Rear Weather strip help
 

I have perfectly good weather strip around the hatch, but it is loose all the way around the bottom. You can just lift it up. I dont have any water coming in the car that I know of, yet this just doesn't seem correct. Should I just go get some 3M weather strip glue and squirt it in there and make it stick again? It looks like some kind of whitish glue is behind it, and in some places that stuff s still liquid, but very sticky.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

well I think it is basically torn all the way around somehow, time to replace what I thought was still perfect.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Its history,mine is on its way out as well.Ive got a new G.M. piece that I plan on putting in the car when I get the back torn apart for my Euro taillight install.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I just had to do that also on the 20,000 mile 95. I replaced both the hatch and rear targa hoop weatherstripping. Decided to use oriignal GM parts on Marc Haibeck's suggestion. Expensive. I think about $300 for targe piece and $350 for hatch. Or thereabouts--ouch. Marc said there are less expensive replicas available but his experience and that of his customers is that they off-gas and smell like kerosene for about 4 years, and the replica for the targa hoop is not the same color as the original--too gray. Marc installed them for me. They look perfect. --Bob

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I think I am going to use Wilcox for the hatch...anything else I will go with GM.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I don't know about what replacements other than GM are the best. Maybe others here have had good luck with Wilcox or others. You might give Marc Haibeck a call to see if he knows which of the knock offs smells like kerosene. He said it is quite pronounced and lasts several years. At least one customer replaced his with GM after first using the knock off. You can certainly save some money if one is Ok though. --Bob

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I suggest Wilcox for the rear hatch because it does have the reinforced corners. In this case the OEM rear hatch weatherstripping was designed to fail. GC

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Wilcox hatch wx strip on the way for 65.00. You can't beat that. He says even with the reinforced corners it can still tear and to glue it back with super glue gel. Any idea what that is? I know of plain superglue.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

There it is partner.
http://www.supergluecorp.com/super-g...super-glue-gel

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I gave up on having a perfect glued edge on the rear hatch weather strip and just broke down and used higher density ultra-black rtv to bond the piece into one loop permanently.

fill the voids/ joints with the rtv and then put a piece of ptfe or mold-release soaked saran wrap over the glue right before you close the glass hatch back over it. You can also use the bags that newspapers come in.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I did something very similar but used a tube of bumper repair stuff.
Comes in a tube like RTV but isn't. It's more durable than RTV.
I then cut an "L" shaped piece of bicycle tire (not inner tube) to insert into both ends of the corner. This give internal support to the corner but is still flexible.
I filled each corner with the black stuff then inserted the "L" shaped piece.
I covered it with a small piece of wax paper before closing the hatch.
When it cured I cut the excess off with a razor blade.
So far it's held up for 6mo and matches the weather stripping. Time will tell if if lasts.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Loctite makes a w-strip mender. It's a chemical reaction that bonds the two together.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

where'd ya get the Wilcox from ? $65.00 might be worth my while to shelf one( mine is starting to wear..)

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

I got it off the Wilcox website. Also, it went on fairly easy, they make it slightly bigger than the factory one to help it stay tucked down in the corners and to relieve the stress on the corners. I forgot how messy that white goop is under the factory strip...made a bit of a mess but got it cleaned up. so far it seems like 65,00 well spent. Hatch closes easy btw, especially with a light application of dielectric silicon grease.

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Water just seems to pool up down in the left and right corners were t he weather stripping is. I thought I remember reading a thread somewhere that somebody drilled a small hole down in each corner to allow the water to drain out. Not sure whats right below that. I wouldn't want it to drain on anything electrical

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Corvette America sells a rear window hatch drain kit complete with hoses that allow water to drain out of this area. Couldn't get a good link but the part # is: 29812

Rich

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

Mid America sells a drain kit but CAUTION! The instructions with it just say drill down through the outside layer of fiberglass then another, about an inch lower. If you follow the instructions there are two risks. 1) you will only drill far enough down to have the drains drain into the interior and 2) you will drill through a wiring harness on the passenger side. I added drains to my 93 many years ago and had no problems; I made sure the drains emptied into the wheel wells. But I think I got lucky back then.
With my 95, I followed the instructions but when the car was washed it didn't drain. Pulled them out and they were bent over and full of the white adhesive used for the weather strip. Turns out they hadn't gone through to the wheel wells. So I tried to drill further. As I was drilling down on the passenger side my parking lights suddenly flashed and the waring bell in the cockpit went off. I had drilled in the wiring loom and scraped a couple of wires. Since the car was going to Marc's a few days later he took the inner carpet off and did them right and repaired the wiring harness which fortunately just scraped the insulation off a couple wires. But now the drains work fine. – Bob

Re: Rear Weather strip help
 

since it is a fiber glass car I think water pooling in that area is just a nuisance not a problem.