Need help: Roof rail weatherstrip channel seal

[sixty9olds]

I need help with sealing the roof rail weatherstrip channel. This is the chrome channel that goes around the perimeter of the front window and quarter window. Currently, the car has a black adhesive "rubber" seal.
What is the correct way to seal the channel to the roof rail? I don't want any leaks, so what is the best method?

Thanks in advance,
sixty9olds

[70Post]

If the factory black foam tape is still nice and intact you could probably get away with leaving it on there and reinstalling it. You could add a bead of black weatherstrip adhesive on top of the black foam if you want a little insurance.

Usually, when you remove the ROOFRAIL WEATHERSTRIP CHANNELS (they are stainless steel) the black foam tape comes off with it.....how did yours do???

If the black foam tape is not so great then you could clean it all off and get a package of 3M Strip Chaulk. O'Reilly's may have it and a decent local auto paint supply place should carry it. It comes in a box with A LOT of 12" strips (approx 1/4" diam) of this black chaulk. It will flow and seal up any irregularities when you tighten down the w/strip channel screws.

When you pulled yours off you may have noticed some globs of a white/grey putty in the front/upper corner where the shorter A-pillar channel meets the longer, horizontal roof rail channel....basically, the 3M stuff is the same thing but black in color. If any squeezes out it's real easy to trim off the excess.

This stuff will never dry out, etc so it works very well to seal up gaps, etc and prevent leaks.

It's got other uses like sealing the AC firewall fiberglass housing to the firewall.....there is plenty of the stuff in the 3M package and 1 package is more than you will probably ever need for a car.

[sixty9olds]

70Post,
Thank you for the confirmation that the black tape is correct factory seal. You are correct that the tape came off with the stainless trim, and it is still intact. I also had the white/gray putty in the front upper corner. It looked kind of strange, and I had thought that maybe the previous owner had put it there to fix a leak. I will get some of the 3M strip caulk and use it to replace the white/gray putty (couldn't really save the putty ).
Thanks for all of the excellent information, man I love the site for all the awesome information and experienced Oldsmobile enthusiasts. Thanks for sharing the knowlege.

[70Post]

Good deal. Yes, the grey chaulk was put on at the factory....good stuff as it remains nice and pliable, etc. They stuffed it in the corner to fill any mismatch/gaps created by the "V" piece where it slips over the other two longer stainles pieces.

If you have the stainless trim OFF the car check for two little black plastic/rubber dipped "clips" that are riveted to the stainless. While it's off the car that is a good time to refinish those metal tabs.