TenMidgets

My '72 Cutlass S could really use a new set of weatherstripping around both side windows. In fact, the passenger window is really rattling when I drive it and the wind noises are driving me nuts too.

Basically are these kits about $120 to buy and are they difficult to install for a complete newbie? If I wanted a shop to do it, would I be able to get it done at a Safelite type place or my local garage perhaps? It doesn't seem too complicated, but when I look at these kits I can see how I would be easily confused.

Thanks,
Bill

Lady72nRob71

If you are handy with mechanic things, then you should be able to do it in your garage! Since it takes time to do a good job, it could be costly at a shop. If you do not want to install it, at least remove the old and scrape away the old. That is most of the job right there.

Many of us had done this and can guide you through the process.
You will need a razor knife, 3M black weatherstrip cement (5oz does two whole cars), some plastic/wood scraping tools, some goo-gone, a weekend, tape measure, lots of patience, and some beer to celebrate a job well done!

Get a good set, like from Steele or Metro - the cheap ones will be hard to compress.
How does the door w-strip look?

alek72us

Get the weatherstripping kit and clean the old ones off and take a look at it. i was afraid of doing my car by myself but once i started doing it it was easier than i thought and turned out well.

Jaybird

Hey TenMidgets: You can do it man! Did you check out U.S.A. Parts Supply?

Check out pages 81-90.

http://www.usapartssupply.com/upload...75_catalog.pdf

Good luck with your project!

Allan R

I agree with Rob. There are lots of guys who can help you out with this. One thing I want to ask is about the rattling. Are you saying the door glass is rattling back and forth/maybe forward backward and doesn't form a good seal? That's another project by the way that means the teflon rollers on the regulators may be shot and should be replaced. Rob has an uber thread showing how to rebuild them, but you can also get new teflon rollers ready made for installation. The side glass might also be loose in the channel and need to be reglued.

1/4 glass? Is the rubber on the upright dried out and brittle? It may need changing too.

Although this sounds like a lot of work, you can take your time and be patient as you do and learn.

Jaybird my man. That USA catalogue is great. What a nice resource for B C body cars too. Thanks, I've added it to my list of favorites.

Lady72nRob71

Oh - if the glass moves excessively in the door, pull the door panel and inspect the 4 guides that the glass runs on. I bet they are worn like mine were.
Picture story starts here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsalb...57602930020786

AZ455

This is good stuff! I used that link today myself..

Jaybird

AZ455: Thanks man! you are just saying this to make me feel better about my 425 being in pieces again for the third time!

Love ya dude!

Gary's 2 442-S

Rob, you make an interesting point here. I bought a complete weatherstrip kit from either Tamraz or The Parts place,cant remember now which ,but after I put the weatherstrip on the doors,they did not want close all the way. I thought maybe I did not have the doors aligned correctly after trying to readjust I came to the conclusion that the rubber was not compresssing enough. I took them off. I have not yet put the windows in to see how the window stripping works but I am most certainly am going to try a different set of door stripping from one of the vendors you mentioned.

Lady72nRob71

Gary, my doors closed very tightly with the Metro seals, for about a month while the new rubber conformed to the edges. After that, it was fine. Now the crappo trunk seal i got from brothers, still requires a healthy slam. The Metro trunk seal was wider but had a hollow core, for more sealing surface area and less compression effort. I got it locally for my Ford and worked great on its trunk. Made me want to replace Lady's, but I did not.
Metro FTW in my opinion...

AZ455

I did see that thread about the sand.

Very sorry to hear about your engine. I hope all goes well this next time!

Aceshigh

STEER CLEAR OF "OER" BRANDED WEATHERSTRIPPING.

I'm not sure if they make anything for Olds, but I'm sure they do.
It's straight up expensive and a complete waste of money.
Mine dryrotted in less then 3 years. I have worse pictures......

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179995

TenMidgets

Sorry guys, to clarify I think I just need the window felts and weatherstripping. The window doesn't "move" when I drive, it just seems a touch loose within the width of the door. Its not as snug as it should be...do the window felts come with the weatherstripping kits as well or are they separate?

That said - do I need to remove the rear seat if I try this myself? Don't know if I want to get that deep into it. Are there weatherstripping installers our there? Or is it more of a niche thing to do at home?

Rob - I'm checking out your thread, thanks.

Bill

Lady72nRob71

You do not need to remove any seats to do the door felts. The rear window felts, yes. The outers can be replaced by lowering the window down stops and rollong the windows down more so you can get to the screws. Inners are more involved as they are attached to the door panels. Replacing those are outlined within my "interior makeover' thread.

The felts are usually sold separately from the weatherstrip. Check out those guides in the door first.

TenMidgets

Ok I thought posting some photos of what the window trim looks like would be best. Aside from the weatherstripping, I think I need the harder window trim as well. In the piece that sits on top of the quarter window, you can see a large section has just rotted away and fell off. I believe that is the source of the wind noise and a hi-pitch rubbing when I go over even the smallest bumps #annoying.

Would this kit type be what I need? http://www.opgi.com/p/weatherstrippi...02/WK7008.html
Let me know what is involved with installing the harder trim pieces and maybe I can give it a try if its repair 101?

Thanks,
Bill

Lady72nRob71

Looks like that kit is what you need.
Call and find out what brand it is before ordering.

I only replaced the door frame and trunk weatherstrip, but I am sure others can guide you through the other pieces.

After seeing those pics, all of your weatherstrip needs replacing!

TenMidgets

Tell me about it Rob...I've got my work (or dollars) cut out for me!

Allan R

Actually that kit from OPGI looks to be fairly decently priced. There are 2 types of repros. Ones called 'reproduction' which may not look right, and "Original' which has the rounded silver bead on the outside fuzzy channel. Ask which one you are buying before you commit to the sale. You can also buy a kit from parts place.

I looked at Parts Place, Fusick and In Line Tube for the parts you are replacing. Bought on an individual basis they are almost exactly the same as the 'kit' you are buying. PP was less expensive by about 20.00 overall. I just mention this because I've found that some folks only know about 1 supplier. It's like having only a hammer in your tool box - everything gets treated like a nail. Just saying that you might want to look around and compare. I understand that OPGI has a 'sale' on. But their 'sale' makes them competitive with the other suppliers regular prices.

BTW, I noticed that you are missing the lower door bumper on the DS door. See those 2 little holes at the bottom of the inner door skin? They're called 'door bumpers' and are only about 1.50 each. Probably missing on the other side too.

FWIW, if your rubber parts on the car all look like this, I'd also put in a new rubber cowl lacing. It keeps engine off gasses from flowing back into the fresh air intake on the top of the cowl. Those quarter window rubber seals aren't sealing anything. You'd be better off just rolling the window down for all the noise reduction they provide. As you can see the rubber also has a steel inner stiffener. The whole thing is probably glued into the channel so it's not going to come out all that easy. You'll have to take the chrome channels off to do that job.

re: seat removal? To get the inner fuzzies installed on the back, taking out the rear seat is actually easy. You push the seat straight back, and while keeping backward pressure just lift it up. Do this on both sides. After that you can easily take out the upright after removing some screws/tether bolts

For the front inner fuzzies and weatherstrip, you take off the inside door panel. Again - really easy. When you get to that stage let us know. There's a trick to taking the window crank off - plus you have to remove the door armrest before unscrewing or unclipping the door panel. Although it sounds like a lot of work it really isn't that bad.

NOTE: take pictures of everything you do, and also label and put small parts where they're not going to get lost. Seems like when you put something together there's ALWAYS more parts left in the bin than when you started I can safely say this for both Rob and myself.

Lady72nRob71

Don't worry - you are just getting started. They are never 'done'...

Get the foam one - not the rubber one. Unless you like the back of the hood sticking up a half inch or so...

If I could only have one tool in my box, it WOULD be a hammer.
If it won't work, hit it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.
Beat it beyond repair so you would not have to even try to fix it!

Allan R

Y'all stay away from my car, y'hear? I know ALL ABOUT you and your BFH and I don't mean 'Best Friend Harriet'.

Good thing you have a computer and a car. ( I don't count the Plinko or Cataract as real cars.....one explodes its gas tank and the other sucks your gas tank dry ) Otherwise we'd be waiting for you to show up riding a mule and yelling "Hear Ye, Hear Ye....."

Come to think of it, you would fit right in at an auction. You and the BFH forever!!! Sold! Bang! You bought it! Bang, bang bang!

TenMidgets

Thanks Allan for the great post! I will report back on this when I can find the time to take it on. Lately it seems the more I try to do, the more it adds to the list of things to fix. Case in point - picked up some chrome lug nuts to put on and was successful on 19 of them, but on the last one I must have done it from the wrong angle and broke the bolt while tightening it.

Lady72nRob71

I would prefer to be a courtroom judge.
I would replace the little toyish gavel with a SBF wood mallet.
And beat the guilty ones on the head with it, NOT the desk!
(Picture Mario in "Donkey Kong" when he gets the little hammer.)

jpc647

subscribing. I bought weatherstripping for my car, a door hinge rebuild kit, and the new rollers for the glass.

Allan R

Ha ha ha!! Welcome to my world.....

Yikes! Was it cross threaded or something? That's about the only way those studs get broken. No worries though - you can still drive it temporarily with 4 wheel lugs. When you get down to 2, then you're in real trouble

Replacement studs are available from your local auto parts store. O'reillys sells Dorman wheel studs for 7/16" for less than 2 bucks each. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...on+wheel+studs

jmt147

I am trying to install Metro part LM-12B on my doors. The part number seems right but I do not see how to position the ends. I am sure it is me. Do I need to modify the molded ends?

classicjoe

I just recently installed both my doors weatherstripping and roof rails on my Cutlass. The first thing you need to do is take off the door panels to gain access to the three holes on each side which the rubber tabs to go into. This is how I installed mines:

Locate this end of the weatherstripping Start at this, using a liberal amout of 3M weatherstripping glue. Now locate the three holes ontop the door by the door lock **** . You will see rubber tabs that need to be placed into the three holes.



Repeat the process, placing glue on the weatherstrip and placing the rubber tabs all the way around to the other end
1330055363.jpg

jmt147

Thanks classic Joe. Time to figure out how to remove the window cranks. I'll give a try over the weekend.

instag8tr

I just did my whole car and learned some little tricks during the way. If you were closer i would do it for you.

jmt147

instag6tr thanks for the reply and offer Maybe this is why so many people have had several Oldsmobiles. Hate to waste all of the knowledge gained from the first time around.

67442HT

Steele Rubber has the very best product and it is all made in the USA.

Last98

I recently did my vert roof rails, header bow and rear window quarters. It was a breeze - almost. I would rate replacing weatherstripping as as about a "2" with "10" being something like rebuilding an automatic tranny. I read the Metro link I posted below for pointers. The kit was from from Steele. Every piece fit perfectly with the correct tabs and screw holes EXCEPT the no screw holes in the curved pieces on either side of the roof rail that sealed the back windows. I suspect it was since the kit was for "66-70 Full Size GM RWD". It is possible Olds and Buick had different screw patterns, so they didn't drill the holes. I had a heck of a time drilling the holes just right and then getting the dang screws in. Not to mention I dropped a screw in the window well and fished with a magnet for 40 minutes until I found it. I would rate replacing the window felts a "3" or "4" on my 98 since chrome trim had to be carefully removed to get at the screws and the felt brackets had to be set just right to get the window to seal with the rail. I would buy from Steele again.

http://metrommp.com/

jmt147

Removed the door panel and still stuck The molded end at the back of the door does not fit. Not close on the 4 pin holes matching up. The part number looks correct LM-12B. Any help is greatly appreciated.

instag8tr

You will have to stretch it to fit

jmt147

OK will do. thanks for the quick response

instag8tr

Make sure to use lots of adhesive so it doesn't rip

jmt147

Success, the passenger door is done. Thanks for all of the help!

CLcutlass

Hi Rob...what did you use on those guides ??