68442Convertible

My rear windows are really tight (hard to roll up). Passenger side is worse. Seems the inside window sweep is too tight. The interior upholstered panel is installed on top of the rubber gasket - I think Fusick calls it a body pillar sealing strip. The window sweep is riveted to the interior panel and extends over body pillar sealing strip. So at the leading edge of the window there are many layers of upholstery, metal, rubber, more metal, more rubber, etc.

The body pillar sealing strip is a very detailed molding. Seems odd that it is installed under everything.

I removed the body pillar sealing strip, drilled out the most forward rivet (which was hitting the car sheet metal) and cut away some upholstery material. Window works great, panel fits better, etc. But if I reinstall the body pillar sealing strip it is again too tight.

I spent an afternoon adjusting the rear windows so that they line up with the top and the front windows and the outer window sweeps.

My questions:
1. Is my car put together the way the factory did it?
2. How is this suppose to be put together?
2. Is there a better way to put this together - some way to not have all of the overlapping layers? Can the window sweep be cut so it stops where the body pillar sealing strip starts? Can the body pillar sealing strip go on top of the rear interior quarter panel? Can the body pillar sealing strip be modified so it fits better under the interior panel?

Maybe some folks can post pictures of how their car is put together.

68442Convertible

I tried cutting away part of the rubber on the window sweep, bending the metal of the interior panel to fit against the car, and installing the body pillar sealing strip on top of everything. Did not work. The window stopped going up when it hit the body pillar sealing strip.

Now I'm thinking about cutting away the top of the body pillar sealing strip so it fits better under the interior panel. Anyone tried this?

I noticed that there is a hole in the metal of the interior panel near the front edge that pretty much lines up with the hole in the body pillar sealing strip, which makes me wonder if the screw should go through both. On my car, the screw only goes through the rubber body pillar sealing strip. Anyone have a screw that goes through the metal of the interior panel, then the rubber body pillar sealing strip, then into the car sheet metal?

mrolds69

I have a 70 GS455 'vert. A few things to note here. Aftermarket vinyl is a lot thicker than the original stuff. I can see the rivet, so I'm guessing it's been reupholstered. The padding (not the upholstery) can't wrap around the edge, it would be too thick. The screw should go into the metal in that area. Finally, I've never seen rear 'vert windows that work well. The way the track was made, it seems like they are just floppy or too tight.

68442Convertible

I should have mentioned that I inherited the car from my dad. He got it in the early 90s, and the car was reupholstered and the window sweeps replaced by a local upholstery shop soon after that. So I don't know how it was put together originally.

The rear passenger window has always been very hard to operate (since the 90s) - had to help pull it up with one hand while turning the crank. My motivation to do something is that the outer window sweep finally ripped apart. I have replaced both rear outer sweeps and adjusted/aligned the windows so the run in the middle of the gap and match up with the top and front window.

mrolds69

Some replacement upholstery had like a thin felt padding attached to it at the top where the metal is. Some the material was not attached, but there. Some the felt was separate completely. If the felt was already attached and not removed where it folds around the edge, it gets bulky. The felt was only like 1/16", but it' a double whammy with the vinyl being thicker and the felt wrapping over. GM A-body 68-72 windows are somewhat of a puzzle to me. They are just a crappy design. The glass always gets scratched by the hard plastic guide at the rear. Always...always...always! I don't know why they didn't cover that piece with the stuff that guides the front windows. The screws through the seal into the metal may help a little. That's REALLY common to see those missing.

Tom442

So it has been awhile since I did this but looking back at the pics, I believe I shaved down part of the rubber on the "fuzzy". Maybe took some of the fabric out too? trimmed some of the other rubber in spots. I hope you can get something out of my babbling.

68442Convertible

Thanks. Exactly what I was looking for. Looks like you notched out the back of the rubber seal (Fusick calls it a body pillar sealing strip) to fit over the window sweep and metal edge of the interior panel. Do you remember what you used to cut the rubber?

Love the orange with white interior.

Tom442

LOL I think where I marked it with the white China marker...I used my grinding wheel...must be all the rubber all over my bench!

68442Convertible

Thanks for the help. I put it together like Tom442 suggested with the rubber seal on the outside. The bench grinder worked for grinding away the back side so it would fit over the other parts. Needed the grinder when I hit the steel inside the rubber.

I also peeled back the vinyl and removed the padding under the side that the window sweep mounts on as suggested by mrolds69. I had old paper with new fiber on top and a fair amount of glue.

My 50 year old rear windows work nicely now.

Tom442

Awesome! Post up some pictures if you get a chance!

mrolds69

Good deal, glad you got it fixed!

68442Convertible

Here is a pic of how it turned out, plus a couple of pics of how I ground down the rubber part to fit over the window sweep and metal rail of the interior panel.

Tom442

Thanks for the pics!!!
Carry on!!