laugh if you must!!!! Is there such a thing as as a slide on clear strip for the top of a door window to help seal with the top in convertibles or other. kinda like a weather strip but clear. ive tried several fixes but cant get a seal...wind and rain come in,marty
How old is your top? Maybe your top has shrunk? Thus, causing a gap between the window and top? Whether a new top or an old top; When I had my convertible, I learned to always put the top up withe windows down. Then close the windows after the top was latched. Otherwise the windows wouldn't seal right.
my top is older than many members and quite shredded. do you think when i get a new top( dont forsee having the money for a long time)that that alone will cause a better seal??
I agree, old weatherstripping does shrink. On my convertible, when I installed the new weatherstripping I cheated a little bit in some areas. I used black 100% silicone caulk behind the weatherstrip (between the weatherstrip & the metal) to supplement it (make it stick out more) and also to glue it in place. I used blue masking tape and the window itself to hold the weatherstrip in place overnight while the caulk cured. Once cured the black silicone is hardly noticeable and you have a nice tight flexible weatherproof seal.
Absolutely I believe your top has shrunk. I had my '73 Olds 88 conv for 26 years. I had replaced the top three times and replaced all the weather stripping once. Another thing I learned, was not to leave the top folded for more than four hours. It seemed to shrink while folded. And then stretch back again after being up for a while. I never was successful in getting a good seal at the windshield header.
If your weatherstripping is as old as your top... no. If you install new weatherstripping you will be happy. If you are not too proud and just need to seal the gaps you can add some peel & stick weatherstrip to the old weatherstripping.
Generally a top is supposed to last about 7 years, more if the car is a garage queen. If you want to patch up a shot top, I've found that hockey-stick tape works the best. It doesn't decompose in sunlight like duct tape does, and it stays sticky. On my last convertible, one whole side panel over the driver's seat was gone, and I built it back up with white hockey tape. It held out the weather for a year, and surprisingly, still held up at speed on the highway. It even held up to full inflation in a rainstorm, which surprised the h--l out of me, I was sure it was going to blow apart. Now if your top has shrunk so much that you can see daylight between the rail and the top material when it's fully inflated, that's simple; open the window about 1/2 inch. And about the weatherstripping; my top is new, the weatherstripping is older and pretty hard, it doesn't seal when directly hit with water (such as at a car wash). The other way water enters is from the front; the header between the windshield and the top. It's been adjusted as much as possible, (tight) the next step is to replace the weatherstip with something more pliable. The best thing you can do if you're stuck using old weatherstrips and the old top is adjust the windows up and adjust the hold-down pins as close and as much as possible. It's a crappy and time consuming job, but worth it.
