Just got finished with the restoration of my '76 and am having trouble with weatherstripping. Bought a complete weathertrip package from MidAmerica and had it installed by the body man that painted the car. Long story short, it is very soft and sticky. The windows will get stuck going up and down because of the weatherstrip. Removed the weather stripping from the A pillar and rear weather strip and replaced it with stuff I bought from Willcox. Much better and not as sticky. How do I deal with the weatherstripping which is still sticky and stops the window operation? Or should I just replace it? Any bodyshop people have recommendation? Thanks in advance.

 

The weatherstrips shouldn't stop the window operation. Did you adjust your door glass?

 

If it's really an issue with the product and not the installation, I would at least try some dry silicone spray, or graphite power on the places where the sticking is occuring. Worth a shot.....

 

Yes, I did adjust it. The problem is when the glass reaches almost at the top, the very sticky door weatherstrip stops it at both ends or sides of the door's window opening.

 

maybe some pictures would help? showing the problem areas?

 

The doors come from MA??? if so.. it's an India thing.. But really all things considered, the window motor should have enough spunk to overcome that I would think.

Your saying the the block on the front is jamming it up? Put some talc on it and see if that makes a difference. If so then I'd replace it... if not I'd look hard at 1) the motor, 2) the weatherstrip, 3) the adjustment of both the glass and the weatherstrip.

When the weatherstrips are installed in our shop, it is a must to adjust the windows to match and this adjustment is critical. Customers think it is just a matter of peal off the old and install the new.. but what they don't realize is the time it takes to do the adjustment correctly and sometimes this can take hours.

IMHO,

Willcox

 

I'm not sure what you mean by 'sticky'. Do you mean, just 'rough' operation? I mean, they aren't actually tacky are they?

Just a thought, does your car have manual or crank windows? If power, do the side windows drop fast when you retract them (roll them down)? If so, and even if you have manual windows, your car may likely have broken springs on the regulators, which is quite common (see link below). The springs on both window mechanisms of my car were broken. Correctly wound, the coil spring is pretty strong and assists the motor in raising the windows up. It helps neutralize the weight of the glass and the friction of the mechanism. W/o the spring, the motors have a much harder time raising the windows. Add in new weatherstripping, the motors may not have enough 'guts' to overcome the added resistance of a correct fitting seal. I'd suggest looking inside the doors and seeing if the spring is laying at the bottom of the doors, and put your hand on the outer part of the regulator and see if you can feel a loose spring. You'll have to remove the regulator to replace the spring, but it's not that hard to do.

Also, you may want to double-check the roller assemblies and the grease on the tracks they ride in. If they haven't been cleaned and re-lubed, now would be a good time to do it. After all these years, the grease gets dry and caked on, plus all the dust and debris reduces it's lubricating capabilities. The grease on my 81 window tracks was very hard and wasn't lubricating anything. I had to remove my tracks and soak them in solvent to effectively get all the old, caked up grease removed. I re-greased the tracks and installed all new plastic rollers and other moving pieces and it's like a dream now. At the very least, put some new grease in there.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=nC.PWBy978P

 

Thanks for the info guys. The spring is not broken. The window moves up and down at the same rate, and it only gets stuck or slow at the very end of it's upward stroke, about 1" from the top. That is where it comes in contact with the door's weatherstripping. The weatherstripping is very soft and "sticky". Willcox, I wish you were closer to do the adjustment because I can't figure it out. I did buy the entire interior from you except for the door weatherstripping. Will try the talc or replace it I guess. Thanks again.

 

I would suggest that you purchase a bottle of Nu-Vinyl or the similar Meguiar's protectant for plastics (polymer coating). Wipe some on the weatherstrip and let dry. Repeat 2-3 times. It will coat and seal that weatherstrip so it will no longer "drag" on the window. Use that product to protect all the plastic items in your interior and your weatherstrips. If you do the interior every month or so, it will stay nice and the weatherstrips will not stick or deteriorate as rapidly.