Replacing Inner Window Seals
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,039
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From: CA
Replacing Inner Window Seals
I searched for any help on replacing my inner window seals and found nothing.For the outers,yes,plenty of good links,and frankly,their a piece of cake.
So here's what I did,sorry no pictures,but it's not brain surgery.
First you have to remove the staples that secure them to the upper door trim.This is not a job for your standard office staple remover.They are some nasty *** staples.I used my dremel with a thin cutoff wheel to cut through as much of them as I could,and carefully pulled the old seal off.After that chore was done,I noticed alot of the black plastic trim was cracked in the old staple holes,and more.Before replacing the seals,I went down to the local OSH and got a small can of black ABS cement.The kind plumbers use on DWV pipe.It looked a little runny,so I left the top cracked for a couple of days. Then I sanded the backside of the trim lightly around each wound ,a shot of carb cleaner,and a quick wipe.You will notice the surface will get slightly soft,now dab on the thicken glue,don't be stingy,no one's going to see it.
Now here's the secret for a perfect bond,DON"T MESS WITH IT,for at least 48 hours.This glue will literaly turn back into the black plastic from which it was made,and create a very durable bond.The seals I bought from GM and fit perfectly.There is a small hole in each one that indexes the seal on the trim,you can't go wrong.Then I used 4 spring clamps to secure the seal while I drilled,and pop riveted it with 3/16 aluminum rivets approxametly where the staples were.Painted the rivets flat black.Done!I hope this helps someone.P.S. the ABS glue will work on other plastic parts as long as you don't care what the backside look like.
So here's what I did,sorry no pictures,but it's not brain surgery.
First you have to remove the staples that secure them to the upper door trim.This is not a job for your standard office staple remover.They are some nasty *** staples.I used my dremel with a thin cutoff wheel to cut through as much of them as I could,and carefully pulled the old seal off.After that chore was done,I noticed alot of the black plastic trim was cracked in the old staple holes,and more.Before replacing the seals,I went down to the local OSH and got a small can of black ABS cement.The kind plumbers use on DWV pipe.It looked a little runny,so I left the top cracked for a couple of days. Then I sanded the backside of the trim lightly around each wound ,a shot of carb cleaner,and a quick wipe.You will notice the surface will get slightly soft,now dab on the thicken glue,don't be stingy,no one's going to see it.
Now here's the secret for a perfect bond,DON"T MESS WITH IT,for at least 48 hours.This glue will literaly turn back into the black plastic from which it was made,and create a very durable bond.The seals I bought from GM and fit perfectly.There is a small hole in each one that indexes the seal on the trim,you can't go wrong.Then I used 4 spring clamps to secure the seal while I drilled,and pop riveted it with 3/16 aluminum rivets approxametly where the staples were.Painted the rivets flat black.Done!I hope this helps someone.P.S. the ABS glue will work on other plastic parts as long as you don't care what the backside look like.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,039
Likes: 0
From: CA
They arn't that bad,there are some good links,with pics,do a search here.You will need a drill and a pop riveter.Don't forget to back off the window anti rattle pads before you begain drilling off the old rivet heads.You'll see what I'm talking about once you get your door panels off.I think the door panels are the hardest part.
