Hi there! My windshield leaked pretty bad today in the rain so I'm after a new weather strip asap. Where's the best place to buy a new one? I've looked on Ebay and googled and couldn't find much. I'm in Australia so companies that do worldwide a must Thanks Tom
When my left cargo glass was replaced I found out it's just 'glued' in. No rubber required. I cant find windshield weather stripping for these models anywhere. Could it be the windsheilds are just 'glued' in too?
As noted, there is no weatherstrip. The factory used urethane to bond the windshield in place, The stainless trim is held with spring clips that require a special tool to release. This is available at most auto parts stores. Use either the special cutter tool or a piece of music wire to cut the old adhesive. Don't be surprised to find that your leak is not from a bad seal, but from rust in the pinchweld area. This is all too common on GM cars of this vintage. If you are very lucky, the rust will only be surface rust that you can grind and prime over. More likely is a hole that requires welding in new metal. Simply slathering on silicone is NOT the way to fix this. Once the acetic acid in the silicon attacks the rust, the leak will come back with a vengeance.
Joe, you have answered a question for me on why the silicone RTV didn't work on my Chero's bed seam leak. But I need to seal it for more than one season until I can either properly repair the area or sell the car to someone that can. Is there something waterproof that I can shove into the bad area and have it stay dry enough until I can properly cut out the cancer and replace it? Of course, I'll go through and do surface prep top and bottom before anything is slathered on.
If you're talking about a body seam, I'd use brushable seam sealer. Definitely don't use silicone for that application. The problem is that if there is rust, the sealer won't stick. You might want to slather something like POR on the rust first, then go with the seam sealer.
Thank you. I'll check those out. And to the original poster, my apologies. I hijacked your thread, but I'm returning it now.
The original windshield seals were butyl tape on these cars. It dries out and hardens, then leaks (life of the tape is roughly 6-7 years, especially worse in the desert\dry areas). The only way to fix it is to pull the glass and re-apply with new sealer. Urethane is the new modern sealer, which seals better. You can buy butyl tape at the local parts store and it comes in a box that unravels and you drop the glass on. But rust and damage to the pinch weld of the window channel is a very real thing. POR-15 is what I'd use to cover it if I wasn't going to do a thorough repair, then paint over it and let it cure. Then put the new sealer down to install the windshield. This presumes you have enough window channel metal left and not giant holes...
Thanks elb. yes inside the cabin I can see the seal poking out. kinda like sealant goop with a hemp like edging. hopefully deterioration and not rust.
Actually, the Fisher Body Manual shows the use of urethane in a tube, not the butyl tape. I've used the tape for replacement windshields because it's easier and less messy, but it isn't factory.
GM used urethane back then; and I know Ford used butyl tape into the early '80s, as the Chero has it, and it's a '79.
The FACTORY used a perfectly square rubber type stuff with fiber on the window side( I believe that had the adhesive on IT) The adhesive is what will let go of the glass the rubber substance never goes bad. It could be rust on the body side or adhesive release, hope for the latter. Butyl is less messy and dependable but it or urethane will work fine on the windshield. I DO NOT recommend urethane on the rear side window glass. I used it on mine and it let loose and started leaking the windshield held fine.
