I started to replace the weatherstriping on the passenger side of the car today. I have a few questions I was hoping someone had answers to.

While removing the ws, I noticed some weatherstripping adhesive needs to be removed, I already removed the body putty, but noticed a hard black crystallized type of sealant also on the body. Do I need to remove this also? How clean do the channels need to be? The old sealant came out pretty well and left a thin coat. Remove it all or will I be good with just cleaning it up good? The pics show what I have now.

 

When I did mine I made sure all of the channels were spotless, in fact I took them out, cleaned them up and resprayed them satin black. I did mine when I had my car torn apart for paint. Your car looks extremely mint, so I would just try and get everything as smooth and clean as possible (removing as much residue as possible without damaging the underlying surface coating) and I would think you'd be okay. Wipe it down with some Isopropyl Alcohol or something similar before applying the new adhesive. I'm an aircraft mechanic, and we do a lot of sealant removal by using plastic or phenolic scrapers which won't damage the paint (if used correctly). If you aren't in a hurry, I could send you a few of these in the mail. Just let me know, I'd be glad to help out.

 

I appreciate the offer, however, I decided to just go slow and clean it up enough to allow for new adhesive. I tried smoothing the harder adhesive as much as possible, but the paint wants to come off with it, so I'll just clean it up a little.

I noticed rust on the TTop center channel so I completely removed it, POR15'd the areas that will be under the weatherstripping and resprayed the exposed areas with trim black paint. It looks really good. Once the ws is on, it'll look perfect. My question is what do you use to fill the gap? I thought it was the ws that I cut out, but when I dry fit the new mouldings, the gaps were still there at the front and rear of the TTop center piece. Check the pic and tell me what you did. Thanks

 

scottmoyer, are you using OEM or aftermarket weatherstrip? also what type of glue are you using? Please keep up with the pictures because mine is being done right now, too. Thanks.

 

I'm using original GM weatherstripping. I also decided that 3M has the best reputation for adhesives and is probably what Chevrolet used so I bought 2 tubes of the Super Adhesive. I was told to get the yellow, but I will be returning it for the black.



I will also be picking up some 3M body caulk tomorrow to bridge the gaps from the A and B pillars to the roof sections. I'm hoping to have this part completed by Tuesday. Then I call Jims85IROC and order floor mats and new visors. The only other project I plan on doing this coming year is replace the heater core before it decides to leave me with some wet carpeting.

 

Update...

I finished the weatherstripping today. The adhesive was slightly runnier than I would have liked, but I was able to maneuver it around. Also, be sure to remove the black foam at the end of the A pillar as a new foam piece with adhesive should come with the new weatherstripping. You can see the foam I'm referring to in my first picture at the bottom right corner of the pic.

I started on the top and placed a bead of body caulk (windshield goo) where the roof channels end and the A/B pillars begin. You need to bridge the area where there is no channel. I then put adhesive in the channel that needed to be cleaned out on the roof surround. I went all the way around filling this channel and putting about a $.25 size gob in the corners to fill the channel that my earlier post questioned. I then placed a bead on the top half of the center channel above the ridge. The adhesive did run down so I made sure there was a good bead up there. I inserted the weatherstripping into the channel that I just put the adhesive in, starting at the ttop center, locking it in all the way around. I then locked in the opposite side of the WS into the un-adhesived channel. I did the same on the A pillar and B pillar. The A pillar was not easy as the bead is put in upside down and wants to drip. I would recommend placing a sheet or rags under this area. I used a flat screwdriver to work the WS into the beaded channel and the unbeaded channel. I screwed the WS to the top corners at the A/B pillars, used the push pins at the bottom of the B pillar, and stuck the self adhesive piece to the bottom of the A pillar.

Now that the WS is locked in all the way around, I pulled the WS away from the body at the front and back and added another bead of adhesive to seal the WS to the body. I was liberal with the adhesive as I'm afraid of leaks. You can see the factory did the same on my pictures. Install the TTops to force the weatherstripping to adhere to the body. Now is a good time to clean up the adhesive that overflowed onto the paint. 3M adhesive remover did a good job on mine.

I plan on leaving the tops in for a few days, but will check tomorrow for any places that may need extra adhesive, like at the center channel.

 

I always believed that the trick to stopping leaks is the surface around where the t-bar meets the body, where the weatherstripping goes over this joint. I gobbed the crap out of this area with weatherstrip adhesive and black sealant. I then used so much weather stripping adhesive (I used permatex) that there is absolutely no area where the weatherstripping is touching the body without adhesive. The factory just made like a sine wave shape with the adhesive...I flooded the channels and cleaned it up later. I also believe I let it dry for a day or two before putting the T tops in so the force from the tops would not push the weatherstripping out of place.

As for prep...I got every atom of old weather strip and adhesive off before proceeding. Primered the metal and glued to the primer.

Made it through 2 rainy seasons so far with no leaks, and my tops are in and out all the time. I haven't had a headliner either so I really know that I'm not leaking.

Lol. I cant believe I daily drove my thirdgen for 4 months like this.

 

Would you think that applying a coat of POR 15 on the entire weather strip roof sections interfere with the proper installation of the weather strip itself. what i am trying to say is that will the POR 15 be too thick and block the weather strip from contacting the metal properly? I have very mild rust forming and i dont ever want to deal with rust in this area again as i think it would be a very vulnerable area to get rust.

 

I would not put POR-15 on it. Once the POR-15 hardens, you basically have what happens to weather stripping when it gets old, it gets hard and does not seal correctly. Also, POR-15 has a lot of strong chemicals, there is no telling what kind of effect it will have on rubber (unless someone has done it).

If you put POR-15 under the weather stripping or around it, it may work as long as the adhesive used to hold down the weather stripping can still stick to the POR-15 surface.

Just my thoughts on it, hope it helps.

 

When I did my t-tops weather strip I used what we call in the BMW world "dum dum" (I work on beemers for a living) It's 3m Window-Weld Ribbon Sealer. I used it where you would normally use adhesiveand along the entire stripping. They come in a roll and is about 1/4" thick. I rolled it out to about 3mm and lined the entire under side of the weather stripping and where it contacts the body of the car. I put the car under a shower head at work for the entire day and it does not leak at all. The only downside to this is if you have to replace the weather stripping for some reason. It'll come off but is messy.

 

Good infos Scott. Thanks for the walkthrough!

 

I used the Wurth equivalent to POR 15 and used it only on the inside channel area and at the 4 inside screw areas that are under the weatherstripping. If my car never sees rain and had rust starting on the black center channel, I would hate to see some of these daily drivers.

I did use the "dum-dum" to bridge the gap at the pilars to the roof, but not on the rest of the weatherstripping. I will check the car today for any areas that did not get ample adhesive around the center ttop bar and add as needed. I'm hoping that I have a leak proof setup as it never leaked before. It was just getting old.

 

Sorry I didn't follow up right away, but I used exactly what you did (body caulk). It worked great, no leaks after 3 years and many trips in the rain (although it doesn't see much rain anymore).

 

Titan, i am not understanding your point. I never used POR 15 before, therefore i do not know the qualities of this product. I suppose that once applied, it is a thicker substance than regular paint, that is my curiousity with the weatherstrip not being able to fit properly because of the tiny channels for the water to run down. Also, since you brought it up, i am not even sure that weatherstrip adhesive sticks to POR 15. I am painting the entire car, door jambs and everything and since the weatherstrip will cover all of the t-top area, i figure why not rust proof everything once and for all. Please maybe someone that has tried this or have links to where it has been done reply. I hate rust!

 

I left the weatherstripping adhesive sit until yesterday and tried to do some cleanup around the edges. I put a little too much pull and noticed that the weatherstripping pulled from the body very easily. I ran my finger along the body to seperate the ws and recleaned the adhesive from the body. I noticed the adhesive left areas unprotected. I feel much better about the car getting wet now as I decided to reaseal at the body using the 3M windshield caulk strip. I sealed up the ttops real well and the body is clean with no adhesive visible. Hopefully the bridge from the A/B pillar and the roof is sealed correctly and will not leak. The roof area is guaranteed to not leak now!

 

I tell ya, that 3m stuff works wonders. I use that stuff at work on nuts and bolts to keep them from falling of the socket in tight spots. 3m made a cool tool and they didn't even know it!

 

sorry folks but I gotta bump this back up.

Again,thank you Scott for posting this!

 

ditto scott thanks for the help

 

what 3M winshield caulk did you use and do you have any pictures or diagrahams of where you put it on the body?

 

It was the 3M rope style body caulk. I bought it at the auto paint supply. It wasn't that expensive and has been used for many things now. WHen my neighbor had his 89 repainted this summer, we took all the GFX off, the rear spoiler and all. When reinstalling the bolts for the spoiler and the GFX, we wrapped the head with some of this caulk to seal around the screw head. GM did the same thing and it worked for them not to have leaks!

I used the liquid 3M weatherstripping adhesive around the entire lower channel on the roof itself. I also applied the liquid adhesive to the top half of the center center. I locked in the weatherstripping at this time. The factory then used the liquid sealer again for the top channel at the front and rear of the ttop. They just stuck the adhesive tube opening between the body and the weatherstripping and filled it up. I did this also, but didn't like the way it looked, felt or sealed. So I removed the liquid from the front and rear between the ws and the body and rolled the body caulk into a thinner rope and applied it all the way around the top half. I tried making the rope as consistant as possible in thickness, stuck it between the ws and body as low as I could get it without damaging the ws. Once this was in place, I slowly pushed the ws into the body caulk to make it stick.

If I pull my ws away from the body at the front or rear, it will come away, but has a solid seal of goo that will not allow water in. I should have used this in the lower chanel also. If the ws ever needs replacing, it will clean up so much easier with the body caulk instead of sealant. You need to nuy some body caulk anyway for the bridge from the A pillar to roof channel. In my earlier picture, you can see the "c" shaped bridge that needs to be built.

 

do you have a link or photo of the 3M rope weatherstriping chalk?

i dont know what it looks like.

 

KITT1983,I bought the rope seal at my local autozone.I'm sure someone local to you has to have it.It was on a shelf so,I'm guessing its a normal stock item?

 

nope only the 3M weatherstrip adhesive 08008 not the chalk

plus the auto parts store that are around me are full of morons who dont know what weatherstriping adhesive is

 

ditto

 

Guys a leak can also be part of adjustment. take a look at this site it's pretty helpful, I used it for my C&C T-top GTA great info..other t top cars are very similar i was told..also, try the sunroof doctor..just google it and you will find it, They carry stuff for C7C tops and Fisher Tops (G.M)..


SIte

http://www.fierottop.com/waterleak/

 

Guys a leak can also be part of adjustment. take a look at this site it's pretty helpful, I used it for my C&C T-top GTA great info..other t top cars are very similar i was told..also, try the sunroof doctor..just google it and you will find it, They carry stuff for C7C tops and Fisher Tops (G.M)..


SIte

http://www.fierottop.com/waterleak/

 

Hey guys I removed My weather stripping for a repaint and was wondering how I could end up Removing all the black lining/3m gunk still stuck on there. just like in this picture.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...op-rearctr.jpg

I was thinking laquer thinner or is there a specific cleaner i could use?

 

If it's the 3m sticky rope stuff then the best thing to use is 3m sticky rope stuff. It removes itself from almost anything its so darn sticky. Just press it against the old stuff and pull back hard and it should come off.

 

It's the factory sealant. I just used 3M adhesive remover. It takes a lot of work, but it helped to clean up the mess.

 

Thanks. Haven't logged on in a while, Im guessing you can get this at autozone or napa right?

Haven't had time to check, here lately. schools been bugging with things.

 

This thread is excellent! I'm getting ready to do my weatherstripping and this answered all of my questions. Thanks Scott!

 

anyone got a pic or link to this 3M windshield caulk?