Lee_A

Greetings,

I was a member here years ago, but I guess that account got lost.

The photo is of my '72 Cutlass Supreme, this summer will be 42 years from when I first got it. It has gone through several phases over the years, and I'm currently bringing the car out of a ~decade long hibernation.

I'm going to need door weatherstripping, and a few other such restoration parts. Long ago I bought such stuff from YearOne. But, are there better choices now? In the Pontiac world, there have been some businesses with a narrow focus (2nd Gen Graveyard, for 70-81 Firebirds for instance) that have risen in recent years, giving great service & advice. I thought I'd ask you guys FIRST!

Here is how she looked in the summer of '82


....and, here is how she currently looks.

Olds64

I've used Steele Rubber and Soff Seal in the past. The weatherstripping fit great!

https://www.steelerubber.com/camper-rv

https://rpui.com/soffseal/

OLDSter Ralph

I am using Metro Moulded Parts.
https://metrommp.com/
(763) 231-7826 ask for Jim

joe_padavano

Another vote for Steele

tnswt

I used Steele Rubber when I replaced doors/windows weatherstripping in my hardtop. Just be aware the new stuff from where ever you buy it will take some time to fit right.

I installed the weatherstripping, rolled the windows up, slammed the doors, and let the car sit for a week before I opened the doors. The weather stripping still was stiff, but it eventually fell into place, so to speak.

Lee_A

Thanks guys! I'm checking them all out.

cdrod

Lee:
I just went through this with my car ('72 442 convertible) I'll share my experiences and hopefully save you from the discovery process. Much like you, I've come back the Olds hobby after a long hiatus; my previous car was a '71 Cutlass Supreme hardtop that was retired when I started having kids, then eventually sold back in '99. Fast forward to 2012 when I bought my current car and was disappointed by the lack of quality in the current repop parts market. I found a smoking deal on Amazon for all the Metro seals and had some gift card points to spend so pulled the trigger on this purchase without really doing my homework. Here is what I learned about weatherstripping and window fuzzies:

Door Seals
I bought 2 sets of Metro LM-12A door seals, the body shop pretty much destroyed the first set, so I bought a 2nd only to find the pre-punched holes did not line up at the ends so the rubber had to be stretched so far that it began to tear slightly and bunched up at the ends. Removed the Metro parts and installed SofSeal SS-5022 , very happy with the fit.
A-Pillar Seals
I first bought these from Inline Tube which are just rebranded Metro parts; INL12953 / Metro# CZ8103/CP. The Metro part from Inline Tube was about 22" long but was too short and didn't line up well with stainless moldings at the A-pillar. I purchased from SofSeal again for the replacements (SoftSeal# RGM08-5042) which were 1.5" longer than the Metro parts and fit perfectly.
Window Sweeps, (Fuzzies)
I bought the first set of window fuzzies from another CO member, which turned out to be mis-matched left over parts and were not the correct fit for my car. I purchased a replacement set from PUI (PUI# F242-2). The chrome bead on the outer sweep was a flat shape where the factory bead is round. This might not have been a problem for hardtop cars, but on convertible cars bead has to fit into the pinchweld trim at the rear quarter. The flat profile of the PUI bead wold not fit properly into the pinchweld molding. My third purchase was from Steele Rubber (PN 80-539-57) and the quality difference was significant, and so was the price difference. With a few minor tweaks these fit like a dream.
Convertible Top Frame Seals
I bought this kit from Metro in my Amazon impulse buy. The parts fit well enough, although I wonder if the Steele Rubber parts would have better given my excellent experience with their window sweeps; but the supplied mounting screws were too short. The screws included with the kit were only 3/8" long where the factory screws I removed were 1/2" long. No matter how hard pushed, I could not force the screw through the rubber enough to get the threads to engage with the top frame rails. The solution was to purchased the 1/2" long screws separately, I found the correct screws with the truss head on eBay (PN#207) from OnlineAutoSupply1.

I hope this saves you from the hassle of bad parts that don't fit and the time suck of doing things two and three times.

Rodney

Lee_A

Rodney, thank you for the detailed information! As luck would have it, I already ordered the Metro door seals... If they do not look correct, I'll send them back and order the SofSeal. I appreciate your first-hand recent experiences!

I see you are in Houston. If you don't know, there will be a nice car show on the Strand in Galveston next weekend. It is sponsored by some Pontiac guys, but open to all makes. I'm planning on being there. EDIT: I tried to post the link, but I guess that isn't allowed. "Saturday at the Strand" is what it is called, sponsored by the "American Pontiac Association" of Houston - if you want to search for it.

Great info, thank you for sharing

jaunty75

You'll get the typical response of Steele Rubber Products and Metro Moulded Parts. Both are fine, in my experience. One thing to VERY MUCH keep in mind is to SHOP AROUND. There are only a handful of companies that make rubber weatherstripping, but everyone sells it. (Your local auto parts store, Fusick, Rockauto, Amazon, Rubber the Right Way, the list goes on). In my experience, going directly to the manufacturer's site is not the cheapest. Not even close.

A few years ago I was replacing much of the weatherstripping on my 1967 Delta 88 convertible, I did a lot of shopping around, and I kept a spreadsheet of what I found out regarding price and vendor and the price differences for the exact same part. I ultimately determined that Rockauto had the cheapest prices across the board, and they sell Metro Moulded Parts products. You'll note that Autozone and Rockauto have the same part numbers as Metro Moulded, so they're selling Metro's parts. I believe Fusick typically sells Metro rubber, too, but Fusick uses their own part numbers. Steele makes their own rubber, too, and it's as expensive as hell. It's also amazing to me how much less than Metro itself Rockauto sells Metro parts for. Look at the first entry, for example. Door seals. Metro's price at their website was $107.20. For the EXACT SAME PART, Rockauto charged a little more than half that at $64.79.

I put in bold the cheapest in each category, and it was always Rockauto.

Keep in mind that Rockauto charges for shipping, which can sometimes add up quickly. Autozone doesn't charge shipping if you order it in the store and have it delivered there (and sometimes they don't charge shipping for home delivery), but with Autozone you'll pay sales tax. One vendor not on this list that I would definitely check out, especially if you have Prime, is Amazon. If you have Prime membership, which I do, most everything is shipped for free. And, again, Amazon just resells Metro or Steele or someone else's rubber.

Also, it may be cheapest for you to order some rubber from one vendor and other rubber from a different vendor.

Lastly, I added up the prices in the Steele column and the Rockauto column. Note the difference. It's HUGE. $137 versus $343. I would have paid almost three times as much for the same parts from Steele as from Rockauto. Some may argue that Steele's rubber is worth it. I don't buy that. It's certainly fine, but so is Metro's, and you can buy it from Rockauto and save a ton.

cdrod

Lee:
Thanks for the heads-up on the Galveston car show; sounds like fun. Are you planning to attend?

Rodney

Lee_A

jaunty75 - thanks! I appreciate that level of comparison shopping!

I'm hoping to have at least one of our cars in there, maybe 2. There should also be a few cars I've helped with/worked on also in the show. If you see a "Cam by Lee" sticker on a car, then I've been involved with it.

Lee_A

FOLLOW UP: The Metro LM 12-A door seals had to be stretched a small amount, but appear to fit my car perfectly. I installed one side yesterday, and just finished the other side a minute ago. I also used their CS5 cowl seal, and had no issues with it either.

Thanks for everyone's help!