Where is the best place to source a complete weather strip kit for my 62 Starfire? I need everything except the windshield and back glass seals. I have been told that everything from the top of the doors up is the same as a Chevy Impala.

Thanks for any help!

 

Pretty sure Impala 2d hardtop door weatherstripping is the same, too since they're both GM "B" bodies. Trunk seal is probably the same cross section but overall length may be different.

You can't go wrong with Steele Rubber. Little more expensive but IMO their stuff is made better and fits better. YMMV.

 

First of all, is this a 2-door hardtop or a convertible?

Second of all, you're very unlikely to find a single kit that covers everything. You'll be ordering what you need piecemeal. Roof rail, doors, trunk, etc.

Don't be too concerned about vendor or maker. There's only a couple of companies that make the rubber (Steele and Metro Moulded), and everyone else, including Fusick, just resells these. Shop around as prices for the exact same product vary widely (and I mean WIDELY, as in a two-to-one difference) from vendor to vendor.

Just now I looked at the Rubber the Right Way website, and they show a number of products for your car. This is the top part of the results page for 1962 Starfire. As you can see, you click on one link for trunk weatherstripping for that, another for roof rail, another for doors.





I doubt that anyone sells a complete kit that outfits the entire car because few people actually need an entire kit. Most just want this or that, and it's easier to sell things individually than to package them up and hope that the particular package put together matches what someone needs.


As I said, shop around, and don't assume that you'll end up buying everything from the same place. You might find that the trunk weatherstrip is cheapest at vendor A while the door weatherstrip is cheaper at vendor B, and this is even after shipping is included. I encountered this in spades when I redid the weatherstripping on several of the cars I've owned.

If you have Amazon prime, you might find it cheapest to buy from Amazon. Yes, they sell from the same manufacturers as everyone else.

 

^^^THIS^^^

I used Steele Rubber and Metro on my 71 98. Make sure you use 3M adhesive. You can find it at your local auto parts store. The stuff I used was yellow, but this is the same quality.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tes-7000045523

When you replace the weatherstripping make sure there's a buddy there to help. Some of the pieces are pretty cumbersome.

 

Some years ago I was replacing the weatherstripping on the '67 Delta 88 convertible I owned at the time, and I kept track of the prices from various vendors.

Here's a portion of the spreadsheet I made at the time. The colors show identical part numbers, so Autozone and Rockauto are selling Metro Moulded-brand parts.

Note, for example, the prices for the first item on the list, door seals. The Metro Moulded list is the prices from ordering direct from their website. Metro Moulded wanted $107.20. Rockauto had the exact same part for $64.79. Autozone was in between.

Note the price for the cowl hood seal. $40 at Autozone, $12 at Rockauto.

In a couple of cases, I totaled the columns. Look at the Steele column. If I bought everything from Steele, almost $350. For the same set of parts from Rockauto, about $140, or 40% of the Steele price. Steele is good for sure, but Metro Moulded is, too.

In this particular situation, everything was cheapest at Rockauto, so bought everything from them. Was able to combine the shipping as well.