Help! Replacement weatherstripping for Hatch on 82 Corvette CE

[Vette Gal]

Anyone out there ever replaced the back hatch weatherstripping with after market product. We ordered from Ecklers and the original stripping is 1 3/4" wide, while the replacement is 2 1/4" wide........A big difference...If you have replaced this particular, piece of weatherstripping on your Collector's Edition, I need some help...we don't have a Corvette Speciality Shop anywhere near us, so I am counting on you all, please and thank you..so much!

Sorry for all the questions, but this is the only forum where I can get straight answers.

Vette Gal

 

[73shark]

I checked Dr. Rebuild and Paragon but they don't seem to carry. There's a long shot that a dealer may still have one in stock. Worth a check.

 

[82ColEd]

Hey..

Been there done that.. What a pain.. My first advise: GO SLOW !!!

I believe i had ordered mine through ZIP or MidAmerica, both they dont show them on the website anymore. Weird.. Might need to call them up and see whats up..

When you do it, do a small portion at the time and clean it well.. I went too fast and that glue stuck..


-Stefan

 

[White75]

Try some of the other vendors like corvette america, mid-america, zip, willcox, etc.
good luck!

 

[Vette Gal]

Thank you everyone, but I already have the replacement weatherstripping , but in my first post you will see that I mentioned that it is wider than the original, and I was wondering if anyone had replaced their Hatch weatherstripping with an aftermarket product.

Just like the hood decal, some places have discontinued a lot of CE parts, I guess perhaps there is no demand for them
Cheers Vette Gal

 

[82ColEd]

Thank you everyone, but I already have the replacement weatherstripping , but in my first post you will see that I mentioned that it is wider than the original, and I was wondering if anyone had replaced their Hatch weatherstripping with an aftermarket product.

Just like the hood decal, some places have discontinued a lot of CE parts, I guess perhaps there is no demand for them
Cheers Vette Gal

Defintly no demand there, our numbers go down as the cars age.. or they ask a pretty penny. :eyerole

Honestly, i didnt measure my aftermarket hatch strip against the original that was on there. It fit just fine, while it seems 'bulkier", but that goes down a bit once the glass presses against it.

Not sure how i can help you.


-Stefan

 

[Rebelrob]

Did you ever get this installed?
I can take my index finger and poke it through, where I can see the tip of my finger at the top where the weather strippig meets the glass. Im guessing this is not good, since it does leak right now and makes a nice wind sound when going down the road. Seems like a thicker replacement would be ideal..

 

[Vette Gal]

Yes.. we finally got the hatch WS installed

Yes we did it,, but what a job it turned out to be!ad

The Replacement WS was not at all like the factory one and we too, could stick a fingernail under the glass and see it on the inside of the hatch....so we asked an expert and he informed us that we should take the hatch hinges off and shim them up with U shaped metal and
sure enough it worked. It brought the hatch tight to
the weatherstripping on the top.

The lower part of the hatch where it closes with the two pins, a little adjustment has to be made there, by filing the latch enclosures, and an adustment of the pins, by turning them each a quarter turn and then closing the hatch, we had to do that about 4 times...finally we were able to barely able to to slip a piece of paper between the glass and the WS, which was the final test, before drowning the car in water! :L:L:L

Then we let the car sit out in the hot sun with everything closed and. After many hours of fussing and cussing, we took her out for a test run, for wind whistle, and she has never been so quiet, thought we were in the wrong car!

Now we just have to get used to closing the door with a little more push, and the T Tops require a little more pressure to lock into place, but I guess that is to be expected as the old WS was pretty much sun damaged.

It looks good and when we had to take the car into our Vette Specialist, he said that he could not have done a
better job, so that made us feel really good.

Would we do it again ourselves, after knowing what it
entailed, I think not, but now after installing it ourselves, it would be a breeze...no pun intended.

Thanks for asking about our little endeavour!

Vette Gal

 

[Rebelrob]

Hatch hinges off and shim them up with u shaped metal... im not following you there. I guess I need to see a pic or have you explain in more detail... Also curious to learn more about the pins and you turning them. Maybe I can try some of these out before trying to replace the WS. It looks somewhat ok, but it leaks and I can stick the tip of finger thru the top area by the t tops.

 

[Vette Gal]

CE hatch and weatherstripping

Hi there, sorry if I didn't explain it fully.:bash
When you open the hatch and you are standing in back of the car, looking up to the top of the back window you will see two hinges that holds the glass hatch so that the hatch will open and close... If you tighten
them up by inserting u shaped metal shims, it will pull
the glass snug against the weatherstripping. If your weatherstripping isn't bad, then no doubt just some adjustments will be needed. I will take pictures of my car tomorrow and send them to you....pics of the hinges,
the pins and the pins holders so maybe you can see
where all the adjustments for the back hatch are.
I'm just a gal and I apologize for not knowing all the correct terminology.....and for not being able to clearly
explain the adjustments...I do try, but I think the photos will help. Vette Gal

 

[Rebelrob]

Great, look forward to some pics. Ok, I think I am reading ya now. Yep, I was eyeballing the hinges a while back. Glad to know ya got a method to tighting it down. Dont worry, Im the one that does not know the terminology. As for the WS on the tops and doors, they do need replacing. So I will have to get that done eventually. Im hoping the rear hatch can just be adjusted. Look forward to more info.
Thx,
R

 

[mace]

What size shims did you use? How thick and where did you get them?.
Sounds like something I want to do before I replace it.
Thanks.