Steele Rubber Products Weatherstrip, any good?
01-03-2006, 11:57 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Steele Rubber Products Weatherstrip, any good?
I've had a tough time finding OEM quality weatherstrip. Some say "Corvette-Rubber" but I hear that nearly all the corvette suppliers sell their stuff anyway, and the side window weatherstrip isn't nearly as supple as OEM. The stuff I got from Ecklers for my 81, I didn't think was anywhere near as soft as OEM either. I've been down the "rough rubberstrip" road before. Prefer to get as close to oem as I can reasonably afford to ...even for an 81 shark.
I've seen Steele Rubber products at car shows and I thought their weatherstrip was as close to OEM GM as I've seen. I talked to a guy on the phone today and he was an ex GM parts guy. He said he knew the problems I was talking about with other suppliers, he hears other corvette guys say the same thing and I would be happy with their product. One interesting thing he mentioned was that the process GM (or it's supplier/s) used to produce the foam-type weatherstrip did not meet CFC guidelines. Well, I can't verify if what he was saying is true, but it might be seeing how GM did change the weatherstrip composition they used (at least that I've seen) at some point back when the CFC guidelines came out (of course, the foam weatherstrip was also very fragile and succeptable to UV rot too, which could be another reason for change). Anyway, he said Steele Rubber products uses an extrusion process that mimicks the GM product very closely. I ordered a set of side window weatherstrip today to see and compare. Their prices are a fair amount more than others, but if it really is close to GM, it may be worth it, particularly for the rear window weatherstrip. If it's not that good, I'll send it back.
Now to my question: does anybody else have experience with Steele Rubber weatherstrip, or other products that mimick OEM?
Finally, are most of you that have aftermarket weatherstrip, liike the hollow rubber door weatherstrip, and the hard rear window weatherstrip happy with it? I mean, does it essentially do the job, or is it a pain, leak and make the doors hard to close?
Thanks,
Mark G
I've seen Steele Rubber products at car shows and I thought their weatherstrip was as close to OEM GM as I've seen. I talked to a guy on the phone today and he was an ex GM parts guy. He said he knew the problems I was talking about with other suppliers, he hears other corvette guys say the same thing and I would be happy with their product. One interesting thing he mentioned was that the process GM (or it's supplier/s) used to produce the foam-type weatherstrip did not meet CFC guidelines. Well, I can't verify if what he was saying is true, but it might be seeing how GM did change the weatherstrip composition they used (at least that I've seen) at some point back when the CFC guidelines came out (of course, the foam weatherstrip was also very fragile and succeptable to UV rot too, which could be another reason for change). Anyway, he said Steele Rubber products uses an extrusion process that mimicks the GM product very closely. I ordered a set of side window weatherstrip today to see and compare. Their prices are a fair amount more than others, but if it really is close to GM, it may be worth it, particularly for the rear window weatherstrip. If it's not that good, I'll send it back.
Now to my question: does anybody else have experience with Steele Rubber weatherstrip, or other products that mimick OEM?
Finally, are most of you that have aftermarket weatherstrip, liike the hollow rubber door weatherstrip, and the hard rear window weatherstrip happy with it? I mean, does it essentially do the job, or is it a pain, leak and make the doors hard to close?
Thanks,
Mark G
Last edited by Mark G; 01-04-2006 at 12:05 AM.
01-04-2006, 02:50 PM
#3
Team Owner
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Springfield MO
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St. Jude Donor '07
I didn't know they were making Corvette rubber, either. They do have a reputation as being the best in the restoration rubber business, and they make a lot of stuff that no one else does. When I get that far, they're going to be the supplier of all the rubber for my '54 GMC (even though it's gonna cost a fortune).
