Anyone done this upgrade to their rear coupe weatherstripping?? It is an upgrade to help with diverting water out of your coupe. I need help with installation if anyone has done this themselves.

 

I did this on the 98 coupe I used to own. You'll need to completely remove the rear hatch. This really isn't as big a deal as it first appears. After you pop out the 4 plastic pins in the header trim panel you'll see the 4 bolts that hold the hatch panel in place. You WILL need a helper here cause that thing is heavy. You're removing the panel and the glass.

Once you have the hatch off, just pull out the old weathership. You'll see how it mounts and how the new strip tucks in the hatch.

Now, here's the tricky part. Notice how the bottom ends of the redesigned weatherstrip is longer than the old one? Also note the little rubber channels/boots on the new strip. These little boots go down inside the fender when the hatch is closed. You will have to cut a 1 inch section out of the inner fender flange for the boot to tuck inside of when the hatch is closed.

It's kinda hard to explain without some pictures to show you. It really isn't that hard a job. What I'd do if I were you is to go look at a 00-02 coupe and see how the wheather strip fits down inside the fender flange. Or perhaps look at a new rear fender if your parts man has one in stock. All OEM replacement rear fenders for coupes now come with this little piece of flange removed.

By the way, the new design weatherstrip does work! My 98 used to leak water into both of the rear speakers.

Tom

 

Water drips into the rear compartment and onto the rear speaker covers on my 1999 C5 Coupe when the wet hatch is opened and the wind is blowing or the car is not parked on level ground.

I can't believe the "Corvette Team" that designed the car didn't realize the design flaw when they developed the car - and that it took four model years to correct.

 

Man that's a lot of work to replace a $30 part that should have been corrected during production. Just hope the C6 has all these little things sorted out.

Tom
USAF Retired