my first attempt at weather stripping...what a train wreck

[d240zx2]

Genius! Really!

[ajmcforester]

Are we having fun yet??? I've re-weather stripped two C-4 Corvettes, one Ford Ranger, 84 200SX and my first 240Z, I've also helped my friends with this project.

I have some tips I've learned some from others and a little experience. Clean the surfaces very well get all old glue and junk off, rub it down well glue don't stick to oil, old glue, silicon, wax, . . .. On the gluing surface of the new rubber use a degreaser then use some rubbing alcohol until you can take a white rag and wipe without getting anything on it. Test fit with no glue to make sure it fits well no defects that might need trimming or things like that. If/When it won't stay on use masking tape on the test fix place it perpendicular to the weather stripping. If it fits leave it up, next get ready to glue cut the tip so it fits well in the groove in the weatherstripping well, then with it just sitting in location lift it up and but a bead in the grove pressing it down firmly (don't stretch the weather stripping it won't fit right or put a lot or very little glue you need it just right). About every 6" use a piece of masking tape to hold it down as you go. Take your time do one piece at a time and do the easiest one first, keep out of the sun so the glue don't tack up too quickly that you can't adjust to make it fit.

By the way I'll try the coat-hanger trick on my Z I'm restoring when it comes time, I've used a broken screwdriver to press in hard to reach areas were my finger don't fit.

[BTF/PTM]

Thanks, ajcm, that'll make the next times a bit smoother (hopefully). I scraped the weatherstrip channels clean with a screwdriver to bust off a lot of old stuff (which also took a lot of the new paint off becuz the prep work was wizz poor in that area) and wiped it down with alcohol. The next time I do it, it will be due to one of two things: either the existing seal still leaks and/or I didn't seal it in properly, or I'm having the car properly sanded and painted. In any case, I'll probably have used a flapper wheel to really clean out those channels.

[ZSaint]

I have restored a couple of cars. I think cleaning the glue areas was the most difficult. I have done a '68 Dart, '73 Duster, '71 240Z and a '72 510. I have learned a lot from the pros. I discovered a cleaning solution that body shops use. It is designed to take off glue and rubber tailings and does not hurt the paint surface. It is magical! Just stop by a auto paint store and ask them for a pint rubber gasket cleaner. One tip that still haunts me is the time I "stretched" the gasket around the doors. It looks good but eventually the tensions pulls the gasket off. I now make certain that I do not stretch the rubber. I use no tension. The glue keeps the gasket in place forever without tension. I learned the hard way on this one.

[ajmcforester]

Another great tip if you have a molded angle start with that corner other wise it won't line up in the end. Rounded corners are not so bad