1941 Fender Skirt Seals?

[Matt Harwood]

Does anyone know which fender skirt seals my Limited should use? I pulled the skirts to wash the wheels and tires and saw that the fender was getting chewed up by the skirts. Right now it has no rubber seal at all, just metal to metal, which obviously isn't good. I looked up fender skirt seals, and there appear to be three different types:

 

                                                  

 

The all cost about the same ($65 for 10 feet) but I was able to find that third squarish one at Speedway Motors for $9.95 for 108 inches, which is a fraction of the price the Buick suppliers charge. I bought two since I need 5 feet per skirt and we'll see if it works.

 

That said, I'm not really sure how it is supposed to fit (I presume glue is involved). The edge where the seal installs at the back of the skirt is just a 180-degree flange. Just a little 1/8-inch lip. This isn't my skirt but you can see how the flange is shaped:

 

 

So how does that seal I bought (or any of them) fit under that flange? If I install the seal I bought with the smaller groove under the flange, that would position the larger L-shaped groove facing outwards on the skirt so that any water running down the fender would run into that groove. That seems wrong. But I just can't see how it (or any of the others) is supposed to fit.

 

Does anyone have any insight?

[valk]

I'll go look at mine but I think someone just glued some universal insullation around the upper perimeter. Note of caution, be very careful re-installing the shield. Matt, you probably already know this but you need to position and push the upper portion of the shield hard against the car body while swinging the lever into position so the mounting bar clears the fender. Otherwise, the lever will go on the wrong side and scratch the hell out of the fender. I didn't do this but some one in the car's past sure did. Fortunately, the scratches are hidden once the shield is installed. 

Peter

[Lawrence Helfand]

I looked at my unmounted set Matt and only a scrap was left under the edge. If I was going to give a try to what profiles you are showing it would be the middle one with a curving edged finger that would be slightly proud of the skirt edge and provide a flexing seal to the inconsistent gaping and provide a transition like a fender welt. The other two profiles dont project enough to provide a visual reveal to soften the edge of the skirt . I think I would rather see a rubber lip on the edge then just a rubber shimmed step. The first one looks fat and a lot less conforming to the scribe of the surface and the last one with the double lip seal sits way inboard of the skirts edge. 

[Grandpa]

The seal is held in place by a wire that fits under the rounded outer edge of the fender skirt.  The seal ends at the top of the gravel shield, since the fender skirt is placed over the gravel shield when installed.

[Matt Harwood]

6 minutes ago, Grandpa said:

The seal is held in place by a wire that fits under the rounded outer edge of the fender skirt.  The seal ends at the top of the gravel shield, since the fender skirt is placed over the gravel shield when installed.

 

Ah, that makes sense. The third one seems to have a place where the wire should fit and positions the flat side of the seal facing up. I'll see if I can figure it out when I get the pieces and let you know.

Thank you for the missing clue!

[Matt Harwood]

We have an event tonight to which I want to take the limousine so I went to the home store and bought some self-adhesive weatherstripping. I modified it a bit by cutting off the outer rib to expose the chamber in the middle, creating a slot where I could slide it over the flange's edge. It isn't how the factory did it, of course, but at least it won't be chewing up the fender, which I just touched up. When I get the right stuff next week, I'll peel it off and reinstall the correct seal.

 

  

 

The driver's side went on without issues and the seal fits pretty well, but the passenger side has a pretty big gap between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock at the top of the skirt. I can't tell if the skirt is tweaked or the fender is, but even with the seal there's about a 3/16-inch gap. Meh, we'll see if the other seal will cover it. I'm not going to worry too much about it.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll report back when I have the proper seal installed but this should be fine for now.