1984 Weatherstripping

[JackDunaway]

I'm 19, have driven about 50K miles on my previous totally stock Nissan Sentra (no ricer crap), have never recieved a ticket, never gotten in any type of wreck, and take care of my cars better than an old man takes care of his regularity.

I've saved up for years for none other than my first Corvette, and the day finally came three weeks ago!

Naturally I couldn't afford an '04 Z06, so what's the next best thing? You guessed it - a 'vette that's got half the hp and is a year older than I am - the 1984 coupe with the notorious Crossfire engine.

The previous owner didn't take good care of it, and I got it knowing it would be a bit of a project car. It's in drivable condition and looks 7/10 cosmetically, but needs some love here and there.

The first big project I want to tackle is to replace all of the weatherstripping around the doors and targa top. The strips around the windshield and hatch and wheel wells are OK, so I'm going to leave them alone for now.

How difficult is it to replace the weatherstripping yourself, and what tools/materials would you need? Or, is it worth the money to just get it professionally done at a dealership? Thanks for the input!

 

[JonM]

Do it yourself...its not that hard...the tools you will need can be found in your toolbox. It patience you need to clean out the old stuff well. Practice putting the new ws on a few times before you glue it. Use the GM ws not the aftermarket stuff. Gm is a softer rubber

 

[69_Dream]

First off, welcome aboard!

As for the weatherstripping, as most will undoubtedly tell you, it's not really difficult just a lot of very careful work. I would recommend tackling the task yourself since I'm really not mechanically inclined and all it takes is patience. Plus, I remember a story not too long ago about someone who had it done "professionally" and they charged him an arm and a leg and it still sucked.

What you need to be worried about is the cost of the rubber itself. Ouch! I never bought some for a C4, I've heard each piece can be $100 EACH :crazy - That's probably just the NOS GM stuff...

Anyhow, good luck and let us know how you make out.

Sly

 

[JackDunaway]

Ok, that's two votes for do-it-myself, no votes professionals. I'm liking the sound of this....

JonM, you mentioned only using GM stuff. Kinda spendy, so does anyone know of any aftermarket w/strips that are worthwhile? I'm all about quality, but less money here means more money for the other projects!

 

[craig0ry]

No, don't waste your money on GM. I am only 20 years old, I bought my '84 when I was 19 also. I ordered my entire car kit from "weatherstripspecial.com". It showed up quickly and was much cheaper than anywhere I could find. It came with the adhesive also.

The weatherstrip is an "easy" job - but time consuming. The important thing to do is make sure you do it right the first time.

What you need to do is pay close attention to how the current weatherstrip sits before you remove it. You need to reinstall the exact same way. Take pictures and refer to them if you have a digital cam - it's worth it.

Then just make sure you prep it well - cleaning all the old gasket and glue off so you have a clean attachment surface. Do a few test fits without the glue, roll up the windows, make sure everything aligns, and then do your final install.

The hatch and doors are easiest - the rest are problematic because if you do not install them right, your windows won't roll up correctly.

 

[JackDunaway]

I checked out http://www.weatherstripspecial.com/84-96.html, and http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7915414293&category=33652. Has anyone else besides craig0ry used or know someone who used non-GM weatherstripping? I'm looking at buying the entire kit.

And craig, wasn't it a great feeling the day you got yours?? And what kind of condition was it in when you bought it?

 

[craig0ry]

I bought my '84 for $3000. It looked really bad and it ran about the same. I sank about $100 into parts, an electric wax buffer, a bunch of wax and paint cleaners, and a TON of seafoam for the engine. Then I spent about six hours on her and it's like a whoooooole new car.

The seafoam really helped the engine out... In fact I was going to make a thread about it...

 

[JackDunaway]

Mine has engine problems too, but still runs alright - I'm going to start a new thread on it soon. Check back, and see if you have any suggestions.

 

[Tuna]

Greetings and welcome to the CAC.

I just had my weather stripping redone. I didn't do it myself but I suppose I could.

I recommend the stock GM stuff also. It fits and works. Some of the others stuff does not fit or work. The GM stuff is expensive - let me say that again -- EXPENSIVE. But it's the best.

I also recommend that you replace every piece of weather stripping. Why?

The old stuff and the new stuff will not match up and the differences will leave gaps and water leaks and wind noise.

My project started out with just a windshield replacement - which necessitated replacement of the A-pillar weather stripping. After that was done, the roof weather stripping didn't mate up right and left rather large gaps. The professional tried to adjust the windows to make a tigher fit. That just didn't work. Then we replaced the pieces on the targa roof and that created problems with the fit between the roof and the halo bar. Another delay while the halo bar weather stripping was ordered. After all that, the windows had to be readjusted to fit again.

You starting to get the idea?

For a car this old, all the weather stripping probably needs to be replaced and it's really hard to do it a piece at a time without creating bigger problems.

Good luck with the project.

 

[JackDunaway]

Thanks for the reply, Tuna.

On my first post I mentioned only the door and top strips needed to be replaced, and that the windshield was fine. However, examining the car later I realized that the windshield w/stripping was what I had *assumed* to be door w/stripping, and it needs replacing worst of all (its rotted all the way through).

You say it was expensive to have all of that done, and even though I can't argue that GM stuff is going to be better, I'm likely going to go with an aftermarket reproduction. It's hard to justify the cost when there's so much else to be done and I'm going to sell it down the road anyhow.

I've got some engine work that needs to be done, and after I pay for that I'll start the weatherstripping once school starts in September. I'll post later on what I used and give a detailed analysis for anyone in the market of doing it themselves.

Thanks!

 

[WhalePirot]

Be careful with that power polisher. The car has clear coat over a VERY thin color coat. The clear goes to heck first, commonly. It is way too easy to rub though the color and down to the glass.

Clear coats should not be routinely polished with abrasive waxes. You can tell those with grit, if they are not totally clear. Wax can bring back a tired, died out finish, but only for a while.