B85 option ?. Does anyone know who may sell the “correct “ window felt kit for a 1966 442 hardtop car WITH the aluminum reveal mouldings? Fusick sent me a set, does not work on cars that have the rebeal moulding, they now tell me they don’t carry that one..I was given a parts number for OPGI, IT does not fit either..even tho the ad says with special mouldings...wrong one.. I called PUI as I was told they make them. Cannot get a response.see attached photo, any ideas?

 

If you have an original Restoration Specialties will make them for you as original.

 

I do not, they are not on the car. I think this is called a B 90 option
on this car. Not sure

 

Still give them a call.

 

Ok..cant hurt..thanks

 

I don't own an A body, but are you sure those reveal moldings are aluminum? These look a lot like 88/98/Starfire stainless steel moldings from 1966. I've sanded and buffed my fair share of these on my '66 Starfire & '66 98 convertible. If yours are stainless steel, they can be repolished to a high shine. Like a mirror.

Also since they look a like the big car reveal moldings, you might look up steele or metro and see if you could order the big car rubber parts on the inside. They come in long lengths for the big car 2 doors and a shorter length for the quarters. If I were you, I'd get two sets of fronts to make 1 set of A body rubber.

I think they're called sweepers or scrapers, but the the rubber that touches the window is a 90 degree upside "L" shape. The vertical part of the L is secured to the steel molding. The horizontal part bends up and down as the window goes past. In the big cars the reproductions are made with a brass insert tha has tabs at specific points for slipping into the steel molding and bending to hold the rubber tight to the molding. Not long ago I learned that with a dremel you can carefully cut tab where ever you need them (i.e. to fit the securing holes in your molding). For sure only some (maybe none...) of the mounting holes would line up when swapping big car parts into A bodies, but making your own tabs is something I had to do even on my Big cars.

Hope this gives you an option. Feels funny advising a 442 person to use big car parts. We have to go the other way all the time, so we're used to it.

cheers
cf

 

They are definitely aluminum.. cutting that steel top piece off the current ones looks like it would destroy The piece..big car may be an option if the sweep on the 1/4 window is the same length, other wise it be a mess.. crazy..

 

Wow. Aluminum moldings on a '66 442. Who knew. You did.

If the mounting points for the existing rubber are slots, or sort of horizontal ovals, you may be able to use the big car Side Window Felt Beltline Weatherstrip (Part Number: 70-0869-61) from Steele. That part number is the big car non-beaded ones. They also show ones with a chrome bead which may be for the Cutlass/442. I've never had a 442, so I'm not so knowledgeable on them.

Here is a diagram you may find useful, it shows the part viewed from outside the car. The tabs hook into slots on your aluminum molding, if Olds built the A body moldings like the big cars:

Steele '66 big car window scraper seal. No bead on top. They also have ones with a chrome bead if that's more correct for a 442.

Here's a photo:

These are 3' pieces, even if you have the car they're built for, you may have to cut your own tabs into the brass with a dremel.

The tabs are just pieces of the brass that are cut out in the right places. you can make additional cuts if needed or use what's there if it fits.

After 54 years of windows and weather, most of the originals are torn, gone or cracked to heck.

I'm not affilated with Steele or anything, I just had to solve this problem for my cars and this is how I did it.

Hope this helps,
cf

 

For the rear quarters, the 3' length will be wrong. Too long. That's why I'd get 4. The material is just shaped rubber over a brass core. So you can cut it to fit.

It cuts to fit pretty easily. Then once you have your dremel out for length cutting, you'll see pretty quickly where to cut the tabs. I just made some silver dots on the rubber to show where to make tabs. If you wanted to be really careful, you'd make a template. I'd go with blue tape over the aluminum moldings to get the oval locations, then transfer that to the rubber and slice in the tabs.

The other, highly custom and slightly pain in the *ss way would be to put it all together with short trim screws, but since the molding is rare, I'd try to go factory, get the rubber affixed to it correctly and then install it like Olds did to the car.

I'd still polish it up tho... those reveal moldings you see every day.

I gotta tell ya, some days I wish I had a 442 just so I could order parts and not have to modify them to fit right.

Anyway that's what I've got for experience.

cf

 

My 66 442 Project came with the stainless window mouldings. They are stainless, not aluminum. I had mine polished and they turned out beautiful. I bought new fuzzies from OPGI, they sell a set specialy made for cars with the mouldings. (OPGI sent me the wrong ones at first the curve did not match the quarter window bottom profile, I returned them and they sent me the correct ones) Mount the mouldings first, then attach the fuzzies thru the moulding in to the outer metal body. The fuzzies I got were reattached with tiny sheet metal screws, (screws were included).

 

Its aluminum, not stainless, stainless came on 67 442, only aluminum on a 66 hardtop..
Your 66 trim usnt like this..Opgi does not have the proper one, if so what was the order code? Your thinking of the thin stainless trim not this reveal molding

 

 

Whatever you say...........

 

Randy, Show me a pic of yours please. On my car the slots in the metal door are not visable until you remove the reveal molding, there are little square holes in my reveal molding to clip onto. I would have to cut holes in molding to match door holes, somehow remove the chrome flat strip on the new set and then clip into slots..share a photo of yours so I can see what you are saying please

 

This is what my reveal molding mounting holes, slots look like.

 

Looks like I missed rubber on the outside molding vs. felt on the interior. Sorry. That outer molding is missing it’s rubber to my eye. On big cars, the windows are insulated from the door metal by the door panels, likewise for the quarters.

The interior has slots for felt from what I can see. I think the factory called their materials mohair. The replacement mohair I’ve got is thin & cheap, not fuzzy and thick like the old factory stuff. The thickness is what made windows not rattle around going up & down and when you close the door.

Assuming a kit doesn’t exist, or if the existing ones that don’t fit right, I’d get 6 or 8 feet of 2” wide sticky back black Velcro (use only the fuzzy side) to put in place of the now-gone factory fuzzy. I’ve used this in both of my big car front door window U channels since a kit didn’t exist.

Velcro has just enough nap height (thickness) to insulate glass from damage by metal without binding. I’ve found it durable too, over a short period (1 year or so). The sticky back means it will resist coming away from the door as the window rubs against it. I’d use some mechanical fastener too. — like screws in the mounting slots or something just to not depend on the adhesive. Maybe even zip ties. The 2” width allows you to wrap the extra sticky material around and into the door and creating a larger, stronger adhesive surface. Aesthetically the clean edge of the Velcro should give you a nice nearly invisible horizontal line along the door top edge.

Same solution for the rears, but to get the curves and wrap as close as possible to the shape of the body panel, notch the Velcro with several “ ^ “ notch cuts leaving about .25” to .5” of uncut material where you need the curves. Upholsterers do this all the time with fabric around curves to wrap it right. Hidden notch cuts don’t show and the material looks almost factory.

Good news is that Velcro is inexpensive at your local hardware store or amazon, get a bunch so you can try 2 or 3 times to get the adhesive placement right.

It’s sort of hard to get a clean parallel visible line with adhesive materials. I cut it to fit for length, notch as needed for curves, then score the backing paper in 2-4” segments, then stick the piece as straight as I can segment by segment. Getting it to stick right all in 1 go usually doesn’t work for me. Something sticks where it should or the line is 1/8” or something.

Admittedly this not a factory solution, but wide Velcro fuzzys has made my windows waaay better. First time for no door rattles in years.

I’d bet anyone who looks close enough to judge wouldn’t notice, or you have a story to tell. If you’re going for judging, this may not be the best option.

cf

 

I know my 64 has different molding etc. however keep in mind next time to contact Ames Performance " the Pontiac People" I ordered a bunch of that type of parts for my F-85. a lot of that is the same for early A-body Tempest-GTO cars and less $$$$ than an Olds parts vendor. If your not going back to original. On my last, I ordered my head liner, sun-visors, rear view mirror, dome light kit, for my interior and misc. other goodies saved $$$.

 

I called Steele, they don’t make them, PUI said they used to but no longer have a vendor that makes them..OPGI said I had the right ones, would not listen that the chrome strip shouldn’t be there, told me just send back.tried to explain should not have a chrome strip on top of 5h3 reveal molding...very rude..outside of removing them or rigging them up it looks like I am out of luck.

 

Mine have been installed for a while. They do have the round chrome bead along the top edge, but I think they look fine. If you hadn't mentioned that it wasn't supposed to be there, I would not have known. As I mentioned, I was first sent the wrong ones for the rears. I thought about trying to bend them but found that they were very stiff and I was afraid that I would put a kink in them and then I would own them.

 

I may do what you did or try to use 66 gto fronts..