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Anyone have any tips for how to snap in replacement outer door seals for a '70 Coupe ? The old ones snapped out easy enough, and the new ones match the holes in the door, but for the life of me I just can't get the new seals to snap in. They push in, but then pop out, it's like I'm just not putting enough pressure on them or something, but there is no leverage against the shape of the outer door.
I went through the same on my 70 and read many threads of others with the same issue.
I purchased mine through Top Flight and frankly could only get maybe one button per side to pop in, others either didnt line up or button too big, I popped them off and used some small screws to attach them.
There is already a few screws per side holding the ends so I just drilled a few more holes in the moldings, lines them up on the door and marked the holes, put a stopper on my drill bit so I dont go too far and attached them with a few more screws through the middle
Here's a picture of the old vs new seal part. Spacing seems to be the same, and the basic shape and size of the clips seem very similar, perhaps slightly larger on the new one depending on which one you look at.
View of the hole in the door... all are similar and clear of obstruction.
Basic shape is similar, although the old is somewhat more oblong it seems.
old vs new showing spacing is similar. Also, depth of clip seems similar.
So I have the door panels removed, but the glass and related hardware are still there. Seems to be insufficient workspace to be able to drill holes and put in screws. Did you remove the glass in order to do yours ?
So I have the door panels removed, but the glass and related hardware are still there. Seems to be insufficient workspace to be able to drill holes and put in screws. Did you remove the glass in order to do yours ?
no I just loosened window adjusters and stops, I predrilled the moldings, lined them up and marked them, used a rubber tube to only allow about 1/4" end of the drill bit and no problems accessing the area on the inner door.
You can do a C3 search on Google and read many threads on this as its not uncommon, I even talked with Top Flight techs at the time... I've read others who removed the old buttons and attached them to the new moldings but was easier to just drill a few holes, I also added a couple dabs of adhesive along the way, only used a few screws through the middle of the moldings and wedged rags between the glass and moldings till the adhesive set.
The holes had to be pre-drilled in both the stainless molding and felts aligned together
Last edited by Golfobsessed; Yesterday at 11:55 AM.
Remove the lower window stop, this allows you to lower the glass deeper into the door and gives you better access to the beltline area.
Clean all the rust out of the holes in the door.
The reproduction seals have inferior quality steel pegs compared to the originals. Yours have already been crushed/ compressed and wont spring back as is. You will have to spread them apart so that they grab inside the hole.
If all else fails, you can screw or glue them to the door.
Not sure if a '77 is the same as a '70, but there are stops at the bottom of each vertical rail, I believe they are called "CAM ASB" in the AIM. I was able to lower these and provided enough clearence to drill and install screws. In the AIM there is a procedure for window adjustment
Steve
How to Snap in Outer Door Seals
