QUALITY RUBBER KITS

[FC-V8]

HI FELLOW FE/FC NUTS
            Just a few questions for you.
1, Does anyone know a good quality supplier of rubber kits.
I have had the odd one from rare spares & i was not overly impressed with the fit.
2, Also im looking for a good quality glue to hold them in place for many years to come
3, Has anyone tried fitting a different type of window rubber instead of the baily channel type.
4, I am playing with the idea of doing away with the 1/4 front door windows & extending the door windows & moulding the side rearvison mirrors in the corner of the door as in the later model cars such as commordores.If anyone has already acheived this please let me know how it went.
cheers
Glenn  

[RET]

Glenn,

In answer to your question #4, one of our members has done this (Vince's "BYEBYE" FE Sedan has one piece windows front and rear).  Being flat glass makes it easier than it might otherwise be  - on a HR, for example.  Still a lot of work just the same to move the runners and get the window balanced right.

You'll be on your own for rubbers if you do it, though  :-/

RET

[mcl1959]

Dear FC-V8

Rubber kits are very expensive as they are (over $1000) are you happy with paying double or triple that?
If the answer is yes, how many others do you think would be?
The problem which is faced by rare Spares (and all the other rubber kit suppliers) is that in order to achieve a kit which is affordable, shortcuts have to be made.
These shortcuts involve making continuous section rubber into LH & RH and F & R  doors rather than the complete injected mould that was used by the factory for each door.  Cosequently the R/S rubbers are not a direct copy of the original and they are a little more difficult to fit than originals.
But with experience the rubbers do fit and doors will shut properly regardless of what inexperienced people will tell you.  I have personally fixed a number of cars whose owners complained that the door rubbers were no good.  Usually the door is out of adjustment, the rubber is fitted incorrectly or the glue is all over the place making the rubber stick in the wrong place.  There was nothing wrong with the door rubber.
You will find that other rubbers are more precise such as quarter vent window rubbers which are almost an exact copy of the originals.

The best glue to use is Loctite 406


Hope this helps    Ken

[FC-V8]

Ken(the king)& Ret
Thanks for the info guys & Ken i understand the volume & quality against cost aspect of producing the rubbers & we a lucky we can get them at all. But what i'm trying to get at is do all the suppliers of these kit(such as rare spares & spectrum & any others) use the one manufacturer because if they do the only real difference is cost between the suppiers & the quality of the kits would be the same across the board. so before i out lay the $1000 plus on the kit (which i do not begrudge paying considering how much time & effort i have investered in the car) i would like to know all my options in regards to the costs & the quality.
p.s. Ken thanks for the 2 speed wiper motor is great.    :) ;)

[sgo]

In regard removing the quarter-vent windows I did this on a 48 Desoto, which was pretty much just a big FJ, and had the verticle runners for the window folded up at a sheetmetal shop, and for baily channel substituted a later model one piece flexible rubber type, available from most restoration suppliers. For the horizontal felt strip a late model rubber type was also used.Check out a suppler near you and you should find a profile to fit.For the corner bit I used some stainles steel sheet which you could bolt the mirror to, and polish up for looks!

[Smoo'er]

Try this bloke in Oakleigh, (Vic) I've found him very reliable and the products excellent.

http://www.scottsoldautorubber.com.au/

Smoo

[mcl1959]

I think that all rubber kits are made by the same supplier but will try to find out this info.

Ken