E-Bodies.org Cuda Challenger Forum

Technical Shop => Body Shop => Topic started by: Biggbubba on April 05, 2019, 09:43:51 PM

Title: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: Biggbubba on April 05, 2019, 09:43:51 PM
Hi All

I have a 73 Challenger that has been my daily driver for the past 15years. See pics below.

The door weatherstrip is original to the car and as you can imagine is getting a little ratty. I picked up a repro set from Metro ("Supersoft") and while it fit well around the bottom of the door, the molded segment that screws to the front of the door did not. A combination of a slightly different shape and screw holes not exactly where they needed to be resulted in obstruction of the path of the window when wound up. I fiddled for hours to try get it to sit right to no avail.

Is there a consensus as to the best Challenger door weatherstrip on the market that fits no fuss like OEM?

Any advice greatly appreciated

Cheers

Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: Cuda Cody on April 06, 2019, 12:09:39 AM
Welcome @Biggbubba (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/biggbubba_4129)  to the forum.   :welcome: Did you try adjusting the windows to fit the new seal?  There's a couple bolts that will allow you to move the window in and out.  Make sure to mark the bolts original position prior to adjusting them so you can go back to that spot if needed.
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: anlauto on April 06, 2019, 04:49:09 AM
You did buy the best weather-strip available. Unfortunately you'll need to work with it. I use them on all my restorations and don't really have any major issues with fitment  :dunno:
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: RT999 on April 06, 2019, 06:53:03 AM
 :welcome: from Oregon !Nice car!
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: RUNCHARGER on April 06, 2019, 08:17:43 AM
Nice car. I've used a bunch of the Metros as well with no issue, unless they changed something on the later E-bodies.
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: anlauto on April 06, 2019, 08:29:22 AM
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on April 06, 2019, 08:17:43 AM
Nice car. I've used a bunch of the Metros as well with no issue, unless they changed something on the later E-bodies.

That's possibly what I was thinking too  :thinking: but it doesn't make sense...
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: RUNCHARGER on April 06, 2019, 08:37:54 AM
Nope: You did start with the front then worked back?
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: anlauto on April 06, 2019, 08:41:19 AM
I was going to ask the dumb question of whether or not he has the correct LH side on the LH door etc.....but I didn't want to insult anybody... :drunk:
Title: Re: New Member....Door weatherstrip question
Post by: Biggbubba on April 06, 2019, 09:32:34 AM
Thanks for all the replies.

I've done all the work on the car myself so l'm familiar with having to wrestle things into place.

Adjusting the window would only create sealing issues elsewhere.

Yes I used the correct side and started from the front.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic because I was so annoyed and tore it out reinstalling the original. Basically the segment that would normally sit against the inside of the window is angled across its path so that it bunches up when rolled up interfering with proper door closure. The slightly different shape and screw hole position being the problem further compounded by a shorter metal skeleton resulting in less structure to this segment. I enlarged the holes as much as I could without turning it into an unusable mess but it wasn't enough. The only solution I could see was drilling new screw holes in the door. But given the compound shape I wasn't convinced that would even fix it and probably create an issue elsewhere. I'm sure you are all familiar with the domino effect when working on these beasts.

There are slight differences between model years so maybe that's the issue here?