I recently replaced all the weather proof seals around doors. It now seems alittle harder to close them. Has anybody ran into this and how long would it take to ease up a bit. On a side note I have broken an arm rest slamming the door- are arm rests interchangable from 2 doors to 4 ? and what years will work ? thanks- it was the front one that came off.
68 cutlass 4 door

 

Perfectly normal. It will take a week or so withthe doors fully closed for the new seals to "mush down" to where it will be much easier to close the doors. After another couple weeks, "normalness" should set in.

If the old stripping was really bad (like an old Ford I did) then it may ALWAYS be a LITTLE harder to close, just because something is there. Having all the windows up will also cause lots of air pressure built up in a well sealed car. Check your rear quarter vents (rear of rear door opening) to make sure they are not blocked.
Avoid slamming doors and trunk excessively hard, as the air pressure can easily blow your rear deck speaker cones (if any).

Hopefully someone could educate us on the door pull interchangability...

 

Thanks for the quick response- its been a month or so so it looks like there going to be hard forever. There was little to none seals before so that maybe the cause- Im always closing them through window now.

 

Huh?? Please explain.

Well, give a while longer. Colder weather might make them take longer to mush and stay mushed...
You were so used to having nothing there, too, just like on my old Ford. It has been 3 weeks and the door is still quite tight. So I am not to surprised to hear about yours talking a month.

I remember my mom's 86 4-dr had doors that you pretty much had to slam. Even after 15 years, it was like that. The smaller doors on the 4-dr have less moving momentum than my car's big doors so it will feel more evident then, too.
New cars have thinner weatherstrip and ifferent latches that make them close easier with less slamming. Of course that means not as solidly IMHO.
What brand seals did you use?

BTW, that is a very cool looking 4-dr - post a bigger picture some time. The color and the wheels stand out!

 

Two and four door arm rests are the same except for Supremes, which are four or five inches longer...so we won't be using those will we??? Vista arm rests are thinner..like about two inches compared to Cutlass which are about three inches or so...When you have a lot of cars you get to notice these differences...

 

By through the window I mean just grabbing door with window all the way down. Thanks for the arm rest info too. Ive found a set for a 2 door that will work for my fronts but looks like the rears are different in the 2 door. Do the supremes use same screw holes to mount there arm rest ? Thanks again
Heres a bigger pic

 

How do you open the doors

 

Front 2 are on poppers with keyless entry- back two only from the handle inside. I have had to duke it before when the battery goes dead- dash lights are always on- think its a bad switch from reading up on ( the very helpful ) forums here- plus a pain to swap out so I might be putting a switch in the grey wire back there.

 

Did you do the install yourself? My 48 Olds is shaved and has bearclaw latches and I plan on going the keyless route any advice or insight would be helpful

 

No I pretty much got the car how it is. I did have the poppers replaced - one of the push rods broke and they beefd up the springs in them. My remote box has just gone bad actually- doors popping all of a sudden down highway was a little bit of a shock. Anytime car was on they would keep popping till the door started smoking. I found the problem and its seems almost to be a piece of an alarm equipment - nobody can seem to identify it- I dont have an alarm installed but they might have tied into a system at some time. I would like to go down that route again and get somebody to run all the wires correctly uderdash as its a bit sloppy. I think tho for now Ill get a keyless entry system put in and tie in the trunk to pop off remote- alot cheaper than the alarm quotes Ive gotten. Maybe Ill give it a shot myself but right now I just use the buttons in the doors to open- few other things to fix before them.

 

I recently replaced all the weather proof seals around doors. It now seems a little harder to close them. Has anybody ran into this and how long would it take to ease up a bit.



What brand door seals did you install?? I find that to be a common problem with Softseal. I find Metro to be a lot more satisfactory, especially the trunk seal.

 

It was metro - looks great and went in perfect - your right about the trunk, doesnt have door problem. I wonder if my latches have anything to do with it. What are bear claw latches ? are my latches aftermarket to work with the poppers ?

 

In one of the muscle car magazines, they discuss weatherstipping and how it is not the same as was originally was on the car. In essence, it's "too big" and doesn't allow the door to shut properly. One such method they suggested was prior to the door panels being installed and removing the door strike. They said to use a tie-down strapand securely tie it around the inside of the door--where it might not bend. Then attach the other end of the strap to somewhere secure on the car, close the door, and tighten down the strap. In essence, the strap is to provide constant "tight" pressure on the seal to collapse them further down than might happen when the door is closed with the door strike in place.

Said it works perfectly and should have no problems closing your doors. I plan on attempting this method after I install my new seal kit.

 

The bearclaw latches are an upgrade from the old 48 year latches. Same as the latches on mid 50's and up cars