1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

[Donald G.]

I have installed new old stock door seals on my car and am unable to close the doors all the way about 1/4 to 3/8". Has anyone else had this problem. Seals seemed to very flexible when installed. I glues the two square sides of the seal to the doors. I had doors off and repainted and then re installed doors after installing new seals.

I am about ready to put some compression on seals and then as they start to form to body, I can snug then up until door is completely closed.

Does anyone haves some other thoughts?

[Edward J.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

Don, sometimes with new weatherstrips it may take a few weeks to have the doors close properly. The weatherstrips will compress just leave doors closed tight ,They may require a litttle extra pressure when closing doors.

[Matt L.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

i too had this problem when we put my brothers trans am back together. a friend of mine gave me a great hint. wipe the seals down with a tire dressing that has solvent in it. saturate it. that will soften the seals and allow the door to close and leave it closed overnight. we couldn't close the doors on my brothers car without really forcing them and i knew that wasnt right. this trick worked great for us. the next day the doors clicked shut.

take care,
matt

[Michael F.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I wouldn't use any solvents on your rubber.

Not sure where you are located, cold rubber may be part of the issue.

Your best bet is to close the doors for a few weeks.

If you need to lubricate the rubber. Use silicone grease only. Does wonders and will extend new and rejuvenate old rubber.

[Russ S.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I installed NOS 30 year old GM door seals on my 66 and they were so tight that they caused the paint on the rear of the door about 1 inch in from the back edge to crack. The stiff seals flexed the door that much.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I too used NOS 30 yr old door weatherstripping on my 63 coupe, it's terrible and actually cracked the bond from slamming the door to try and close. The top of the doors never closed right and I finally took them back off even after months of telling myself they will seat.

On my 67 I used NOS door weatherstrips and they fit OK but they are still a bit tight, I'm convinced if it was a coupe the same problem as above. The NOS decklid weatherstrip had to be changed because the middle of the lid never sat flush, looked terrible until I changed it to the soft rubber and now I am very happy with the fit...

I laugh when I see the NOS stuff on ebay for $$ because it's obviously not the same as the production line stuff.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I installed NOS 30 year old GM door seals on my 66 and they were so tight that they caused the paint on the rear of the door about 1 inch in from the back edge to crack. The stiff seals flexed the door that much.

I have had the same problem. I too bought GM seals 30 yoears ago. I won't call them NOS because a lot of service parts were not like original. The weatherstripping is way too hard. It was hell to pay to get the deck lid to fit. I always tried to reuse the old if I could. I was told that it cost more to make the softer rubber. I had hoped that the new repo weatherstripping would be softer.
KEN

[Russ S.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I have had the same problem. I too bought GM seals 30 yoears ago. I won't call them NOS because a lot of service parts were not like original. The weatherstripping is way too hard. It was hell to pay to get the deck lid to fit. I always tried to reuse the old if I could. I was told that it cost more to make the softer rubber. I had hoped that the new repo weatherstripping would be softer.
KEN

Ken, The repo is softer. I had to remove my NOS GM and re-place with repo.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

Ken, The repo is softer. I had to remove my NOS GM and re-place with repo.

RUSS
Thanks I hated the bat wings on the corners of the deck lid. LOL
KEN

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

Even back then they were that way. It takes years, but after they are settled they are nice.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

Wayne,

Some of us may not have years left.

[Domenic T.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

Don,
I recently installed weatherstripping on a aluminum aircraft door, they are flimsey and I had the same problem.

Then I found a tube of lube that was made for that purpose and it allowed the rubber to move into position and the door is perfect now.

The rubber needs to slide into position and a lube on the rubber makes it possible.

I don't have the name handy as I am not at the shop but will try and get it for you.

Richard Coolidge is a NCRS member and he & I were talking about the same problem you are having and he has the name of another lube that is made for weatherstrip.

DOM

[Loren L.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

All of these solutions and no one asks who made the seals you installed......

[Richard C.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

I use permatex dielectric grease, item #22058. try it youll like it. hope this helps.

[John H.]

Re: 1967 corvette doors will not close with seal

DuPont "Krytox" lubricant is made specifically for body weatherstrips; it isn't cheap, but that's what we used in the plants in the 90's when we ran into door weatherstrip durometer variations that made door closing difficult.