Dear Fellow Cutlass owners.
I am running into a roof rail weatherstrip profile issue that I would think some of you may have experienced as well—it’s ultimately an A-body issue so I can’t be the only one out there in this situation!

I have a 1970 Cutlass S Holiday Coupe that I’ve owned now for 20 years and I have found that the roof rail weatherstrip kits—the profile and molded end piece—offered by the major restoration parts retailers (Metro, SoffSeal, Steele, and their suppliers such as Year One, Fusick etc.) is NOT the correct profile...at least for me.

Here's a link to a PDF with some images. One is the original roof rail weatherstrip profile that came off my car (it had the wire reinforcement running through it); one is a drawing I made of how the profile allows for the glass to seat up into the weatherstrip; the last image is the profile that's being sold for all 2-door A-bodies.

I currently have a Soffseal set in my Cutlass that looks exactly like the profile that everyone's selling—the previous owner had in the truck when I bought it. This set, however, doesn’t allow my windows to fully seal and I’d like to avoid window adjustments IF I can find another solution (e.g., NOS).

I have been in touch with the right people at both Metro and Steele and they are baffled as to why their kits don’t work for me. They have seen my pics and offered some profiles that are super close to my original; however, they don’t offer a kit for these profiles with the molded end piece to go with it.

Have any of you ran into this problem? If you are using a roof rail weatherstrip kit from one of the major manufacturers that looks like the last image in the linked PDF, have you had to make window alignment adjustments? Does anyone have a nice NOS roofrail weatherstrip set they’d be willing to part with?

Any help is appreciated.
Nick

 

Just an observation. If the window went into the channel, wouldn't it tear if the door was opened and the window not rolled down?

 

Eric,
It's a good observation but it was never an issue. As the door opens the window just backs out of the channel. As it closes it just slides right in—it's a great way to make a seal!
-Nick