Clamshell Weatherstripping Mystery

This link is to a thread from a newsgroup back in 2002. The last entry is someone claiming to have access to clamshell rubbers, but I don't see any contact information or a way to possibly find who it was that said this.

Here is the link, what do you guys think?

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/stationwagon/conversations/topics/14924?var=1

 

I don't think that thread tells us much.

It appears that someone was exclaiming about finding weatherstrips for their clamshell's doors. Whoopie fizz. Those are easy to get because the same ones that fit the doors on a four-door sedan of the same era will fit the wagons.

The only thing I see about tailgate weatherstrips is this:

>>> Also, re. a work around for the tailgate seals,
>> I've
>>> had at least one good idea that we will
>> investigate
>>> when I get the time/money to do so (honestly about
>> a
>>> year off) for the window seal part. I'll keep the
>> list
>>> posted on that progress.
>>>


He says he had a good idea, but he doesn't say what that idea was. Plus, he's talking about a "work around," not actual seals that are meant for these wagons. There didn't seem to be any follow up in spite of his promise to "keep this list posted," although he did say it would be "a year off" before he could investigate. But this thread is now 12 years old, so follow-up seems unlikely at this point.



The long and the short of it is this. If tailgate-area weatherstrips were being made new for the clamshell wagons, we would know about it. There is no secret manufacturer out there making them that we only have to dig hard enough to find. Enough people have been looking long enough that, if something were out there, we would know it.

It's also not hard to see why these weatherstrips are not made...there's no market for them large enough to justify the expense that any manufacturer would incur to make the molds and so forth to reproduce them. We're talking only six model years of a genre of car (station wagons) that has never been high on anyone's list of collectible cars. I don't see this changing.


I think the best hope we have is for someone to discover that some other car or van's weatherstrip, that IS reproduced today, is a close-enough match to what we need for our clamshells. But this is hit or miss. If this is ever discovered, it will be by accident, and we'll all cheer the day.

 

At the very bottom of that thread is this:

I HAVE ACCESS TO THE SEALS FOR THE TAILGATE AND WINDOW ON THE CLAMSHELLS. IF YOUR PART NUMBERS ARE 9623426 (R.H.) AND 9623427 (L.H.) THEN I HAVE HAD THE TOOLING DONE FOR THE MOLDS. CONTACT ME.


That's an interesting comment, but no contact info is given, and that's the last posting in the thread which is now 12 years old. You would think that if he really had something, there would have been a number of replies asking for more info.

I stand by what I said above. If there were a supplier of these weatherstrips, we would know it.

 

Yeah, I've seen this thread come up time and time again and it's been a great mystery. Oh well, the search continues and I'll continue waiting on warm weather.

 

Yeah would be nice to have a non-leaking clamshell, but I would like to know if they came dry from the factory as the whole design just begs to be leaky...once she comes back from storage I will put all the rubbers in vaseline to see if that improves a bit.

 

So did they ever start repoping the weatherstripping?

 

hello, does anyone have a set of rear seals (even if it is all dried out). I am in contact with a company who is going to make a tool for it. The problem is that they need them for several months. My parents use my 1976 Chevrolet Caprice Estate as their everyday driver in Vegas.

 

I have one set that I was given. They are somewhat dried out and it was very difficult to find. I plan to do the same thing you are doing, and honestly I don't trust sending them off to a 3rd party that I'm not involved with. My wife totaled my car shortly after I finished it. I have one project in the works and after that I'm going to be back to my Wagon again.

 

I haven't seen an update on the Caprice lately. What's the status? And as for the Safari, have you gathered needed parts yet?

 

Progress on the Caprice has been very slow. It has been held up in the body shop getting the roof repaired and hood, trunk and rear quarters resprayed. Then it had to go to the upholstery shop for a new vinyl top and all the moldings polished and painted. Then back to the body shop for the doorpin replacement they forgot. Now I've found that there's an additional leak coming from the bottom of the heater box so I've got to completely remove the heaterbox and fix and seal issues there, and then I've got to replace some patches in the front floorboard. The time of year is a problem because it's constantly dark, freezing and raining all the time so my ability to have time to work on it is very limited also.

I have all the parts for the wagon and they have all been powder coated and painted. It took almost a year and a half to find all the parts, so hopefully it will move a bit quicker when I can get back to it.

 

I hate to butt in off-topic. But, is this all what's going on here within 48 hours? R.I.P. forum Is everybody busy wrapping gifts or what, this weekend?

 

I'm sorry about the Caprice troubles. Hopefully you'll get it wrapped up soon. And it's good to hear you're ready to hit the ground running on the wagon. Please make sure you post, the minute your feet touch the ground.

 

Thanks Andrew. I will. I'm also in the process of trying to purchase some land and build some commercial buildings, which if I can get that worked out will give me room to work on the Wagon indoors, in the garage, so I'm really hoping all of that falls into place.

 

You lucky sonofagun. I still have to rely on others just to have covered workspace.