Question: Door window seals

[vdogamr]

So I am replacing my inner and outer window seals on both doors. I have one question so far.

How do I get back the backs of the rivets? Not thinking, I pushed them into the door. I thought that they would fall out, but it seems that where they were rivetted to is basically a pocket. If I can't get them back I hope they don't rattle around in there.

Also while I am asking questions... I also purchased the noise reducing inserts. Do they go directly under the panels or do I have to take the door apart more?

Any answers or advice on this project would be helpful. While doing this I now realize I will need to replace all the weather stripping around the doors. The top is dry rotted and the bottom is basically a soaking wet sponge I will need to dry out somehow. But that is for another day.

 

[Fullback32]

I'm gonna this myself in the next couple of months, except the weather stripping. I'll leave that to someone else. There is a really good write up on the window seal replacement procedure in the book "101 Projects for your Corvette 1984-1996" by Richard Newton. He also talks about the noise inserts. I got this book last night and was impressed with it. It has taken some of the mystery out of some things for me. If you don't already have it, you might want to get yourself a copy.

I know this didn't answer your question, but I'm still figuring it all out as well. Looking forward to folks answers on this one.

 

[Toms007]

When I replaced mine, the back side came out, so maybe yours is different than mine. For those who have not done this, but are planning on doing it, be very careful drilling out the rivets....the outside door skin is not very far behind the lip where you drill through and some people have drilled clear through the outside of the door. Put a stop on the drill bit so you don't do this. You will need a rivet gun and 3/16" aluminum rivets to put them back on, I guess some of the replacement wipes come with screws. I suppose you could use them, but I used rivets.

Changing out the weatherstripping on the doors is nothing, I wouldn''t pay someone else to do that, but I guess that's just me.

I can't answer your question about the noise reducers.

 

[Fullback32]

Changing out the weatherstripping on the doors is nothing, I wouldn''t pay someone else to do that, but I guess that's just me.

Oops, I was thinking about the fixed windows when I said I was going to have someone else do it. The windshield and rear glass are a mess and have heard that these can be kind of difficult to replace for a novice. True or no?

 

[vdogamr]

I have the 101 projects book. (And the FSM, Chilton, and Haynes) I find that book to be a breif overview, a place to jump-start your research of the real project.

I actually found this article to be helpful:
C4 Corvette Window Seals
It was the only location that told me the plastic door lock piece snapped into place. I spent an hour trying to get the panel off without breaking the clip thinking I may be missing a screw. And all these places that say "hidden screws" don't know the meaning of the word hidden. In the 101 projects book he mentions that there is a "hidden screw" behind the door lock slider. There is not! The only thing close to a hidden screw is the two that held the courtesy light in place, and I am not even sure I needed to remove those. I also like the link above because it told me socket sizes (minor I know). But that is enough ranting about the panels.

I was overly concerned about drilling all the way through the car door, and I have never worked with rivets before. So I bought a conical bit for my dremel used in metal sculpting, and ground the rivet from the inside out. I am sure this is not the usual procedure, but like I said I didn't want to screw up the car.

I just tought that in the door below the rivets would be a hole for the backs to fall through when I removed the fronts. What is the proper way to remove a rivet and does it prevent this problem? :confused

 

[rlg]

Fullback32,

Don't try The W/S on you own. Leave that to the pro's. If you need a W/S let me know. I work for an Autoglass company. We have a location in the Springs.My Sales Manager lives there and is a car guy like us.I can get him to help with the $$

 

[Fullback32]

Fullback32,

Don't try The W/S on you own. Leave that to the pro's. If you need a W/S let me know. I work for an Autoglass company. We have a location in the Springs.My Sales Manager lives there and is a car guy like us.I can get him to help with the $$

The glass itself is fine. It is the weather stripping on the glass, especially the front, that is really bad. The previous owner, instead of putting in new weather stripping, half-assed it with some sort of rubbery black caulk. Needless to say I only drive it on sunny days and am VERY careful when I wash it. I had heard that doing the weather stripping on the windshield and rear glass was not really for novices. What say you? I am not too proud to pay someone else to do it!

 

[rlg]

are you talking about the seal on the top of the W/S where the top sits?

 

[Fullback32]

are you talking about the seal on the top of the W/S where the top sits?

I wish I could narrow the bad stripping down. It really all needs to be replaced. But yeah, the worst is where you are talking about. It's pretty bad around the sides of the W/S too.

 

[rlg]

The W/S is set in urathane. The Weatherstriping you are talking about looks like one piece that goes around the top and down the A pillar. It looks like it uses a plastic rivet of some type. Mine is not to bad.

 

[vdogamr]

The glass itself is fine. It is the weather stripping on the glass, especially the front, that is really bad. The previous owner, instead of putting in new weather stripping, half-assed it with some sort of rubbery black caulk. Needless to say I only drive it on sunny days and am VERY careful when I wash it. I had heard that doing the weather stripping on the windshield and rear glass was not really for novices. What say you? I am not too proud to pay someone else to do it!

If when you say "rear glass", you mean the strip of rubber that runs all around the rear window, I don't think that is so bad. It is just glued in place. The replacements I see are a single piece, so if you start at the corners, it should be almost fool proof for fitting correctly. I found out the other day that mine had completely come unglued, and was just laying in place. And the corners have split and it is two pieces. I am going to see if I can stretch them out and glue them back in place until I can afford a full-car re-weatherstripping. I don't consider myself an expert at anything related to automotive repair, but I am not scared to tackle this job. So I assume if I can do it anyone can.

However, that all said, when I can do a full restripping, I will pay someone else to do it. I have heard things like the front window are a pain.

 

[clydeyb]

Hey, I have a question. The carpet on the outside of the drivers side door, (again the carpet outside of the cockpit, not inside) and the bottom of the door weather stripping is wet when it rains hard. I can't seem to determine how it get's wet. Is it the weather stripping that become porous and soaks up water? Anyone know?
Thanks

 

[Toms007]

I have replaced the A-pillar (up the windshield, across the top and down the other side), the B-pillar (top of where the door meets the cockpit, over the top and down the other side), the door (both the outside and the wipes) and the rear hatch. Of those, the A and B pillar weatherstrips were the most difficult (not hard really just a PITA to clean to old stuff off). The doors were actually pretty easy with plastic pins all the way around. On the hatch strip that I bought, it really threw me for a while, then I realized that I needed to remove the "protective edge" (for lack of the real name), because the strip I bought it was molded into the strip. Once I figured that out it slipped right on without any problem.

clydeb, my best guess would be that the A-pillar strip is the problem. How does that strip look?

 

[Fullback32]

All, I really appreciate the responses. It is that A-pillar and rear hatch that concerned me the most. Didn't mean to hijack your thread vdogamr!

 

[vdogamr]

All, I really appreciate the responses. It is that A-pillar and rear hatch that concerned me the most. Didn't mean to hijack your thread vdogamr!

So far this is all good information for me too. For instance, I too have wet door carpet. In fact one of my door screws was so rusty thay I had to dremel it and use a flat head screwdriver. I went out and bought replacement metal screws, I hope they fit. If the wet door is caused by bad stripping, then the mystery is solved. On my car if the weather stripping isn't under the hood, it is ruined.

Back to the rivets though. So it turns out there are tiny holes next to the front two. But my rivet backs are too big to fit. I saw one sticking out and even tried to use pliars to pull it out. I know the rivets are aluminium to prevent rust, but a magnetic metal sure would have been nice. I am debating increasing the size of those holes.

 

[CorvetteArchives]

Regarding the wet door carpets: I added this originally to keep the sills clean and it stopped the problem.
Corvette Door Seals, Lower Edge Auxiliary, 1984-1996

You'd think that it shouldnt do much since the door weatherstrip SHOULD prevent water from soaking the carpet anyway....but it did.


Regarding the window seals: Install them with the door CLOSED or SUPPORTED when pressing down. I stupidly bent my hinge when I did the first one! :bashOne more "fun" project I had to do! As my grandmother said "You live and learn and STILL die a dope!"

 

[PAULIE B]

Hey, I have a question. The carpet on the outside of the drivers side door, (again the carpet outside of the cockpit, not inside) and the bottom of the door weather stripping is wet when it rains hard. I can't seem to determine how it get's wet. Is it the weather stripping that become porous and soaks up water? Anyone know?
Thanks

HEY! I HAD THE SAME SITUATION. COULD NOT FIND OUT WHERE AND WHY THE WATER WAS COMING IN. TRY THIS: I CHANGED THE DOOR MAIN WEATHER STIP CORVETTE CENTRAL PART # 634564 FOR 1990-1996. NO MORE WATER!

 

[vdogamr]

So my project has been stalled. I ordered a pair of inner seals and a pair of outter seals from Ecklers. I received a pair of outer seals, a passenger side inner seal, and a driver side outer seal. And for some reason I started with driver side first. Didn't realize I had the wrong part until I went to install it. Ecklers was great. I asked if they wanted me to send back the wrong part, and they said to keep it, I would be getting a new pair of inner seals. So in the end I will have two extra parts that are brand new. But the delay comes in the fact that it was sent via ground from FL to WA. And although the expected delivery date was yesterday, it hasn't even arrived in the state yet.

I did just forget about the backs of the rivets, and installed the new outter seal. Looks very nice :cool. A little bent inward, but I think rolling up the window will fix that.

QUESTION: So I removed the inner seal from the door panel. It was a painful process. Is the seal supposed to be stappled on? It took me two staples before I realized the trick. If anyone is think about doing this, here is my suggestion:
All you need is some wire cutters. Starting at one end of the strip, every time you come to a staples's prong snip the old seal on either side of it so that you can bend it 180 degrees revealing the prong. Shove the wire cutters in there and snip that prong and repeat. It destroys the old seal but it was the easiest method I could find.
My question is, can I install the new one with tiny screws or something? I don't think they would get anywhere near the glass. If I ever have to do this again, or if I ever want to remove this seal without destroying it, I would like to be able to do so. Plus it seemed that almost every staple was accompanied by a crack in the plastic. I have used more super glue on the internal plastics of this car than I have used in my entire life.

Thanks