Replacing weatherstriping - 86 coupe

[Joe Dula]

I have an '86 coupe with a removable roof. Whenever I go through a car wash, a significant amount of water leaks in through the rear corners of the roof on both the driver and passenger sides. The weatherstripping attached to the removable top looks like it needs replaced. The weatherstripping on the windshield header/pillar and the roof/rear pillar looks decent to me, but it looks flat (compressed?) and curves in where the top's weather stripping meets the roof/rear pillar weatherstripping. The weatherstripping on the side and bottom of the doors is ratty looking in places, but cannot be the cause of the leaking roof. The rear hatch weatherstripping is in excellent shape. My questions are:

1. How can I tell if any particular segment (roof, windshield header, roof header, etc.) of the weatherstripping needs to be replaced? Is there an honest person or restorer that you can recommend (in the Southern suburbs of Chicago or Northwest Indiana) who can tell me whether or not the weatherstripping needs to be replaced?

2. Should I buy GM OEM weatherstripping or aftermarket weatherstripping? If aftermarket, where should I get it? If GM OEM, can I find it from a source cheaper than a dealership?

3. Can you recommend someone in the Southern suburbs of Chicago or Northwest Indiana area to do the weatherstrip replacement work?

Thanking you in advance for your help.

[kelly theaker]

Re: Replacing weatherstriping - 86 coupe

I suggest first . take a look at the door alignment, then glass, fender to door, quarter to door. has the vehicle been hit , rolled ? if those areas look ok lets proceed do you have wind whistles at speeds, not wind rush. and try to find the areas and look closely once stopped. then take a piece of paper, i like to use a strip 2" wide and reg 8 " long and close the door or glass on it and pull through the paper now , there should be considerable drag , if loose or easy to pull, is it alighnment of glass or body or poor weatherstrip or a combination of all. GM wearherstrip is an excellent product , yes expensive . I am not aware of the quality of others on the market . I do know i paid 5 times more for GM w/s and could barely shut the door but once set it shuts nice. The reproduction of the W/s was similar in shape and size but lacked the density. your call, just take your time learn your car and if you cant handle the job, get pros to do it !

[Joe Dula]

Re: Replacing weatherstriping - 86 coupe

Kelly,

Thanks for your advice. I've only had the car for 3 years and have zero information on its repair history. All alignments seem to be ok. The car shows no signs of having been hit or rolled. Still has original paint job (per the appraiser who looked at it before I bought it). No whistle at speed.

I'll try your paper test and see what happens. The top's w/s definitely looks ratty and needs replaced. I'll just do the top w/s and see if the leaking stops.

At this point, I'm inclined to pay the extra $ and go with the GM w/s.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.