From reading thru other posts I think I have these on correctly, just want to make sure. Hatch weatherstripping from BlackDragon. I am still undecided on how the runners down the sides should be, I read about folks who just set them in the channel and others who ran the lip over the moulding. Here is the right side with the edge over the lip and the left side just in the channel.

I dont think it matters because I fail to even see their purpose, when I shut the hatch I can see that the weatherstripping does not even make contact with the hatch body. This is on both sides.

Same pretty much goes for the top piece, it didnt seem to fit right trying to get the smaller lip over the edging so it looks like it just lays flat in the channel. Its one way or the other, small lip over edging and the flat side does not lay in channel or get flat side to settle in channel and the lip has to just stay in. Both ways it still does not make contact in the center portion of the hatch, the corners are a good seal. Just dont see the point in having it there if water will still just roll right over it.

Now upon looking at it, even if the water did get channeled down to the lower part of the hatch where the stripping ends, wouldnt the water just fall thru and puddle up in the rear panel area and leak its way down thru the tailight area? This area here.

Thanks for any input, I have been reading up on it and I seem to find conflicting results. One last thing, can anyone identify these parts for me, I thought they were used as washer for the bumper brackets but they dont match up. Been too long since took car apart forgot where they go!

As far as the spacers, those are for the front crossmember mounting points.

I can't help with the rear hatch, I haven't started that yet but was wondering if you did the front windshield and are using the Black Dragon weatherstrip for that. If you did , did you have a problem with the lower corners on the outside of the windshield covering the chrome trim properly? I have a post with pics showing what I mean.

Wade,

I can't help either on the outer weatherstrip. I tried to order the one piece from MSA but they were out of stock for 4 or 6 months.

I do have a question for you though on the inner weatherstrip. Did that one get glued in with adhesive?

Here is my approach to the hatch weatherstrip issue. Hope this helps.

Jim

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?42260-Hatch-Outer-Weatherstrip&highlight=hatch+weatherstrip

Jim, you know exactly what Im talking about. I referenced your post before and when I went to install it, it just didn't seem right, its as if my hatch body lip was more horizontal and whenever I tried to get the smaller edging over it the back end would just sit unevenly and the larger flat surface that you have glued down just would not sit in there correctly. I hope that makes sense! My corners are snug, its just the center of the roof area I do not get contact, are you getting a smooth contact with yours even in the center of the roof area? Ya know, when I look at the outer channel, I cant help but wonder why they didn't design it to come all the way down instead of just letting water puddle out onto the tail end like that, but that's just me staring at my car avoiding my weatherstrip woes.

Leon, thanks and whew, got a little worried when I had parts laying around after reassembly, I must of mixed those in from my parts car on accident.

Haven't got to the front windshield yet, going to hit that this weekend when I can get some help. I have a new neighbor down the street that does windshields I guess, I see his work truck full of broken windshields parked outside his house but I have never met him yet, might be a good time to meet my new neighbor.

On the inner strip, I glued it in. I put it on for a few days to get accustomed, it was fairly snug on its own except for the hinge area I had to tape up. I started to glue it in then realized I needed to take the interior panels back off because the weatherstrip needed to be tucked under them a bit. I tried rushing the adhesive, instructions said wait a minute then apply, that wasn't working for me maybe because its kind of cold out here right now. I ended up running a strip on the rubber and on the body, then waiting a good 20 minutes or so, then applied and it went real smooth.

Thank you for the explanation. Very clear.

Also, on the doors I still have the original metal lined stripping that went over the original weatherstripping. Is this a normal practice on the aftermarket kits to run this over the pinch weld or do most guys just leave it off. Im aware of the bulkiness of the door stripping, Im working thru the problems of getting the doors to shut by doing the silicone thing like Ive read here on the site, worried that adding the metal lined stripping will bulk it up even more. It does look much better having it on tho.

Silicone and slamming the doors shut and letting them settle is not going to work for me, tried adjusting hinges/strike plate and even adding in some spacers, its not even close to shutting correctly. Area around the dome light plunger and kick panel, that entire area, is just way to bulky. I can look up thru the bottom of the door where that stripping is and I have about an inch of spacing there, can see right up into car. Kind of bummed because I tried adjusting doors by myself and ended up causing a couple paint chips as well as bending the front chrome stripping on the door window area. I think I will just use a razor and trim those areas mentioned back halfway, hope to still get a seal going on.