awinnie

Hello all,

I have followed as much advice as I could find on this forum and others trying to fix this via window adjustment, but have had no luck yet. Below is a link to a picture from inside the car looking back at the gap on the driver's side. It's the same situation on the passenger's side. This is weatherstrip from Wilcox corvette, and none of the other pieces have given me any problems.

I have the driver door panel off and have located all three bolts that hold the glass, as well as the "tilt" bolt hiding around the back of the regulator. But no matter what I do, I can't get this gap to close.

The front of the window has a very snug seal on the A-pillar rubber as well as the targa top rubber. So tilting it in just messes up those seals, and doesn't fix the back side anyway. I essentially need to move the back of the window directly in, toward the cabin, by 1/4".

Any help is much appreciated. And if I have completely missed some obvious way to do this, by all means, link me there!

http://imgur.com/5raMDuT

(in case it isn't clear, the red, clear line you see is looking through the gap)

gerardvg

Hi

Is it the same with the original weatherstrips?

You have some adjustment from the guide bracket (circled in the image below) there are two bolts that secure it to the door.
There is a bolt inside the door that you can get to with a 10mm socket, that holds the scizzor like action of the guide. You can adjust the window tilt angle with that, a small adjustment makes a big difference.

You can also remove the screws and weatherstrip retainer on the A pillar and move it out where you want the weatherstrip.

I used Willcox weatherstrips on my c4, they fitted without any adjustment. I did not use glue so i could always remove and refit the weatherstrips without destroying them.

When i get home i will take a picture of what the weatherstrip looks like compared to what your weatherstrip, it is the same thickness from top and bottom of the A pillar.


Your one doesnt look right to me, it may just be the the picture but you should not see the red paint between the ends. That is your problem i think.



Below is your picture, you can use photobucket and copy paste the IMG file.

awinnie

Thanks for the reply. I don't believe it did this with the old weatherstrip, though I can't remember exactly because they were in such rough shape, I didn't bother leak-testing them.

Yes, the red line where you can see straight through the gap is the problem. Where the rubber naturally bulges a bit at the bottom and top seems to fit just fine. In between, not to much.

I'm not sure how to adjust the guide, but I recognize those bolts. I also have tried loosening and adjusting the 10mm tilt bolt, but since the top is already sealing, changing the tilt just makes the problem worse by throwing off the one part that is good.

Not sure if this is normal, but when the window is not all the way up, it is able to wiggle forward and back (as in, if there was an axis going straight through the side of the door panel).

gerardvg

Hi Your problem is definitly the weatherstrip, that should be even from the top down to the door. There should not be any bulges, i am 100% sure my weatherstrip is the same thickness top to bottom no bulges.

Will take a pic and post it when i get home from work, is daytime and winter here in OZ.

There is a guide at the rear part of the door that you have seen, there is also an L shaped bracket near the front. The guide limits how far the window can go up and tilt at the rear, the front upside down L bracket limits how far the front of the window can go.
There should be no play with the window fully up held to its limit with the brackets.

Ratboy

I had the same problem on my '89. I don't think the aftermarket weatherstrip is as thick or as pliable as the original. I ended up putting 1/2" round grey weatherstripping (the kind they sell at home depot for caulk backing around windows) underneath that edge to push it out enough to seal. Also adjusted the windows 14 ways to sunday and finally got it to seal well enough for a Florida rain storm.
A couple of years later it started to leak and I replaced it with the new latex stuff. That was closer to the original, but I still had trouble getting it to seal. I pretty much sold it for that reason.

gerardvg

Hi

See the pictures i have taken of the B pillar weatherstrip on my vette, you can see there are no "bulges".
There is only a bit of a dimple where the glass touches the weatherstrip.

Call the supplier and ask for a replacement, Wilcox is a forum suporter and will help.
The old excuse of, it will adapt over time or adjustment required is crap.
I found that out with Metro brand, could not close the doors had to slam them.
It did not get better with time, i had to replace them with the wilcox ones well over 10 years years ago.

awinnie

Wow. Thank you so much for the response and the pictures. And it's good to hear that Willcox should help. I called them and they asked that I email their shop guys with the photo I put up here and a description. So hopefully they will help me out. I wish I hadn't glued it in place -- no idea why I did that without being 100% sure it fit. Though I remember seeing it meet at the top of the glass and thinking it was on there pretty good, but obviously I should have been more thorough.

gerardvg

Hi

You are welcome, glad my photos helped to show how the weatherstrip should look when fitted. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Take a couple of photos of different angles and send them to the supplier, you can right click the image on this forum to save the photos to your computer. To show the supplier what the B pillar weatherstrip should fit and look like, compared to the one you have received.

If you are carefull and use a spatula, you should be able to remove the weatherstrip with minimal damage. A credit card shaped bit of plastic with rounded corners, will help reduce piercing the weatherstrip.

Fit first and only then when everything fits perfectly, and you know how to fit the weatherstrip real good.
Should you remove and glue it, if you want to.

The glue verses no glue is a personal preference, around half do and the other half don't..... There is no need to glue the rear hatch, targa sides or B pillar weatherstrips from my experience.
The A pillar can do with glue but only on the sides, as the side window forces the weatherstrip to move a little when the window is fully up.

However i have never glued any of my weatherstrips and have no leaks, if you pay close attention to the fitment of the A pillar and Targa side weatherstrip join you will be fine.

I put the A pillar weatherstrip on at each top corner first, fit the plastic tabs and then fit the top windsheild into place. Before going down the sides of the A pillar, the top corners are most important as that is where the targa side weatherstrips get pressed onto.
I double check the drain hole in the top corners of the weatherstrip with water, to make sure it drains away.

Good luck, take a picture and show us how good the replacement fits.

eutu1984

I had the same problem with the weatherstrip, only way to fix it was to place some vacuun line behind the weatherstrip to push it out.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...erstrip-2.html