As I got no response to my inquiry for info about changing the door
weatherstripping, I can only guess that very few of us have actually tackled
the job. Well, this weekend, armed with a large dose of optimism and a
healthy respect for my ignorance, I barged into this arcane little arena.
The job actually started the weekend before when I tentatively attacked
the old stripping. Some of it came off easily, other parts were well bonded
to the door. There was very little room to work in some areas such as the
leading area of the door and it seemed that the whole job would be easier
with the door off the truck. Having the door off would simplify other jobs as
well such as cleaning, masking and repainting the door interior, a job made
absolutely unavoidable by scraping the old weatherstripping off with a knife,
and screwdriver.
So, off the door came, and it really was as easy as it looked. I stacked
some wood under the door to take the weight while I unbolted it and then
loosened the bolts and just pulled it straight out from the hinge. Several
weeks soaking in Aerokroil made the bolts easy to remove. When the door was
free, it was placed on a pair of sawhorses and padded with rags.
Now the door was easy to get at, and all the old rubber could be scraped
off. The jamb had a bunch of old lube stickers and these were scraped off
with lacquer thinner and a putty knife. After getting the old rubber off, a
fine wire wheel was chucked in the electric drill and the whole door interior
was wirewheeled to clean it of crud. I decided to remove the old bus mirror
mounts at this time as the top two were right in line with the
weatherstripping. Some real Eastern style rustout was encountered just where
the retaining strip held the rubber on the bottom of the door. Were this a
full restoration, that section of metal would need to be replaced. I just
cleaned it up and will trust to the Weather Gods to protect my poor oletruck
from precipitation, a very rare event in SoCal in any case.
A little lacquer thinner was poured into a coffee can and the liberally
brushed all over the areas to be repainted to clean and degrease them.
Masking tape was employed around the door to protect the exterior paint.
Working all around the perimeter of the door, Rust-Oleum 7272 Dark Bronze
Metallic was sprayed all around. The large interior surfaces were done last.
Something close to a full can was used. After a half hour wait, the door was
sprayed with a clear coat. Darkness was approaching, so the door was carried
into the shop to dry overnight. The seal retaining piece at the bottom of the
door was prepped the same way.
The next day the door was back out on the sawhorses to apply the new
weatherstripping. I had purchased all of the rubber bits as part of a package
deal from Golden State a year ago. Some of what they supplied had already
proved to be incorrect so the new rubber was compared to the old. While not
identical, they looked functionally the same and good enough for this
project. The first step was to walk the strip around the door with my fingers
to check for length. It was exactly the right length, but no longer, so there
would be no room for error.
I was unable to determine where the weatherstrip should be started from
any experts, so I just decided to start it on the leading edge of the door
about halfway between the hinges. Laying out the rubber right way round, I
walked it down to the lower edge and across to the other side. The strip must
make two impossibly tight turns here and it seemed a good place to start
gluing as the retaining strip would lend a mechanical grip to the chemical
bond of the adhesive and just where it was need most.
I decided to work in sections as I could not control the full length of
the weatherstripping by myself and this proved to be a lucky approach as the
glue took a very long time to develop an appropriate tack, perhaps 15 to 30
minutes. I had removed my watch so I couldn't be sure. The 3M #08011 black
Weatherstrip Adhesive was laid on the door in two thick beads and I tried a
paddle to spread it. I didn't like the way it looked so from that point on, I
used three solid beads of adhesive, one on the jamb, one on the interior of
the area where the outer body panel was folded over and welded, and the last
in between the first two, just in the center of the 45 degree angle. More
glue is definitely better than less! The spreading paddle idea was abandoned.
This adhesive is easier to apply than the old yellow stuff I used to use as
it has almost no stringing, a complication that could easily have gotten out
of hand!
After the glue had completely tacked, the rubber was laid down, and
pressed firmly into the corner as far as I could get it. The retaining strip
was screwed down, and the result had an encouragingly functional appearance.
There tends to be little opportunity to reposition the strip, so it is
important to use your fingers to place the rubber just where you want it the
first time.
The short piece on the leading edge of the door was done next, and then
the bottom 18 inches or so of the trailing edge. The very sharp corners along
the bottom of the doors need constant pressure to bond, and at one point, new
glue was injected to enforce compliance to the sharp bend. These corners need
recurring attention throughout the day as the rubber tended to pull away near
the sharp bend. A little C-clamp might have helped had I thought of it.
With the bottom of the door committed, it seemed best to lay the rest of
the strip in place and check it's overall length once again. It came up a
couple of inches short this time, so I thought it best to bond the beginning
to the end and then just stretch the weatherstrip around to give it as even a
tension as possible.
The rest of the job was pretty straightforward, and the results look
good. I made almost no mess, and the very small extra adhesive rubbed off in
little balls before it has fully hardened. The adhesive had no apparent ill
effect on the day old paint.
I decided on one more job before reinstalling the door. Jim Carter had
sent a new door glass wiper strip and it looked like there would never be a
better time to get at it than with the door on top of the sawhorses. The
strip is retained in an almost hidden channel on the inside of the outer door
skin just below the bottom of the window opening. It is close to impossible
to get at.
The old rubber had fossilized in nearly a half century of baking in the
SoCal sun, and it had to be chiseled into tiny bits and worked out by hand.
There is a center bent over tab that must be bent back out, and the old
rubber has to come out first before the tab can be prised out. I used a small
hammer and my very smallest screwdriver for this pulverizing operation, as
all of my chisels were far to large to fit in the area.
When all the old rubber was out, the new wiper was cut to length and the
bottom was sprayed with silicon spray to ease the squeeze into the channel.
The little screwdriver aided the squeeze. The bend over tab in the center was
then bent back over with a large punch and a fair sized hammer.
Reinstalling the door proved easier than I had feared. A little boat
trailer grease was wiped on the hinge blades before installation to ease the
adjustment. The door was placed on the wooden blocks and slid into position,
and the bolts loosely installed. By slowly closing the door into the cab it
was easy to see where it needed to be pushed. After snugging the bolts
slightly to hold the position, the adjustment was rechecked and the bolts
tightened.
The spray bomb paint job looks just like the paint on the protected
surfaces of the other door with the exception of the overspray that leaves a
slightly mottled appearance. While this is fine for my working truck, it
would never pass muster at a concours. If your goal is absolute accuracy of
finish, you can't beat a real spray gun. The weatherstripping looks neat and
when the new latch and striker are installed it looks like it might actually
seal.
Paul O'Neil, Hudson29@aol.com
1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
Fullerton, California USA
AEROMARK - Need Rubber Stamps or Signs? See:
http://www.aeromark.net
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