Weatherstrip question--1950 Standard Eight

[Guest CaptainBristol]

I put the Packard through a car wash yesterday and got an interesting surprise when the air dry function pushed water past the weatherstripping on all four wing windows. I had water running down the insides of all four doors. See the attached photo for an idea of what I'm referring to--there are two triangular vent/wing windows on each side of the car.

I think it would probably be a good idea to replace the weatherstripping, but wonder how difficult and costly the job would be. I see Kanter sells weatherstrip for these vent windows at $130 for the front doors and $143 for the rear doors. Has anyone used this particular rubber? I'm curious as to its quality--seems like a high price for a few linear feet of weatherstrip.

If you do get new rubber, is it a big deal to replace the old stuff, or can the average guy do it?

Thanks,

Mark in Alaska

[Guest bkazmer]

I believe that Kanter's weatherstrip is in fact from Steele (Kanter folks, feel free to confirm or correct). Steele's "rubber" parts are in fact made from various materials , but I believe the U-shaped pieces are cured EPDM. If you need adhesives, I like to consult with 3M, but you need to know the material in order to get best advice. Some swing out window seals just press on. The part is molded, not extruded, so the cost of making the part has more to do with the cost of the mold than the amount of material (It's a couple bucks worth of EPDM if you are buying industrially). I cannot say how profitable these parts are as the total volume is miniscule, even for a "high volume" Packard like yours (the 48-50 sedans sold well). No slur at all intended on our friendly part suppliers - we are glad to have some Packard parts available!

[HH56]

Steeles prices are a bit higher than Kanters so don't know if same or not but know Steele has excellent quality. As to changing, yes it can be done but is involved. You will basically disassemble door because the vent window has to come out. The inner door panel & garnish come off so nut & spring holding vent window bottom can be removed, screws holding frame to door removed, and then assy tipped to allow access to screws & top pivot pin. The main glass will probably also have to remove because of the tipping. One other thing is the weatherstrip also covers the paint on door so if new not significantly same shape, or bigger, there may be a mismatch paint color line at edge. The 51-4 serv manual in body section has a procedure and is essentially same for 46-50. I've done it in conjunction with a restoration where everything was already apart, but not just that alone so can't estimate how much time to allow.

[Guest Albert]

Kanters rubber for the window seals i bought for my 54 came in a steel rubber bag. i guess Kanters buys enought to get e price break on it..

[Guest abh3usn]

As far as the job goes, you can do it in a day. You will have to dissassemble the door to get the vent windows out. Use the 3M adheasive it's great. Just make sure you allow a good day to do it. It will take all day but as projects go it's a rather easy job. Good luck.

[Restorer32]

Anybody can become a Steele Rubber Dealer and take advantage of their rather generous discount structure. All you have to do is put up $5000 and agree to buy $5000/year in rubber products. Steele is to be commended for putting out the money to create the very expensive dies to make these parts. Some I'm sure on which they have little or no hope of ever turning a profit. We recently bought rubber spring mounts for a '27 Kissel. Large, complicated rubber "gloves" that wrap around and mount the ends of the leaf springs. We bought the second set they ever made. What are the chances they will recoup their investment? I doubt if the 2 sets they've sold to date didn't begin to pay the costs of the engineering and mold making.

[Twitch]

All the weather stripping on my 50 is prety well mashed down from age. But the cost of replaceing it all is high. It's all in one piece and not crumbled in dry rot so I'm not going to mess with it.

BTW I have owned my car for 2 1/2 years and would never think of putting it through a car wash. In fact it was "washed" once in all that time when I 1st got it using an soft sponge and bucket of water and a soft chamois. All I do is dust it and occassionally wipe it with a moist chamois. Know a guy who has never "washed" his Nova in 12 years.

[Guest Randy Berger]

Yeah, but you don't live in the Northeast! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Twitch]

Out here most of us do not drive in the rain either...ever. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Guest Randy Berger]

Yeah, but I've driven thru some pretty dense fog in Huntington Beaach! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />