I'm replacing the door weatherstripping on my '71. I have a tube of this 3M adhesive laying around, it's old but i had never opened it. It says black on the tube but the stuff looks yellow..not sure why, maybe it's expired or something, anyone else notice this?

Anyway, is there an alternative that people can recommend? I wasn't crazy about it. Seems to take a long time to dry and kind of a mess to work with. Doesn't seem very strong either....the sections i taped down kept popping up. It also doesn't look like whatever they used on the original weatherstripping.

Thanks,
Paul

 

Paul,
You are doing it wrong.

First, you need to clean off the mould release compound on the rubber with a solvent soaked paper towel.

The door and weatherstrip needs to be marked (blue tape and a sharpie works well) so you know where, and when to stretch it.

Weatherstrip is installed in 3 sections. Start at the front and work your way down to just the bottom of the curve. This first section is fitted without any tension.

The bottom of the door will be all straight and under tension. You can glue this section on second BUT you must have the rear section marked in advance so the rear section will install fitted WITHOUT tension. Very important. This is why you need to first mark the position of the beginning of the last glued section. Last glued section begins at the end of the straight portion under the door.

Gluing - Put some adhesive on one side, press together and immediately pull apart and let it dry a few moments, then press exactly where you want it in place permanently. It will stick tight for good. It needs to be treated like contact cement. Tape it in place with blue tape. Mostly the end of the section where the glue stopped.

The factory used a yellow glue with a lot of slop. You can use the yellow 3M stuff or the black 3M stuff. They both work the same but the end appearance you want dictates the decision.

Close the door and let it dry overnight.

-Mark.

 

Thank you. This is very helpful. I got some new adhesive to be on the safe side and some 3M adhesive remover. while the adhesive remover helped with the glue residue from the old weatherstrip it also was stripping the paint from the door which i wasn't expecting.,,,not good!. Anyway, I have it cleaned up pretty well now and will try to put the new weatherstrip on using your technique.

 

You can do a couple of things to simplify this process:

#1 DRY-fit the bare weatherstip to the door, taping it (blue painters tape) in place at curves and long straight stretches. Then, as mentioned above, place marks on the W/S tape and matching 'registration' marks on tape pieces stuck on door. That way, as you work around gluing the W/S down, you will know exactly where each portion of the W/S needs to be when placing it.

#2 When you have the W/S dry-fitted to the door, run blue painters tape on each side of the W/S all the way around so you have masking covering the areas where you don't want any adhesive to land. Leave this masking stuff in place as you install the W/S. After adhesive is set, remove the blue masking tape and any over-spillage of adhesive will be removed without having to use remover on your paint.

#3 Put a thin film of adhesive on the DOOR surface everywhere the W/S will be placed. Now select an end to start the process and put adhesive ONLY on the surface that you will start with. Allow the adhesive to tack-up [per instructions], then carefully place the W/S down, using the tape registration marks to guide you. Once you touch the W/S to the door surface YOU CANNOT PULL IT OFF. You must be precise in your placement or just leave it as-is. Trying to remove misplaced W/S is a LOSING PROPOSITION. Then, continue this process...a little at a time....dividing the W/S process into 'straight' and 'curved' sections, and woring with them in sequence until the W/S is installed. After installation, let the door sit in open position overnight, so that the adhesive can cure.

 

Thanks guys. The weatherstrip is in. The question now is will i ever be able to shut the door properly again LOL. I'm assuming they just need to be broken in? They do shut, just requires a bit more force to close and not get the door ajar light because of the door not being completely closed.

 

Shut the door. ☺

 

Once the door is closed and it sets outside in a sunny day, the heat will cause the new weatherstrip to relax and "take a set". It should then close with much less force that with a new, unused W/S.