BodyGeneral body information and techniques for repairing, restoring, and modifying your car.
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First consider rubber in general. All weather stripping should not only be in good condition but also be pliable (use a shot of silicone on them from time to time). Aside from the rubber surrounding the windows, there are the window bump stops, which wear quickly and fall to the bottom of the door.
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__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
Then, there is a piece that is still available from GM, but isn't installed on all cars, a piece that seems to make the door a bit more airtight and solid.
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
The door handle itself is another problem. The small spring inside the handle often breaks/weakens and allows the handle to flop. On the 88 Camaro that I inspected, the self-cutting nuts of the handle itself had also loosened to allow flop.
Moreover, the handle design fits metal 'fingers' into metal rectanglar 'boxes', which is, of course, metal on metal. I'd advise shooting some white gease in occasionally to slow wear, which will cause flop.
In my 85 IROC, the cause of most of the rattling came from the various rods that open, close, and lock the door. Apparently, GM made two versions of gizmos to hold and cushion those rods.
Note the two rods. On my 85 the black piece only holds a single rod in place, allowing the second to flop, although the mesh does help.
Other rods cause problems as well. Some of these rods are covered with a plastic-like black material. Nonetheless, wear is caused, elongating holes and further causing rattles. A prime culpit is just above my finger. As a short-term fix, I simply looped a small zip tie through the hole (barely visible) and around the rod and snugged it up.
More possible problems and fixes. On my 85, there was no vestige of rubber on the door latch itself, although there clearly was on the 88 as you see below.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
I tried several fixes, wrapping the striker with various kinds of rubber and so on, none of which worked. What I settled on, since the striker is exactly the same size, is the striker cover from the rear seat.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
Another suggestion. You can just buy a new striker from GM. I picked up several to swap whan I start performing the 3rdgensolutions hinge replacement on local Members cars. The p/n for the door striker bolt is 20464563. Lon
The poor mans way to seal up the doors and windows.
1/2in wide 1/4in thick weather striping they sell for doors and windows for your house. 2-3 bucks for a big roll.
works real well. I used it all around my windows and doors, so they seal tight and they no longer get frozen shut in the winter. It also works well on the hood and hatch seal.
I broke off my passanger side door handle and broke my hatch lock one winter, got frozen out and could not get in.
I tried ajusting those guides since my window wobbled
alot. but by pushing the guide(s) forward.. now i get
wind noise at 60 km/h. Thats annoying !
on the end of the guide theres some sort of a brush that
pushes against the window wich is worn out..
__________________ 1991 Z28 180k
5.7L 350 TPI - TH700r4
KYB GR2 & gaz a just shocks
Pirelli - P7000 Super Sport
4 bolt 350 build up in progress
------------------------------------------------
1998 Honda Accord
3.0 - Auto
Originally posted by JamesC Then, there is a piece that is still available from GM, but isn't installed on all cars, a piece that seems to make the door a bit more airtight and solid.
Both the window bump stops and the door piece should still be available from GM. I have an extra door piece, should it be unavailable from the General.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
I can't locate the part number(s) from old bills, but the parts man at your local dealership should be able to provide it. There are, I believe, after market options as well, such as Soft Seal (you might save a few bucks there). By the way, you might consider not only replacing the rubber around the windows but also around the doors.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
Sure wish I'd found this site sooner. I did all the weatherstripping in my 88 Sport Coupe this weekend. Great info here. BTW SoftSeal offers a complete weatherstripping kit for 3rd gens. It's 250.00 something for all the seals and they fit perfectly.
I just went out and checked all the areas you talked about. I picked up some foam at the fabric shop, and wrapped it around where the rods hit the metal of the door. Silence is golden! I'll try to get a few pics.
One more place where I found a squeak is that metal wedge thing that's on the body side of the door jamb. It contacts a corresponding hard plastic wedge attached to the door. A very small smear of grease on the two parts eliminates this squeak.
The pieces you mention are not equipped on the earlier cars--at least my 85 IROC doesn't have them. The 88 that I discuss above, however, did. Apparently, the General came to understand that the doors and rattles were a problem and made some minor improvements in that regard.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
I think 87 was a big year for a lot of those improvements, to help reduce rattles. I know mine had most of those from the factory EXCEPT the Lower Door rubber piece that he describes (Got one from another car, makes the door close harder but it helped with some squeaks. I think my 91 had it tho...
John
__________________ 87 FORMULA - 5.1 LB9/A4 T-tops 3.73 Modified (Yellow/Black)
87 FORMULA - 5.0 LB9/M5 T-tops 3.45 (Yellow/Gray)
89 FORMULA 350 - CONVERTIBLE 3.27 All original (Red/Gray) www.3rdgenformula.com
Originally posted by JamesC I cut it to size with a dremel, removed the door striker, pushed on the plastic, and reassembled. So far, the plastic shows no signs of heavy wear.
JamesC
Where do you get the plastic peices to fit over the door strikers? How hard is it to put them in??
__________________ "I live my life a quarter mile at a time, for those 10 seconds or less...Im free"
*LUCY* 1989 Bright Red 2 tone accent paint (silver) WS6 Formula. 305 TPI, T-tops. Fresh Paint, moldings and decals, New interior (dash, carpet, center console, shifter, headliner, sail panels, sun visors, ect) Flowmaster cat-back exhaust, Rebuilt Trans. B&M stage 1 shift kit, 2500 Stall converter, Custom cold air induction, K&N filter, 160' T-stat, SLP throttle body air foil, HotchkisSTB, SLP LCA's, Taylor 8mm wires, Spohn poly bushings & endlinks, BBK AFPR, Polished intake plenum and runners. Sound system: Alpine CD Receiver, Eclipse 4x6s, Pioneer 3-way 6x9s, Pioneer PPTA dome tweeters, (2) Pioneer 10" Subwoofers in a Custom sealed MDF enclosure built by me, Pioneer 2CH 750watt amp, Kenwood 4CH 250 watt amp.
The book he is showing is the GM Shop Manual.. Check Ebay from time to time.. I see many thirdgen manuals there.. I have a photo copy of the whole book.. no color.. but it's great to have.
FastE is correct, shop manual (If you don't have one, get one asap). Torch, see above for pics and instructions--I think your question can be answered there. If not, let me know.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
yeah i see your post there discribing it. Thanks. What if i was just looking for the plastic circular pieces to go over the door strikers? Can i find them at like an auto parts store? I checked my dads new van and hes got them on all his doors. Just thin circular peices of plastic that go over the strikers.
I simply used the plastic from the rear seat striker (hit the bone yards--these would cost next to nothing), removed the door striker, then cut the plastic to fit (length). Reassemble.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
Cool idea for the stricker covers. i noticed my door latch that locks on the door stricker is actually covered in plastic, so i ahve no real striker wear or vibration. That might only be cause my doors have not sagged yet. I bet the common sagging destroys the door latches plastic cover quick!
Very good stuff here...thanks for the info and tips! Gives me an even bigger list for the yards!
I tried some of the tips on the door and it worked. The driver's side door is a lot quieter now. BUT the door striker cover idea did not work The door wouldn't close after putting that cover on. I guess it was too thinck and it wouldnt latch around it or something. So I had to take it off :/...
__________________ 408 SBC
Mighty Demon 850
Dart Iron Eagles fully ported 2.08/1.60 valves
Edelbrock RPM Air Gap intake
256/262 .600/.600 Erson solid roller
NWC T5 (can you believe it ?)
MSD Digital6 ignition
Full exhaust
LED dash
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Could very well be as redraif suggests: the door has dropped. With the door open, try to lift the door at the rear. You may note some play. If so, you might consider investing in one of Lon's fit-it kits.
JamesC
__________________ "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
I have a cheap way to make plenty of those plastic pieces. Just goto home depot or ace hardware or lows and get some pvc line in the diameter that you need and cut to length and have plenty left if you need more or mess up.
The door wouldn't close after putting that cover on. I guess it was too thinck and it wouldnt latch around it or something. So I had to take it off :/... 
