[phil400]

Anyone know where to get some for a 79 Parisienne aka Bonneville or Catalina?

[Ben M.]

Steele Rubber has doors and trunk weatherstripping for these cars. By this era I believe all of the B-bodies had the same basic shapes so weatherstripping is mostly the same from 1977-1981.

[camerjeff]

Correct, weather stripping is the same 77-1989 all makes of B-Bodies, outer body panels differ between 77-79 & 80-89 though. They look the same unless you park them next to each other. I am talking of the same brand, Chevy/Chevy, Pontiac,Pontiac ect.....

[phil400]

Ok thanks

[compsur]

Last week i replaced the driver door and upper roof weatherstripping that i purchased from Ames, went on perfectly, now the door requires quite an effort to close....what is the ultimate solution here? Does the rubber eventually compress and settle? Not keen on adjusting the door.

[MUSLCAH]

Originally Posted by compsur

Last week i replaced the driver door and upper roof weatherstripping that i purchased from Ames, went on perfectly, now the door requires quite an effort to close....what is the ultimate solution here? Does the rubber eventually compress and settle? Not keen on adjusting the door.

It should settle.

Sheet metal panels have to fit properly....don’t make any sense to cheat the doors .

[north]

They might slightly improve but all repro weatherstrip is total crap compared to factory stuff. Original material was a very low density open cell foam with a latex skin. This made for very soft and compressible material. This manufacturing process was banned for environmental reasons in the U.S. in the 70’s which is why most NOS examples have a made in canada sticker. Canada eventually also banned the process. Repro are all made with a hard solid rubber type product that simply doesn’t work well. We all here it at car shows when doors and trunklids need slamming to close and window roofrail weatherstrips that cause grief for power windows.

[compsur]

Originally Posted by north

They might slightly improve but all repro weatherstrip is total crap compared to factory stuff. Original material was a very low density open cell foam with a latex skin. This made for very soft and compressible material. This manufacturing process was banned for environmental reasons in the U.S. in the 70’s which is why most NOS examples have a made in canada sticker. Canada eventually also banned the process. Repro are all made with a hard solid rubber type product that simply doesn’t work well. We all here it at car shows when doors and trunklids need slamming to close and window roofrail weatherstrips that cause grief for power windows.

Totally agree with you North, i don't see these repro weatherstrips improving overtime. I now have to slam the car door where in the past the door closely effortlessly. Btw these are now made in India!! Gosh repro industry.. give us something that was as close to the originals or actuals!!! Should have kept my old ones on.

[north]

If you are restoring a GTO or Firebird NOS weatherstrip is unobtainium. Sets of nos door weatherstrip can pull thousands. However, if you are working on fullsized models NOS weatherstrip is affordable but very difficult to find.

Last tidbit, do not buy NOS 68-72 A body weatherstrip. While it is the correct soft latex skin material and seems reasonable in price there is an issue. GM grouped various designs into one new design in the 80’s and those NOS ones out there have a way to large profile. They will fit in the channel but the profile above the channel is twice the size of the factory installed weatherstripping. Slam city trying to close that trunk.

[compsur]

Working on a Full Size model which where used by all 4 divisions...I guess the hunt is on for some NOS ones!! Any pointers let me know

[Rachelsdad]

I installed SofSeal door weatherstripping in my '63 a few months ago, replacing the original 61-year-old crushed, dried, and crumbling stuff.

At first, I was concerned, as it was like a clown car: close either door without enough force, and it would bounce back open. However, after a few weeks, they seemed to settle out.

ISTR a similar experience with the trunk, when I did that one 40+ years ago.

Indeed, there's nothing like the original, but even NOS for 10-20 years is simply not the same as new-new.

[compsur]

As for pricing for either door or rail seals, Soffseal are the cheapest, offered by Ames and made in India, while Metro sits in the middle of the pack and are made in the USA, while Steele's are the most expensive and also made in the USA. After checking out a few of the other forums, it seems the consensus is that Metro has the highest satisfaction when it comes to fit and finish and with their rubber being softer than either Soffseal or Steele products. I'm not so concerned about pricing, just want the best fit. I still need to replace the seals on my Wagon and Convert with plans to try Metro this time around. Will report back what I find.

[Ben M.]

I've used all 3 different manufacturers.

Soffseal looks good but is hard as a rock and makes it hard to get the doors and trunks closed. Maybe it improves after some years, but I never had good luck.

I have used Metro before and it is definitely softer and fits well, but in my experience it didn't last in the SoCal sun and rips considerably easier than I wished it did.

Steele Rubber is a good compromise for the full size car weatherstripping and A-body. I used them on my '72 Lemans, '69 Lemans, and '73 Grand Safari and while it was stiff at first, it worked itself looser over time. It also had the occasional water leak problem but how much of that is just the car being 40-50 years old. The crank windows on my '69 didn't have a problem with sealing and moving, but I had to really lube and clean out my '72 power window assemblies to get it to go up and down smoothly and still seal.

Just my personal experience. I know the Steele Rubber stuff is more expensive than the others but in my opinion and experience it has been worth it for the long haul. Be wary about certain body styles, not all rubber for a wagon is made by anyone.

[Rachelsdad]

I misspoke earlier. Checking now, it seems I ordered my door seals from Metro, not SoffSeal. My trunk strip I know was SoffSeal, as were my roof rail weatherstrips (entire kit for the convertible rails). My trunk seal from SoffSeal dates back quite some time, and is still soft and resembles the original in all ways I can recall (my dad was the second owner of the car in January of '65, so I recall that original trunk seal from the days before it dried out and crumbled away); I can't vouch for the newer stuff from them, however. My roof rails were purchased in 2004 and just installed last year. I'm not yet satisfied with my door and quarter glass alignment, so I can't really comment on fitment.

Getting back to the topic at hand, the door seals from Metro were brand new in...March of this year, it seems. They were, as I say, quite "bouncy" in the beginning, but settled out quite nicely within a few weeks. No complaints. (I also changed the A-pillar seals with new ones from Metro, and I've been quite satisfied with those, as well.)