Let's look elsewhere
Bob,
I was not aware that body work had not been preformed, nor did I think that the stainless you were referring to also included the upper section.
Let's look at the most obvious, which is the rubber. Before going any further, the following should not be taken as an endorsement, nor to condone the quality of the parts from certain suppliers.
There are at least 3 or 4 different manufacturers, that supply rubber products to the various Corvette resellers. In my many years I have had to send back, close to half of the weatherstripping that was sold to me from these firms. Firms such as Ecklers, Zip, Mid America, and Auto Accessories of America, etc, being the major resellers where the assorted rubber was purchased.
Being in Canada, you well aware of the problems that are imposed upon us when the time comes to have previously received parts, sent back to the US for credit, and or replacement. I guarantee it not a fun thing to do.
As a consequence, I shopped around and found another supplier who strangely did not have much exposer in the Corvette trade. They are not in any of the major publications, they no longer do the big Corvette shows, and there is not much exposer on any of the various web sites or Forums.
http://www.corvette-rubber.com/
Their name is Corvette Rubber, they are in Michigan, and get this, Corvette rubber is the only thing they actually manufacture and sell. They don't have any discount program, nor are their products found at any of the regular Corvette resellers, but you had better believe they have the best quality, rubber I have ever used. I have never had to return anything from them, and was able to use everything piece of weatherstrip I ever bought from them.
As I mentioned previously, they don't have any discount program, nor the " Stay with us " type of discounts, however their regular pricing has always been slightly lower then the discounted pricing seen from most of the resellers.
I don't intend for my following statements to be a know it all, fix it all, and end it all, but as for fitments problems, this is where it starts for me.
Next, you mention it previously " fit reasonably well ". Should I take that as being that this type of fit would be acceptable ? Was the trim really examined up close and personal before it's removal. Sometimes these ill fitting pieces, are overlooked before a restoration is undertaken when the car is in a sad state, then when the car has been completely restored, and look's like a shiny new penny, the previously acceptable " ill fitting trim, is no longer acceptable. ? ( just fishing around )
Do you remember how difficult the trim was to remove. I am thinking, is it possible that these long sections ( top and bottom ) could have been slightly bent, ( without any visible kink's ) while removing them, knowing quite well the difficulty that one sometimes has in trying to remove trim.
I doubt the problem could be traced ( sorry Brian ) to the curvature of the glass. To have this happen, the curve would have to be very pronounced, and right at the glasses edge, in order to have any effect on the clips themselves.
One last thing that comes to mind is the installation process of the various glass installers. As you might expect, I have had quite a few different people in the trade, install, and attempt to install front and back glass. Most of the younger crowd have never even seen weatherstrip, so you can't blame them for not wanting to try, or trying, and them not getting it quite right.
Of all the trades people I have worked with, there is only one who had gotten it right, and would be kept for all further installations. I was fortunate in being able to help out, and pick up a few pointers at the same time. One of the major differences with his procedures compared to all the others was the preparation of the rubber and the glass.
The glass was set out on his work table, and before even approaching it, he first turned his attention to the weatherstripping, and proceeded to completely fill the gap in the weatherstripping, where the glass was to be inserted. It goes without saying that when we finally did insert the rubber around the glass, there was quite a bit of sealant coming from the opening in the rubber. However, he explained to me, a lot of installers try and fill it after the glass is in place, and in doing so, they are not able to get the glass seated far enough into the rubber weatherstrip, before trying to get the glass installed in the windshield frame. This would also have as a side effect, to have the rubber slightly budging outward, making the trim harder to seat properly.
Lastly I will address the clips themselves. Do you honestly think during the assembly process, one of the employees actually sat down and measured exactly where the holes should be drilled, so that the trim would lay down flat. Sorry Bob, he probably had some 20 to 30 holes to drill, knew approximately where they should go, and proceeded to drill the holes, knowing very well that if the next fellow could clip on the moulding, that his job was done. In just about every installation have done, I never used the original hole, but rather drilled out new ones right up close to them.
A lot to digest, maby something I mentioned might ring a bell for you, your thoughts are always welcome on any of my posts.
regards
Bob
a.k.a.Stepinwolf
