Take a walk through any store or mall parking lot, and you will see lots of people with trunks or car doors open, and these black rubber gizmos hanging down or loose around them. These things are really car seals or weatherstripping, and they are supposed to be there to keep water out, wind out, noise out, and protect the interior of your vehicle from all the nasty elements Mother Nature throws at it.
You will find these wonderful automobile seals around your car windows, car doors, the trunk, the hood, the sun roof, or the convertible top. Virtually anything that opens the inside to the outside. They are generally made out of synthetic rubber and polymer materials, and have to be able to withstand heat, cold, wind, rain & moisture, and all of the vibrations of road travel, as well as years worth of openings and closings. In addition, they have to retain their functionality when exposed to gasoline and oil products, cleaning products, and window washer fluid products.
In addition to their functionality, they also have to conform to a certain standard of appearance - or in other words, so they look the same. It is indeed quite the challenge, and so, it should be no surprise that they do wear out eventually. It is generally due to overexposure to all of the things they are built to stand up against. If you are one of those who do actually pay attention to their condition, you will notice that they may get nicks or cracks in them, pieces or chunks fall out of them, or they just pull loose. Hanging seals or weather-stripping is not an uncommon occurrence as vehicles get older.
The solution is not to cut them off or yank them out - which would certainly be the easiest remedy! No, instead, there are hundreds of quality web sites out there that can instruct you in HOW to remove the existing rubber pieces, and HOW to identify, purchase, and install a new set of weather stripping. You will be surprised to find that this is rather a simple task, even for the novice DYIer - and that it can be done for a relatively small amount of cash! Pretty amazing!
So if your classic ride is starting to look less and less classic by the day due to hanging or broken seals, gaskets, or weatherstripping, take a few minutes and check out the good old internet. There is a wealth of information out there just waiting for you to find and read it. So start with a brief introduction to the various types of weather-stripping and car door seals, and keep on reading. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish and how great your vehicle will look when you're done!
