with different adjustments.

PS: Anyone ever shimmed their door hinges or replaced them to see if it made their door open/close like new again?

[Fox W.]

I would like to add that I didn't have luck later on.. Just when I thought I had it sorted out, the window came off track.. Since then I tried to favor a way to keep it in track more tightly, but again after a month it came out again at the bottom. Not sure why I fail so badly at this.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Sounds like you need to adjust the rear channel forward and/or in or out via shims.

Have you figured out where in its travel the window comes out of the track?

[Fox W.]

Could be, but it is strange to me that this would need to be altered so much from how it was from the factory. It is easy for me to tell where everything had been tightened down.

[Fox W.]

In the end it all worked out on its own.. I think some of my issue was the replacement door seal I got is very 'full' but not very soft. (Will we ever have a source for new rubber? ) so it took time for it to fit itself to my glass. I tinkered with things more and found the outer rail (closer to the lock) was not adjusted inward enough, now it holds the window better and it hasn't fallen out of the vent window track since. I've closed everything up and it seems perfectly fine now.

Things I learned:

Honda Shin Etsu grease is the best thing ever for window tracks or many other uses.

The vent window track makes a lot of change to the tight tolerances of our window to rubber adjustments with even small changes, don't do as I did and forget to mark where things had been.

These are a perfect match to our door/interior panel fasteners: CRL 1985+ GM N-Body Door Panel Fastener | eBay

(That is a box of 50)

These are a great match to the center console side panel hex screws: Dorman 45862 - Dorman Screws - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Thanks.

[Vincent Vega]

Now if we can find the part that fastener goes in. (The female part). That is the one that splits and loses the grip on the pin.

Whenever I hit the yard I like to grab a handful of those screws from various GM models of that era. They are plentiful.