Door weatherstripping

[Mrbill426]

Any secrets/tricks to getting the doors to close all the way after installing new weatherstripping?

[Rich G.]

Who's weatherstripping did you use, some are terrible. Is your striker set right?

[anlauto]

  The best ones are made by Metro and are packaged on a purple board.

[B5fourspeed]

Mark with tape where the striker is then remove the striker to see if the door will go in all the way.I used a rubber conditioner and treated the seals good so they will soften up.

[MoparLeo]

As Alan said, high quality weatherstripping is the key.
As is all parts you buy, there are always the best stuff, and then everything else.
There is a difference in design, materials used and quality in fit.
It is usually less expensive in the long run to buy the better stuff in that they usually perform better, last longer and take less time to install.
What brand of weatherstrip did you install ?

[Mrbill426]

@MoparLeo and @Rich G. they are OER; I have not seen any complaints about them having fitment issues.  Don't know if anyone else here has had problems.
I ordered the door strips, and an end cap set not realizing that the door strips come with end cap pieces too.  Looking at them, the end caps in the door set are thicker thus stiffer than the pieces in the end cap set;  The (OER) end cap set pretty much match the originals I took off.

I had the striker adjusted all the way inboard on the jamb.

[anlauto]

My customer supplied OER ones for the 70 Charger I'm building, I hope I don't have any issues...

I would remove the striker and see if the weather-strip is the culprit, if you can't physically hold the door closed, then I would say your weather-strip is the issue.

I've learned all these lessons the hard way over the years.

[Rich G.]

Practically every restoration I've done no matter what make, I seem to always wind up buying weatherstrip from a restoration vendor and then throwing it in the trash and then buy another set from someone else! A corvette I did the doors wouldn't even shut! I different brand worked perfect.

[Dmod1974]

By door end cap are you referring to the end seals that screw to the door jamb end? If so, I had to adjust those and the quarter window side pieces to get my doors and windows to open and close correctly. Out of the box, they are flat and need to be bent to follow the sheet metal contour. They also have some wiggle room in all directions that may need to be played with.

[69BFan]

Rubber extrusion weatherstripping can vary significantly from one run to the next, under all of the same parameters as for chemical composition, heat, pressure and run speed.  We have been working with the process for 30 plus years and that is why one set of seals may fit well, yet the same seals will be a fraction larger or different durometer scale from a different run.  The manufacturing process has improved over the years, but variances are apparent from run to run. 

The cheaper U-jamb seals and door end cap seals do not have a brass or soft metal core to reinforce the rubber coating as the factory style pieces.  The better quality seals will have the insert to prevent rubber from balling up making the doors more difficult to close.

It is very hard to beat the factory pieces.  Even though we started out specializing in reproducing a variety of rubber seals and such, I have always suggested trying to reuse the factory pieces whenever possible.  With a bit of care, the plastic clips on the factory door seals can be replaced with new ones and you will know that the doors will close without having to slam and push on the door to get it to close completely. 

[anlauto]

My customer supplied OER ones for the 70 Charger I'm building, I hope I don't have any issues...

I would remove the striker and see if the weather-strip is the culprit, if you can't physically hold the door closed, then I would say your weather-strip is the issue.

I've learned all these lessons the hard way over the years.

So I just installed my first set of door weather-strips from OER They are very soft and pliable, and with the door latches off, they add zero resistance when trying to close the door. Overall I like them 

[Mrbill426]

@anlauto  I have not been back out to the shop to mess with mine anymore yet, but I an thinking that maybe the front of the door is perhaps inboard too much and it's jamming up front.  I hope that is all it is anyway. 

My customer supplied OER ones for the 70 Charger I'm building, I hope I don't have any issues...

I would remove the striker and see if the weather-strip is the culprit, if you can't physically hold the door closed, then I would say your weather-strip is the issue.

I've learned all these lessons the hard way over the years.

So I just installed my first set of door weather-strips from OER They are very soft and pliable, and with the door latches off, they add zero resistance when trying to close the door. Overall I like them 

[Mrbill426]

@Dmod1974 yes, the seals at the top of the jamb, and the rear top of the door.  The originals still look pretty good so I am likely going to clean them up and reuse them.

By door end cap are you referring to the end seals that screw to the door jamb end? If so, I had to adjust those and the quarter window side pieces to get my doors and windows to open and close correctly. Out of the box, they are flat and need to be bent to follow the sheet metal contour. They also have some wiggle room in all directions that may need to be played with.