Trunk gasket advice

Discussion in 'Interior City' started by eagleguy, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. Racerx88

    Racerx88 Platinum Level Contributor

  2. gstewart

    gstewart Well-Known Member

    Fusik olds is the vendor that i purchased my trunk seal.
     
  3. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    Wow, I was actually in Fusick Olds this week. Friend was buying stuff for his Olds.
     
  4. dl7265

    dl7265 No car then Mopar

    I would have liked to compared the OER to the NOS. The OER stuff is nice , but is huge. Trunk lid slamming for many months.
     
  5. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    DL, I noticed that as well. The sealing lip is bigger than stock. May be better for keeping water out? I am going to try it anyway because the other brands are hard and require slamming as well.
     
  6. eagleguy

    eagleguy 1971 Skylark Custom

    Ordered the Summit gasket. Looks like it has a lip to aid in keeping the water out. Hope I have better luck this time around.
     
  7. Tricolor72

    Tricolor72 Well-Known Member

    I ordered the complete weather stripping kit from OPGI and I am hoping the trunk weather stripping holds out well. It takes effort to shut the trunk and when you open it, it pops up about 4 inches and makes me feel good about a tight seal. I didn't realize though that you aren't suppose to place the ends in the middle by the latch:Dou: Oh well, nothing some glue wont fix.

    Honestly in general I wasn't impressed with the kit though, the felts needed modifications, the roof rail strips weren't even close to the originals and the u-jamb seals were a good half inch thicker making the doors harder to close:rant:

    Disappointing for $300 and 2 days of labor but if it can take the car wash test I'll keep my mouth closed:TU:
     
  8. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    The orignal rear strip was not suppose to make the trunk pop up when opening. This actually puts stress on the sheet metal. If trunk strip is that tight there actually could cause leaks due to force causing warp in trunk lid.
     
  9. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    You are correct about the roof rails. They reproductions are no good. Power windows are tough to close with the new stuff. The correct ones were very soft. I managed to get GM orignals when they were still availble. They were very expensive even whenthey were avaialble. Forget finding them now. I believe the fine art of making weatherstrip is long gone in this country.
     
  10. Tricolor72

    Tricolor72 Well-Known Member

    The repros I have are quite soft, but they are bulky and not even close to what the original weatherstrip was. As for the trunk weatherstrip its not so tight as to where it puts stress, it just opens like a normal trunk instead of what I had before which was turning the key hearing a click and the trunk slowly opening. Hard to explain but my point is before I had absolutely no seal and even snow would get in the trunk:shock:
     
  11. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    I found some NOS trunk strip on Ebay after my friend got some from the same guy. We way overpaid for it. I have not gotten mine yet but his came in a new type foil pack so I guess it was not very old. I did some research and found a superceded GM number and checked GMparts direct and it was still availble for $77 so I ordered another. I just got Email that it is now discontinued and they cancelled my order. I guess the guy on EBay bought them all. The NOS is just like the reproduction I got with the latex skin. The only difference is the outer sealing lip is about 1/8" biggger on the reproduction. They both have a plastic insert in them that runs the length of the strip. I have seen the NOS on some of the Camaro suppliers sites as well. Be prepared to pay if this is the route you go. Very nice not having to slam a trunk. I may be selling the reproduction nice latex type if anyone is intersted. I will sell it for half what I paid.. I just need to make sure I get the NOS stuff first.
     
  12. eagleguy

    eagleguy 1971 Skylark Custom

    Anybody have a picture of their gasket installed? I want to make sure I have the right side up this time around. One side of mine is thiner with sort of a flap vs a solid beveled side.
     
  13. pglade

    pglade Well-Known Member


    Here you go Steve.....
     

    Attached Files:

  14. Tricolor72

    Tricolor72 Well-Known Member

    I can take a picture of it installed in my car later today, just took it to the car wash and everything stayed dry so I guess it worked out!
     
  15. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    Patton, looks like your is the later NOS with the plastic channel inside. I found a site by a local guy near me who is into 67 Camaro pace cars. He put up a good post where he used this type and did not like the plastic inside so he cut it out and put it back without it. The trunk closes like new. The original installed by GM actually had a string inside of it and that was it. When they superceded the number they started using the plastic channel type. This thread got me wondering so I went to the local junkyard and pulled a few apart and they all had the string inside. Good luck finding the string type NOS.
     
  16. eagleguy

    eagleguy 1971 Skylark Custom

    Hey Patton,

    THANKS FOR THAT PICTURE! :TU:

    Close enough to what I have to know I almost installed the gasket backwards again. Can tell ya from experiance the gasket sits really nice when installed wrong but does absolutely nothing!!

    Last question I have is where would the proper or most effective location for the seam be? Or does it not matter.

    Steve
     
  17. ragtops

    ragtops Gold Level Contributor

    I "heard", the reason for the string is so it couldn't be stretched. If it was stretched it may not seal as designed, supposedly. After I heard that I install trunk gaskets by laying it out, starting at approximately where I want to join the 2 ends, then pushing, or in other words pushing as if to bunch it up but not really making it look bunched nor different, just pushing to make sure it is not stretched at all, and using a popsicle stick or tongue depressor to stick it into the channel. This makes it lie in place well, and the joint almost invisible as the 2 ends are slightly pushing against each other.
    Works for me.
    Also, I have had cars that wouldn't seal where the trunk meets the gasket no matter what I did. I figured over the years as parts were changed and the bodies were fixed and flexed and so forth that some would just not seal.:Do No:
    Mike
     
  18. eagleguy

    eagleguy 1971 Skylark Custom

    So where is the best place to join the 2 ends??????
     
  19. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member


    To the left or right of the trunk latch.
     
  20. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    I will throw a wrench in all the put joint to one side or the other stuff. I went to a local junkyard today and there are several skylarks. A 72 4 dr that had the original weather strip with the string in it and the two color inspection marks at the top. This car had the joint seam DEAD in the MIDDLE. This car was repainted from cream color to blue and it had blue overspray so I would say it was never changed. It was a Framingham car so maybe Paul did it? So never say never....I took a piece and included some pictures next for an interesting comaparison next.
     

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