Hi John,
Usually I haven't had a great deal of difficulty in replacing
the front rubber seal using a butter knife or similar in the
manner you describe. For my last replacement I bought a new
rubber piece from TRF. The new seal was different than the
original. It was an "open" design, having a cross-sectional
shape more like a "C" rather than an "O" or closed oval that
the original had. This didn't bother me too much. What made
installation hard was that the section that engages the metal
channels seemed to be bigger than the original. It was also
much more "spongy". So it would fit in the channel but required
a lot more compression. I found this impossible to "slip" in
and had to individually squeeze in each 1/4" section. It had
a consistency more like foam than the original rubber. This
is not the same seal TRF was selling about a year ago which
was much closer to the original.
The AMCO top has the "fine tooth" zipper much like the original
top. I can't tell if it's metal or plastic. Hopefully it will
last longer than the original type did. I've had problems with
them coming apart too. It seems some silicone or similar lubricant
helps to prevent this. I have used some tops in the past with
real metal zippers (coarse tooth). One of them came from Sears
of all places. The top was a poor fit otherwise though, and
I wouldn't buy another. Don't know who the OEM was.
--
Bob Sykes
"You can't beat your brains for entertainment."
|