weather seals..

[BrianO]

from 50resto...(aka Late model restoration)

drove up there and purchased the door and hatch weather stripping.. along with the window cleaner guides and replacement seals for the door.

installed them all today while it was nice outside... what a huge difference. I had to adjust the door striker bolts due to the doors actually having a sealed fit.

the sound of hte doors closing is totally different, it actually sounds sealed now.

props to 50resto.. nice Cobra R in the showroom too!!

[BrianO]

I may have shot myself in the foot with this one... i've been having road noise while on the highway, like wind, etc.. and I've replaced the door/body seals as well as the window guide seals. I called a friend that still had OEM door/body seals on his and I went to check them out. Hmm..way different..beefier, stronger. The ones I purchase are the repro's that are $30 for a pair. The OEM Ford ones are $79 each..OUCH...but...considering the quality and hopefully they will fix the wind issue I went ahead and sprung for them. Refund money so it's not too too bad. I'll report back once they get here..should be a few days and I'm going to install them right away.

the repro's are very thin and soft while the Ford OEM ones are thick and have more cushion. I HOPE this solves the road noise issue..I'm about deaf at this point with all the white noise every day. I get enough of that at work. huh?? what?...yeah.

So...this may be one of those many cases you all warn about...buy Ford replacements, they may cost more, but they work. I'll let you know for sure.

[indiana dave]

Wow. I was on the verge of ordering some. Can you tell where the main noise is coming from? Windows, doors or hatch?
How are the window guides and hatch weatherstripping if you have some OEM stuff to compare to?

[BrianO]

the main noise is coming from the top corner where the door/window meets the body. I will take some photos of both when the new ones come in. I'm hoping this clears it up. Mine isn't exactly perfect so maybe these will act as a gasket of sorts.

I had replaced all the weatherstripping in one blow..all the OEM stuff was ripped and brittle.

[Erics SVO]

Actually you may need to adjust the striker again. There was a thread on FEP from guys about this. You kinda need to let the seals seat in. Some guys played with the striker then readjusted it. Some just dealt with the door closing a bit harder for a little while til they seated. Also check your bushing on the striker.

[BrianO]

I actually did that many times.. I moved it all around to try and seal it, but no luck. I have new striker and bushings. if I make it too tight the door is hard to close and I have to slam it like crazy..if I raise it up to try and cover the suspected area it doesn't close every time...ugh...

[Erics SVO]

Bummer, IDK which seals (Ford or repop) they were referring to. Maybe see if the door is tweaked up there.
I used the have a Hyundai and they way they used to steal them was grab at the top rear of the door and bend it out. Reach in and unlock, bye-bye. A buddy who is a cop had his broken into several times. He told me about this method...They tried to get mine once. But apparently the bend the door thing was on the older models. They broke my 1/4 window instead. A guy in the shipping dept where I worked at the time spooked them when he went out to take a smoke. After I got it fixed I kept hearing wind noise... I stopped and looked and noticed scratches from someone trying to grapple in there and bend it. I grabbed the door and gave it a good pull back and fixed it.

[BrianO]

lol..I actually did the door pull as well..put my knee in the bottom and pulled it towards me. My car has issues..somethings are straight while others aren't. I have the repro ones on my GT and they work fine, but that car is straight as an arrow so they fit good. This SVO there's no telling. they will be here tomorrow so I'll find out.

[BrianO]

Wow. I was on the verge of ordering some. Can you tell where the main noise is coming from? Windows, doors or hatch?
How are the window guides and hatch weatherstripping if you have some OEM stuff to compare to?

if your car is straight you're welcome to have the ones I pull off as they will work just fine. mine isn't exactly straight.

[jkboyd]

I bought OEM Ford door and hatch weather stripping. It's been my experience that OEM is almost always better than reproduction.

[BrianO]

I bought OEM Ford door and hatch weather stripping. It's been my experience that OEM is almost always better than reproduction.

I'll be finding that out today probably when they come in. Money was tight at the time so I couldn't afford the OEM stuff..but funny how it always comes back around.. LOL

[jkboyd]

I know, I've done the same thing.

The hatch weather strip helped out the best for me. My hatch would rattle going down the highway, once I put new weather stripping on the hatch closed nice and tight.
I didn't re-adjust any of the latches since I figured they were already adjusted for new weather stripping from the factory. That's why everything was loose to begin with, because the weather stripping was worn out.

[BrianO]

Ok...they came in and I got them installed before it got dark on me. the OEM ford ones are obviously thicker and I noticed in the corner area of the door/body it doesn't wrinkle like the other one did. possibly where the air was coming in.

the driivers side I did have to adjust the striker again because the new seals were just that thick. the passenger side I didn't have to do anything. the drivers door/body area on my car isn't true...another sign it's been wrecked.

here are the pics... I'll get back to you tomorrow when I get to work after driving on the highway.

[BrianO]

well, unfortunately this didn't fix my issue, but it's not money wasted..it's a good quality product. My car has issues with the doors so it will take further regression to get it right. If anyone wants the other ones let me know.

[indiana dave]

PM sent.
So, maybe it'll take a visit to a body shop to check if the unibody is twisted?
Are there any hidden rust holes that would let air and sound in?
Are all of the grommets in the door jams?