I am now preparing to replace all the weatherstripping on my '94 coupe and am looking for any photos, tips, experiences, products recommended, etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

Its not very hard just be sure to clean the area well and take your time

 

If there is a lot of glue, a heat gun works well to remove old glue.

 

Do your research, stay with OEM high quality weather stripping -don't try to save a buck-it'll cost you more to redo it the next time, use a good quaility glue and take your time.

 

What name brands are recommended?

 

Last time I replaced some I went to the chevy dealer wanting OEM, it cost more....and when I got it the box said "Made in China". next time, and I do need some pretty quick for the targa top it'll be from a notable vendor like Wilcox or someone.

 

Do a search for the subject and try to locate past threads....I know I've written this same TIP several times but here goes anyway.....

Clean the tracks. Sterilize. Use a dremmel with a small wire wheel to get inside the rails.

ALWAYS dry-fit each piece of rubber. start with the 'ends' tucked in and work to the middle. That way you never end up with something left over....can't cut it off.

Locate the screw holes. Few but important. Clean them and get new screws or tabs.

AFTER you do a dry fit...note the loose spots and that is the ONLY place you will use adhesive. Use glue sparingly around curved sections, about 1-2" thin beads. DO NOT use glue on the whole piece ! Some sections will not require a single drop of glue. Use REAL 3M weather strip adhesive. Black is preferred...yellow will do fine.

Use a plastic spatula or a bondo spreader to tuck the rubber down into the track grooves. this is IMKPORTANT that you KNOW exactly where and how much tucks down there and when its correct.; BECAUSE....if you used glue, you are SCREWED if you failed to get even a small edge tucked in properly and it is not always easy to see....

I like a 4 and 6" plastic spreader. Never use metal that could cut the skin on the rubber.

Key to success is cleanliness. next is PATIENCE. and NEVER skip the dry fitment for ANY piece. That is you ONLY chance to see and correct mistakes before they become screw-ups (permanent with glue).

The top will be a b!tch to secure after the new rubber is installed....you will have to get the neighbors fat wife to climb up there and stand on the roof panel so you can get bolts started....(I was fortunate in that I didn't have to bother my neighbor....)

It takes some time for the new rubber to settle in and seat itself. It MAY leak a bit for a few days. In cold weather this 'settling-in' process may take longer...

After its done, find some silicone gel or grease to coat the new rubber. Armour-All makes a gel that works well and Harbor Freight sells tubes of silicone grease for $10 that I use on ALL my rubber parts to keep them fresh and new. ANY rubber seal will benefit from silicone grease or lube. The HF product is called "super-lube" in a grey/silver tube...4oz.
Pool supply stores also sell some seal lube that's 100% silicone. I hear its way cheap too.

 

Also, I would not recommend using ecklers weatherstripping as it really is bad. have sent parts of it back 2 times now and will soon have to send the P-Pillar back to since it is not correct or something and still causes a leak and the rear of the side window does not even touch the glass. I adjust the window as far as it would go but it still does not seal against it. That is the only place it leaks and as i said it is obvious why.

 

I used super soft from Summit for the rear hatch. Fit was good, easy to install and seems to seal. Time will tell next summer when I get the vette out. The only issue I had was trying to get the hatch struts off. You will need to pry the retainer clips back to release the studs

 

I recently replaced all the upper weather stripping on my car and the biggest pain is cleaning the old rubber and glue out of the tracks. The track that runs over the top of the wind shield had several screws and two rivets holding it down. If you can clean them in place then do so. The rivets caused a lot of work. I used 3M adhesive and 3M adhesive remover. There are two plastic push plugs at the bottom and one larger at the top of the pillars. After dry fitting I started with the top push buttons. There is a thick wad of putty right at the top of each pillar. I removed a lot of this and cleaned that area up. I then bought a tube of black 100% silicon caulking at Lowes and filled the whole area with a ton of the caulking. Before it dried I pushed the weather stripping into it and then pushed the top button in. This area is known for leaking and the silicon does a great job of eliminating this problem. I put it on almost three quarters of and inch thick and not that much squeezed out when I inserted the stripping. After cleaning up any silicon that spread out I put a three inch long thin bead of adhesive into the center of the track that covers the top edge and two more on each side of center. I quickly inserted the weather stripping and could move it around for only a few minutes. I then used the silicon caulking on the pads at the bottom of the pillar sections and buttoned them in place, After cleaning up the extra silicon I put two short strips of adhesive into the pillar tracks and quickly inserted the weather stripping. The new stripping made it impossible to get my roof on so I had to adjust my front mounts upward to make room for the new rubber. No leaks and no whistles so far. Here is a picture of the putty area that I think needs some work to make a better seal. The silicon takes hours to dry when its that thick so you have time to work with it. Also I would get new buttons because several broke when I tried to remove them.

 

Here are some after pics. And yes. I have new Visors to put on this spring to replace the floppies.

 

Where did you get the B-pillar weatherstripping at? (Rear area of the targa top)

Mine from ecklers is absolutely terrible and needs to be returned and replaced with the one you have. Mine is flat and as I posted earlier does not seal at all it doesn't even the touch the window!!!

 

this and what leesvet says

don't use the cheapest grade from mamput me down as one that bought the cheep stuff and wasn't happy with it.

will be redoing the 84 again one of these days. looking at the stuff from zips.

 

Veryevilkitten2:
I bought the more expensive latex stripping from Zip. It was almost identical to the original stuff I took off. It kind of looked weird/crude when I opened the package but once it was in place during pre-fit it looked just like the original and has the same soft skin as the original. Be careful handling it because it is soft although the original lasted 15 years so it's not that delicate. I'm glad I paid the extra for it. I also removed the OEM putty in several small area's back there and used the black 100% silicon in it's place. The putty is used to fill in between the vertical and horizontal mounting tracks. Other wise there is a big gap for water and air to get under the weather stripping. The silicon stays soft and rubbery for ever and easily fills in the irregular transition between tracks. There is also some at each end of the tracks. The original putty can dry out and shrink or crack letting water seep in.

 

Is the putty on the B-pillar strips to? I don't remember seeing any but I could have easily over looked it.

Thank you for the response

 

On mine there was a little at the ends of the tracks filling in the step created by the transition from track to body and a little between tracks where it wraps around and heads down the pillar. I had removed all the tracks to make it easier to clean them but I now think they should be done in place. To much work to remove and install them. A dremel with wire brush works fine but makes a mess inside the car. A sheet or cloth of some sort covering the seats and rear cargo area could help. I put just enough silicon to fill in any gaps or steps when doing the rear weather stripping.

 

yep, that's right and me too... !

good rubber for the cabin alone will cost you close to $750. Roof, a& b pillars, door panels/seals. Individual sections can run $150-$200 ea for the longer ones...

The silicone is NOT always a requirement BUT it is useful for those certain cars that DID have putty to fill voids from the factory. Some used it some did not. If you don't find any, don't worry over it. Decent rubber will fill the gaps.
There is a 3 hr fast skin silicone that cures faster than most. Home Depot or Lowes.
Seems like the last batch I bought came from Corvette America.

Regarding the cargo seal....
the corner closest to the seats is VERY IMPORTANT !
that is a very well known entry spot for rain water,. and from there it drips directly down into the ABS compartment and can cause untold damage to your pre-historic ABS system. Better to take some extra time here and use silicone to fill that corner under the rubber so the seal if puffed up against the hatch glass when its closed. Even if that means setting the rubber in place and leaving the glass up for 24 hrs so the silicone does not get squeezed out...what ever it takes.

Good looking work Klyde !

 

Would this be the kit that you would recommend? I am thinking about returning my whole ecklers kit and buy this for $400 since it come with it all and the ecklers kit with the same stuff but different type was $550.

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductDetails/Kits/KitDetails.aspx?KitItemID={0a9c4628-2e17-4487-abe2-bd4ae9f5293d}&gid={cc26aa08-1577-4218-a303-4a2ea6bb7f2d}&GroupName=Weatherstrip+Pac kages&pname=84-89+Cpe+Body+Weatherstrip+Kit+w%2fRear+Wi ndow+(7+PC)&Referer=&Alias=&ptct=SGR-SR&CTitle=&

Should I go with buying this one? This is the eckler kit I have now which truly sucks in my opinion.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1984-1990.html

Thanks for the help and to the Original Poster of the thread I am sorry if this is in anyway highjacking your thread. But it is on a related topic and can also to be of help to you.

 

No mine were not a kit. Go under C4/weatherstrip/body weatherstrip and look for individual strips. They are marked latex and mine cost $179.00 each for the front and rear. I do not know about the kits but I do not think they are the latex ones. The latex ones are identical to the OEM rubber and in my opinion are worth the extra cost. The buttons are also available in the same section for five bucks and I recommend you get them also. I believe this discussion is exactly what K.C.E. was after when he posted.

 

3M adhesive remover works well to get the old adhesive off, but it is messy. I didn't use any adhesive when I installed my A and B pillar weatherstripping several years ago - no leaks. I also did the A and B pillar on separate days, and installed the targa overnight in between. You may find that you have to make some adjustment to the top after installing the weatherstripping.