1956 Hardtop weather strip replacement | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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1956 Hardtop weather strip replacement

  • Thread starter Thread starter woodeye
  • Start date Start date
woodeye

woodeye

Gold Member
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Thunderbird Year
1956
I started removing the weather stripping from the hardtop and I found a lot of putty/soft black filler under the old weather stripping. It kept the old weather striping from pulling down tight to the mounting areas in some places. Is it correct to put this putty under the weather stripping or should it just be screwed down directly to the fiber glass or over the SS trim mounting strips. I've included some pictures of the putty as well as two of the new weather strip. I'm a little concerned about the quality of the rubber. In some places there are small holes, like air bubbles, in other areas it's clean and smooth. Am I being overly critical or is this normal.
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The putty you are referring to is most likely degraded rubber. When I had my hardtop restored there was a thick film of it all over the rear deck. Clean it up with acetone or denatured alcohol or some other solvent. Goof Off works well too. Anything sticky is old and should be removed. Then the new stuff can be installed and adjusted properly.
 
Hi ward 57
There was some degraded rubber for sure, but the stuff I'm referring to was more like what I used to call dumb dumb. It was like adhesive filler, but almost 1/8" thick in some places. Was adhesive used along with the screws? It was as if they put this stuff down and then pressed the weather strip into it and screwed it down.
 
woodeye said:
Hi ward 57
There was some degraded rubber for sure, but the stuff I'm referring to was more like what I used to call dumb dumb. It was like adhesive filler, but almost 1/8" thick in some places. Was adhesive used along with the screws? It was as if they put this stuff down and then pressed the weather strip into it and screwed it down.
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It may be that somebody messed with it first. They used no rubber calk originally. What you may be dealing with is butyl rubber. You can buy it at most hardware stores. It's basically uncured rubber. soft, pliable and an excellent water proofer. Used in a lot of outdoor electrical connections.
 
Good morning Ward 57
Do you think the rubber irregularities are acceptable. I realize it is a foam type/compressible item with kind of a skin. It just seem poor quality control if they can make it smooth, w/o air bubbles and gouges, in one place and then a few inches away they appear, and not in just one area. I don't want to install them because then I own them. I'm also concerned about that skin like surface breaking down over a short time.
I apologize if I sound like a P.I.A. , but they weren't cheap, and about the same price as other suppliers.
I just don't know what to expect.
Has anyone else experienced this?
 
woodeye said:
I started removing the weather stripping from the hardtop and I found a lot of putty/soft black filler under the old weather stripping. It kept the old weather striping from pulling down tight to the mounting areas in some places. Is it correct to put this putty under the weather stripping or should it just be screwed down directly to the fiber glass or over the SS trim mounting strips. I've included some pictures of the putty as well as two of the new weather strip. I'm a little concerned about the quality of the rubber. In some places there are small holes, like air bubbles, in other areas it's clean and smooth. Am I being overly critical or is this normal.
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I replaced front moulding on my 56 & it had grey hardened putty lke material under the metal strip. The material looked like hardened plumbers putty. I did not try & replace & have yet to reinstall the hardtop to check for fit.
 
That's a good description. Mine was still a little bit pliable. I could scrape it off. Mine wasn't under the metal strips for the most part.
 
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