Any stickys or 'how tos' to replacing weather stripping on a C4?

 

Which piece is giving you trouble?

As a general tip, I used a can of gasket remover and a paint can opener to get the old weatherstrip and adhesive out of the channels. Protect the paint on the car when you use it.

 

I just got my kit from Willcox. It will be a while before it is installed as the car is being prepped for paint. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be installing.

Removing should be straight forward enough, remove any bolts/screws/clips you encounter. Peel off where glued. Remove glue best you can without damaginig the paint. There are specific weatherstrip glue removal products you can buy. Becuase I am going to paint, I'll be using sandpaper

 

Use weatherstrip adhesive under weatherstrip to hold in place securely.Man that stuff is expensive for being a strip of rubber

 

I wouldn't use the adhesive-- Simple black silicone caulking will work and it won't tear up the weather stripping if you need to take it off again.

From another post of mine.

The moulding shouldn't be bad-- it is tin or aluminum and you can tell if it is bad by peeling the weatherstripping back a little. odds are that the screws holding it on are rusted and will require drilling out. if you do it and take your time it is easily salavagable.. letting them take it out they could just rip it out.. your call on that. plus you'd know if you need to order it before hand and can get it from the best priced sources.

when you take off the weatherstripping be sure to get the screws in the upper corners kinda hidden in the weatherstripping. This area also has a metal insert in the weatherstrip and will befuddle you as to why it isn't just pulling loose..

you will need a large flat steel putty knife to peel the moulding up without bending it. I would recommend having a little naval jelly for the rust under the moulding around the screw holes and some rust treatment stuff. you can put the moulding back on with basic black silicone caulking and when you put the weatherstip back into the moulding run a very thin bead (very thin) on the moulding to hold the weatherstipping in place AFTER YOU HAVE FIT CHECKED EVERYTHING. The main holding power is from the press fit into the valley on the moulding. Some would recommend the adhesive but you'll wind up tearing the weatherstirpping if you use that and ever need to take it off again.. the caulk is just a holding mechanism and a barrier for any water that might try to slip under the weather stripping. Four years on a daily driver with no leaks using a good grade caulk for me.
I would also recommend starting at the top center and getting the top weatherstripping centerd then going along the sides.. three cars experience taught me that.. Also with the new stuff you may have a tighter fit on the front of the door windows and roof panel when trying to tighten it. shouldn't affect the overall fit but make sure to double check the back of the door windows for a gap if the old stuff is deteriorated. plus check to make sure the leading edge on the sides of the top "form fit" into and with the new weatherstripping. paying attention to the area under the metal tabs on the top.

If you determine you want to repaint the moulding the paint easily comes off with a little paint remover. you'll need to clean it well and give it a light scrub with a red scrubby or non scratching type. then you can use and good brand of rattle can spray paint to repaint it.

there is also the area around the windlace (bottom of widow area at door level). odds are this is rusted too. if so plan on a buy because the metal in them is most liekley rusted beyond keeping.
"tis not the king who rules with an iron hand-- But 'tis the prophet, who whispers in his ear, that rules the land.."

 

Weatherstrip adhesive is designed to remain soft -- softer than silicone. It's actually the better choice because it's designed to let you take it off. That's why they made it!

 

I just did this last week. I can offer a few tips.. all the cleaning advice above should be followed..but when it comes to reinstall.. dont glue anything down.. at first, It pops into a channel and that is sufficient for the initial install. because I promise you the doors wont close and the roof will not fit correctly at first, and after you get that gooey glue all over it you will have it all over you and the car.. do it dry and then you make adjustments. I ended up bolting the roof on and closing the doors (which was a very tight fit, and moving the weatherstrip around as things interfered.) when I got everything close up and bolted down i let it sit for a couple days in the sun.. this formed everything and I could take it back off and glue in spots to secure it. ( I honestly dont think the glue is neccesary at all but i did it anyway)

the best advice is .. know that you will be frustrated and mad by the time you get it right, but take your time and be patient and you can get it right.

 

Thanks Bondami, great tip. I'll remember it.

 

Bondami offers a good tip. I did mine and glued it down before realizing I still have a huge air leak (bigger than before) at the corner of the passenger side windshield and roof.

My advice when putting on the windshield piece is to put on the corners first and make sure they are as flat as possible and fully in the channel. My passenger side is raised a tad because I had to try and force the weather strip to fit exactly at the corner and I think that is causing my problem. I started at the drivers end and worked my way across instead of getting the corners right first. Unfortunately, it's glued now. I may still try removing it, but that will have to come later.

Ron

 

I just did mine myself also after I was quoted $400 for the install. I was nervous to do it but trust me DO NOT be scared/nervous. It is very easy to install it not even funny. First buy some 3M adhesive/bug/tar remover. Then remove the all the retainers. Find something that fits in the retainers and up in the corners of them so when u spray the 3M and let it soak for awhile scrape all the old adhesive off. This will take hours to do for all the retainers. In total there about 6 retainers I think. My front windshield retainers were not bad so i left them on. Then when installinng the retainers some people like to put the black adhesive or some 3M double sided rubber stripping on but I did not to that. It is up to you. Then screw in retainers. Buy a popsicle and eat it and use the sticks to help you wedge in the new stripping in the corners of the retainers. Start with the corners. I also did not use any adhesive except for the end pieces where the push pins go and wa-la, all done. The hardest part was cleaning the retainers. But for the rear hatch you have to pop out those clips that hold the hatch up, I cant think of what they are called now, brain freeze. Other than that is was easy. Be patient and take your time. Good luck.

Some pics for you:

 

...but worth it! I recently tried to install aftermarket "reproduction" weatherstripping on the Targa top and this was a HUGE $100 mistake (well, $99.95 + S&H) mistake. They just did not fit like the originals. Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake!

...from eating too many popsicles!

 

Looks like a can of beer (in the reflection) to me. Might not be from popsicles! LOL

They're called struts, shocks, thing-a-ma-bobbers, do-hickeys, sliders, lifts, crank-opens, supports, lift-ups, or whatever you like. Clips ON the lift-ups would have worked for your Jeopardy final answer! LOL

 

Lmao, that was a good one.

Beer Freeze!!!!...........I will go with struts...