Roof rail installation ?

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1970duster440

1970duster440

Senior Citizen Member
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Location
Melbourne,Fl.
I was putting my roof rail gaskets in today and the F#@%$#$ thing ripped. I fastened it to the body at the rear of the door and When I held it up toward the top it liked about an inch reaching. Well it figured it was made to be stretched, so I sprayed in the glue and started working it in. Got the corner worked in, looked down and the d@*# thing ripped right about the top of the opening and ripped off one of the plastic pins. My question is..Should it be stetched that much or not? I held the other side up and it's the same way.
 
Can't say that I really get the picture here (maybe send a pic or two) but these gaskets are not supposed to be stretched that much!
 
I'll post some pics this evening cause I'm going to send the supplier a set as well. I could see maybe 1/4" stretch but by the time they went all the way to the corner it was probably more than an inch.
 
Here is a couple pics. First one shows how it ripped. The second is in place at the bottom and shows how much it likes reaching the top.

DSC00981.JPG


DSC00986.JPG
 
Wow, that sucks. Can't imagine any stretching be required. I wonder if they gave you the wrong stuff.
 
When I did my roof rails 1 side was diff than other but I made it work. Soft seal is crap unless u have a cheby. But its all there is.
 
Might be the wrong part. I would think the factory installed it from the corners first and let the sheet metal screw at ends land where they may.
Also, doesn't it pretty much lock itself in place so thet little or no glue is required ? I removed that weatherstrip from my conv. top frame and though it is cut into several small sections I found very little glue residue.
I'm guessing there were no instruction sincluded.
Best wishes for better days
 
Looks like you have the seals from a 72 and older, those suck. Thats what they sent me when I ordered mine. The trick is to mount the corner FIRST (mash that dude up in there and make sure it's stuck), then stretch toward the ends. Those little holes for the clips don't have enough meat to take the pulling. I'll see if I can get some pics today.
 
Oh yeah, Those will leak... if I back up the driveway in the rain I have a wet spot on the driver seat.. what brand are those seals?
 
I got all my rubber from Steele Rubber. I called them today and I am sending them back for inspection. They make some of their own parts but not all of them. These roof rail gaskets they make. The bottom of these are held in place with plastic push pins, the front end next to the windshield is held by a screw. But as much as I had to stretch these you would have have to use a strong adhesive like the stuff ??? you put the trunk gasket on with. (memory sucks) Then I'm not sure if it wouldn't just pull the thing in two like it started doing until it ripped off the push pins. Guess I'l have to wait and see what they say. The part number I have is for a 70-72, the part number changes in 73-76 uses a different one and no there are no instuctions that come with them.
 
Steele Rubber called me and said my roof rail gaskets were definetly wrong and were shipping me replacements that day. They made no excuses and apologized. Sure can't complain about their customer service. Finally got a chance to install them this weekend. They went on without any problems and no stretching.
 
1970duster440 said:
Steele Rubber called me and said my roof rail gaskets were definetly wrong and were shipping me replacements that day. They made no excuses and apologized. Sure can't complain about their customer service. Finally got a chance to install them this weekend. They went on without any problems and no stretching.
Click to expand...

Good customer service can go a long way. I`m glad to hear that the company made good on the product and backed up their faux pas with quick and decisive action. More power to Steele Rubber!
 
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