Kia Sportage weatherstip rocks!

[Bonzi Lon]

To check for the tightness on the hatch seal, do the $ bill test, especially around the hatch strut corner, above exhaust. Test: Close the hatch on a $ bill and try to remove, it should be held tight.

Bonzi Lon

[steve91tt]

To check for the tightness on the hatch seal, do the $ bill test, especially around the hatch strut corner, above exhaust. Test: Close the hatch on a $ bill and try to remove, it should be held tight.

That's what I did as well. It turned out that the gap between the body and the hatch was locally large in a couple of places (even without weatherstripping). A couple of taps with a hammer and a block of wood to even up the gap and all is well.

[Inf]

Did the passenger door yesterday, went on pretty easily. Ended up adjusting the door striker all the way inward, bringing the door flush with the body finally. I'm still not sure if I got a good seal across the top. The door doesn't seem to compress the gasket much, if at all. If anything, I feel like the Kia gasket may be a little too soft. I tried the dollar bill test, and it was fairly tight everywhere except the top. I couldn't see an easy way to adjust the door to go more inboard at the top, I assume that would involve monkeying around with the door mounts?

I did as a previous poster suggested, and put the white-dotted "stuffed" portion of the gasket into the 90 degree corner, seemed to work out OK. The joint in the gasket has no crimping in it, so you obviously want to cut that part out. When I did so, the two ends ended up meeting at the bottom near the front of the door frame.

One additional point I wanted to add that I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere is that I could not get the OEM "kick plate" to fit over the Kia gasket. This kick plate is the metal screwed-on panel that goes along the bottom of the door, and acts as the "push-on" welting in that area.

Edited January 3, 2011 by Inf

[steve91tt]

One additional point I wanted to add that I hadn't seen mentioned elsewhere is that I could not get the OEM "kick plate" to fit over the Kia gasket. This kick plate is the metal screwed-on panel that goes along the bottom of the door, and acts as the "push-on" welting in that area.

Interesting, I definitely put the kick plate back on but I don't remember having any issues with it. I'll check more closely this evening.

[Pleiner87]

Just did this today, picked up a set from Pick-n-Pull for $5.83! My oem rubber was toast, so I started with the passenger side. The Kia weatherstrip went on super easy, I cut it at the bottom like the oem one. I was able to get the trim plate back on but it is not flush against the rocker. I moved my striker plate inward for a nice tight fit at the back. My only problem is the front edge of the window frame one spot has a two nickle thickness gap. I'm gonna tinker with it but overall it is a good fit. -Todd

-FYI, Pick-n-Pull has a parts tracker on their website that will show what they have instock and when they got it in. The St. Louis yard had 2 Sportages. I got them off a '98 that was barely picked on.

[Inf]

In an effort to close the gap at the top, I pounded the lip outward with some light taps with my mini-sledge hammer. I think it helped by 1-1.5mm or so at most.

The trim piece just seemed like it was a tad bit too small to fit over the welting. The edge was pretty sharp too and, from looking at the gasket, it seemed like it would cut into the base of the bulb if I were to force it on there. As it was, I couldn't lightly press it on such that I could match the screw holes up either and I chickened out.

[spitz17]

Just put some of the Kia WS on my hatch and doors. I pulled 3 pieces off a four door Sportage at my local Pick-N-Pull and can confirm that the WS for the rear two doors fit snug.

[Jetaway]

I'm not sure whether I am missing a part or not (see photo "Quarter Window Before") but there was still a bit of noise from the rear of the door. So I took some cheap self-adhesive foam weatherstripping ("The Foam") and laid it in under the seal (see "Quarter Window After"). Even better, that eliminated an annoying whistling sound from the top rear of the door / frame intersection. Not sure how long the foam will last, but at $3.00 / roll and a five minute install job, I can put up with replacing it every six months, if need be.

Chris

In Feb. 2010 I posted a thanks for the tip on the KIA weatherstripping and added this bit. Another poster asked if I was worried about moisture being absorbed by the foam. I hadn't thought of that, told him that I'd keep my eye on it.

One year and with a rainy season almost in the books, I can say: to myself; at least one year and to the inquiry; Ah, no worries.

Link to original:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37308&page=2

Chris

[Ptero]

Picked up 2 sets from the junk yard for a total of $20. I can't believe how easy this was to do and how well it turned out.

[tckracker]

I just picked up a complete set, down here in SoCal at a Pick a Part. Hoping it will turn out as nicely as everyone else. I installed standard w/s out of another Z and now my doors need way too much force to close and they leak! Tried rehanging, shimming, adjusting striker and latch to no avail. Hopefully this is the answer to my woes. Thanks to everyone in the thread for adding info and pics

-Shaun

[SkunkWorks]

In an effort to close the gap at the top, I pounded the lip outward with some light taps with my mini-sledge hammer. I think it helped by 1-1.5mm or so at most.

Hey Andrew, did you ever figure out a way to close the gap at the top of the door? I just installed them on my 73 and although there is no visible gap, the window frame is *just* contacting the strip thereby creating a fairly mediocre seal to moisture.

[280~Master]

Went to the Cash N Carry (pick and pull) the other day and pulled 3 weather strips from a 2001 Sportage.

Passenger side front and both rear doors, Driver front was damaged.

I did notice that the front door gasket was bigger than the 2 rear ones.

The passenger front fit the rear hatch like it was made for it. Going to do the doors today with the rear door set.

Also found a nice 90 300ZX passenger seat to finish up my seat swap. All this for $22