Kia Sportage Door Seals

[Randalla]

I installed these on my 1972 240Z 10 years ago and was very pleased with them. Trying to direct a friend who needs to replace his seals but can't for the life of me find what year Kia Sportage works. I seem to remember the ones on the front doors fit best. Anyone recall what year Sportage seals fit.

[SteveJ]

 

 

[zKars]

Ok, 14 years ago is making me feel older than I am. Thanks for digging that back up.

I have forsaken the Kia strips for a McMaster Carr near equivalent. I buy this stuff by the 100ft rolls and have installed plenty on local cars for several years with happy customers.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/130/3984/1120A822

Latest idea (So far untested…) is to replace the front vertical section of that strip with one with a smaller bulb. This might help the initial tightness and a bit thick WS that makes the doors hard to close for a while. The binding we all hate is from the front vertical area of the door. I can confirm this from observation. Apparently the OEM seals were thinner in this area. 

[zed2]

The Kia rear door w/s is a bit longer than the front, and can be seamed below the threshold plate. The rear doors generally have experienced much less use than the fronts, therefore are usually in better condition.

Keith

[cgsheen1]

Randy, you can get side bulb welt just about anywhere including amazon. The Kia weatherstrip is nice and you can hide the seam you have to make under the kickplate, but the 90 elbow isn't sharp. With new side bulb welt you can 45 degree each end at the upper aft corner and get the bulb in the dimension you want to completely fill all the gaps between the door and body. (personally, I discovered the Sportage weatherstrip when I was looking for a Honda blower motor for my Z. That's when I found the Kia blower and used it to retrofit my defunct stock blower rather than using the Civic blower. I can't remember the exact year - been too long - but I'm pretty sure it was an early 90's model of Sportage)

Edited July 4 by cgsheen1

[Randalla]

Thanks much guys! I thought it was somewhere in the 90's but could not find the actual years. I subsequently found a post somewhere else that said 1993-2002, but unsure if that's right or not. On my car the seals really fit perfectly, even the 45 degree angle. I seem to recall having to cut off about 8" for a perfect fit, and then as Chuck said, buried the seam under the kickplate. Was not aware (or had forgotten) that the rear door seals were longer. Makes sense that they would probably be in better shape than the front seals. Appreciate the assistance guys!    

[fusion]

95-02 kia Sportage door weatherstrip

Part number

0K018-58760B

[Richie G]

I know this is contrarian here, but maybe I'm just lucky or the previous owner already compensated with the hinge and latch, but the Precision ones work great in my 71.  I just put them on as part of all the work I'm doing and dont seem to have any issues with closure, lock operation, or the gaps in the seems.

[grannyknot]

7 hours ago, Richie G said:

I know this is contrarian here, but maybe I'm just lucky or the previous owner already compensated with the hinge and latch, but the Precision ones work great in my 71.  I just put them on as part of all the work I'm doing and dont seem to have any issues with closure, lock operation, or the gaps in the seems.

Same here, I believe Precision changed their design on the door seals 4-5 yrs ago because I haven't seen a bad one in that time, they use to be really bad.

[cgsheen1]

I haven't seen a Precision set since Covid but everything we either bought or customer supplied before then was barely adequate for the door weatherstrip. (and we did quite a few) We got to compare them to original factory weatherstrip when Bob brought in the 1975 "Museum" 280Z and there is no comparison - other than black and they fit the hole... Okay I'll admit that the Precision I put on my own Z was 12 or 13 years ago and it was adequate but I much preferred the used KIA weatherstrip. I pulled out the KIA and replaced it with Side-bulb Welt before Covid and consider it to be the best of the three. I'm going to use Top-bulb Welt on my hatch as soon as Arizona Winter (AKA Summer) is over.

HOWEVER - NONE of it compares to the factory weatherstrip for the doors. But, if someone could faithfully reproduce the factory door rubber it would likely cost way too much to buy...

 

[fusion]

I am running into a slight problem with my Kia weatherstripping in the hatch.  The spot where the weatherstripping runs over the hatch lift mounts is too tight and forces the weatherstrip to sit higher in that area.  This is making my hatch not close correctly.

I could either:

1) grind down the removable part of the mount.  This might not even totally fix the problem as the non removable part may also be interfering 

2) cut away the lower portion of the weatherstrip.  This should alleviate the fitment issue but that small (~2") length would not be attached to the body.

 

Has anyone else had this issue? 

 

Edited September 16 by fusion

[SteveJ]

Well, the Kia seals are for the doors, not the hatch.