Since the OE stuff is near-unobtainium these days, i tried out some of the universal glass run channel from Danno Enterprises. http://www.dannoenterprises.com/index.htm
These are sold by many vendors, I thought Danno ad the best delivered price. It would appear that the same half dozen profiles are sold by many vendors with differing part numbers.
I ordered 3 rolls of the AS1720 for the front doors and top/front of the rear doors. I ordered one roll of the AS1264 for the strip that runs along the front side of the vent glass division bar.
I was originally going to miter cut all the corners, but after doing the rear upper corner of the front door, I tried just working it in at the upper front corner, and it appears that there is enough flex in the rubber to make the corner without bunching up. Have only done driver's door at this point, but I did test fit the rubber in the division bar, and it looks like it's a go.
My impressions on the AS1720.....Overall profile is very similar to the OE rubber (best I can tell, given that the originals are hard as a rock). Does not appear to have as much reveal on the outside of the window frame as the OE once installed...seems to be closer to flush. Not a big deal to me, purists may take issue with that. The inner lips that ride against the glass do not push against the glass as much as the original AT THIS POINT. The channel is shipped rolled as a flat strip, so a few days may let it relax/exand to take up some of the slack. Or maybe not, we'll have to wait and see.
While not a perfect match, it IS, in my opinion, a great improvement over the hard crusty, peeling/chippin/flaking stuff that is in the car now. The blowout clips seem to hold the movable glass pretty solidly in the channel, will be road testing in the morning. As an aside, i seem to recall that my 83 wagons did not have the blowout clips, whereas the 78 and 81 do...which I thought was odd,for a framed window.
I will be looking into the belt weatherstrip that is offered on the site, as there is one with a round bright bead that I think would more closely replicate the OE compared to the flat bead on some (all?) of the repro ready-made sets. Jack or someone that has bought the repros, can you tell me if they have round or flat bright strip, please?
No pics, car is dirty, project not finished, and too dang humid to hang out in the shop tonight.
These are sold by many vendors, I thought Danno ad the best delivered price. It would appear that the same half dozen profiles are sold by many vendors with differing part numbers.
I ordered 3 rolls of the AS1720 for the front doors and top/front of the rear doors. I ordered one roll of the AS1264 for the strip that runs along the front side of the vent glass division bar.
I was originally going to miter cut all the corners, but after doing the rear upper corner of the front door, I tried just working it in at the upper front corner, and it appears that there is enough flex in the rubber to make the corner without bunching up. Have only done driver's door at this point, but I did test fit the rubber in the division bar, and it looks like it's a go.
My impressions on the AS1720.....Overall profile is very similar to the OE rubber (best I can tell, given that the originals are hard as a rock). Does not appear to have as much reveal on the outside of the window frame as the OE once installed...seems to be closer to flush. Not a big deal to me, purists may take issue with that. The inner lips that ride against the glass do not push against the glass as much as the original AT THIS POINT. The channel is shipped rolled as a flat strip, so a few days may let it relax/exand to take up some of the slack. Or maybe not, we'll have to wait and see.
While not a perfect match, it IS, in my opinion, a great improvement over the hard crusty, peeling/chippin/flaking stuff that is in the car now. The blowout clips seem to hold the movable glass pretty solidly in the channel, will be road testing in the morning. As an aside, i seem to recall that my 83 wagons did not have the blowout clips, whereas the 78 and 81 do...which I thought was odd,for a framed window.
I will be looking into the belt weatherstrip that is offered on the site, as there is one with a round bright bead that I think would more closely replicate the OE compared to the flat bead on some (all?) of the repro ready-made sets. Jack or someone that has bought the repros, can you tell me if they have round or flat bright strip, please?
No pics, car is dirty, project not finished, and too dang humid to hang out in the shop tonight.
