Replacing trunk lid rubber weather seal

Ken47

Ken47

Active Member
Supporting Member
I’m getting ready to replace my trunk lid seal on my 47 coupe. The one i bought previously and had installed never seemed to fit right. The current one looks to have been glued in with contact cement but only in a few locations.
So my questions are:
1) how do I get the old seal out and clean up the glued areas for the new seal without damaging the paint and
2). How is the best way to install the new one.

I’m likely going to do this by myself. What are the tricks and the watch-out-fors?
It is the one piece seal with bonded corners from Denis Carpenter. I also have the corner clips.
 
To remove old seals I use a plastic wedge which is about 5/8 wide. Sometimes some paint thinner or wd40 will remove most of old weatherstrip glue . I never try to install a seal that long all at once. Use weatherstrip adhesive and do about a third at a time. Sometimes use green painters masking tape as you move along to hold it down once glued.
The plasticwedge I referred to is used by the auto glass industry for windshield installs on some cars. About 8 inches long.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I do have one of those plastic windshield installer tools. I never thought of WD40 to soften the glue. I’m going to work on it today.
 
I did my 55 Chev trunk lid seal. Keith’s points above are great...use the tape and at least one other set of hands when assembling.
To add to Keith’s removal, I also used liquid lighter fluid to assist on some of the trouble/tough glue buildups. Patience....
Greg
 
Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have the old weather strip out and the contact cement removed. I was using WD40 as Keith suggested. It was very difficult. I ended up using some spray-on gasket remover. I spayed it into a little container and brushed it on with a small artist brush and only on the glue. I didn’t leave it on very long and used a cloth the rub the glue off. It came off pretty easily. It didn’t damage the clear coat. I was extremely careful 😄😄 It’s dry fit right now but I see the need for another pair of hands to glue in the new one. I’ll wait until I can muster up some help before finish installing the new one.
 
Glad that came off well enough.
When we put ours on, we did it over two days, letting the first part stick-set first. The tape was very colourful...haha.
 
Yeah I was thinking it might be a two day effort😄. I got some of that painters tape that has lower adhesive strength to tape it in place while the adhesive sets.
 
I did both my doors and trunk in an afternoon. It’s not that hard if you take the time to set things up. I used 3 m black adhesive . First figure out which way the rubber goes on the lid. Mine had 3 sides that looked almost identical so I took a red paint stick and put dots on the side that is going to be glued. Next figure out where it’s to be positioned. Take a regular led pencil and draw a line on the lid where both edges of the rubber will go. Next get your adhesive and a small paint brush. Start at a known point like a corner. Paint on the glue on the lid between the pencil lines and on the rubber. Let dry till tacky. I only did about 2 or 3 feet at a time. Press the rubber into position. Do this all the way around until your done. You shouldnt need the tape. The glue is a type of contact cement . When it’s on..it’s on..it’s not going anywhere. Do not close the lid for a day or so. Don’t be surprised if the lid is hard to close. The rubber they use today is not the same as what was on originally. It will squeeze down after several months to a better fit. You could also put that painters tape near those pencil lines to keep any stray glue from sticking where you don’t want it. If you get the tape between the rubber and the lid and try to get the tape out after your done its hard to do and it will look like you made a mess where you dig the tape out. Not hard to do..just set things up before hand...good luck..
 
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Also don’t try to stretch the rubber. It should be made to fit already. If you stretch it and you get to a corner you will have extra rubber and no where to put it.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have dry fitted it and it’s fits perfectly. I plan to put some registration marks on the rubber and the channel the the rubber fits in. That way I can (hopefully) get it in exactly the same place as the dry fit. At least that’s my plan fo far😄😄. I’m going to the auto body supply store tomorrow to get the adhesive.
 
Here’s where I’m at now. I have a few more questions if you all don’t mind.
CB6D820D-025C-4975-85F9-A237A885AABF.jpeg
This is the dry fit. Fits good.
B5C28DFA-3715-4513-A3C9-28A1FF63D793.jpeg
This is a close up of the track the seal fits in. Do I just put adhesive on the bottom of the U track and the corresponding flat surface of the seal? The flat surface pointing up in the picture goes into the bottom of the u shape channel/track and the groove in the seal goes over the trunk lip. I have the yellow tap on such that the adhesive will only be in the bottom of the channel
21E96367-9C84-4EE9-ADCA-971F813D5254.jpeg

a closer look at the seal dry fit.
 
not Too sure what you are asking and the pictures are very small on my iPad to really see what you are showing. The Buick was the opposite of what you have. I put the rubber on the lid. All I can say is you put the adhesive on th corresponding surfaces. Let it get tacky and stick together. Put it in exactly as you have dry fitted it...not sure if my explanation helps...or just drive to Ontario and we can put it in at my house...
 
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Sorry for the small size of the pictures. I I guess my question is: the channel the seal fits in us U shaped. I could put adhesive on all three sides of the U but it would be difficult to get it on the corresponding 3 sides of the seal and get it into the U Chanel. That’s why I think it’s best to just put it on what essentially is the bottom of the U and the corresponding surface of the seal and press it into position.
 
Maybe I should word it what ever surface of the rubber touches the car body..that’s where you put it the glue.
 
Yes it will be difficult to get the rubber into the bottom of the u channel ..You will have to squeeze the rubber smaller and fit it into the track and let it expand to touch all sides. Just do a foot or so at one time until you get the hang of it.
 
I’m not sure about the original. The body shop did a crappy job of installing the last seal which seemed to be randomly glued. I see some holes in the seal area lip that looks like the original seal may have been sheet metal screwed in it but I’m not sure at all.
 
Ok..just want to add one more thing and then I will shut up....if you only glue in the bottom when you close the lid it will cause the rubber to cup and pull away from the sides not glued ..water gets in and sits there and rusts out the tracks.
 
ok just one more thing..some of the original rubbers had small plastic nubs that went in the holes to line things up. New ones don’t have the plastic nubs.. This just made it easier on the assembly line ..
 
imajue a U on its side. That’s what the channel looks looks so the bottom of the U is actually in a verticals plane. I know I’m not describing this very well.
85D6E536-5757-429C-A2CB-60560BF1D091.jpeg

This is the channel looking along the top of the fender. There is a squarish section on the seal that fits in there and a flap that fits over the lip. Hope this helps.
 
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