Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Looking at some reference pictures of various 36 and 37 cars, I've seen some with the rumble seat weatherstrip glue in the body gutter, and then on some cars, it's glued in the lid flange.

"The Production Packard" also references seeing both with no clear answer.

Logically I would assume having it on the lid looks cleaner and seals against the inside edge of the gutter allowing the gutter to flow unencumbered. As opposed to being glued in the gutter itself.

What say you?

I used the same weather stripping as the trunk and applied it into the body channel. This channel curves down at the sides channeling the water into the drip pan below the seat you have just rebuilt. As there is no area to seal against the back edge anyway due to the rotation of the lid this seems logical. However my caveat is there was no old weather stripping on mine to start with so I made an educated guess. Also note that the channel was a little low at the front edge on mine so I shimmed the weather stripping across the front edge to raise it and get a good seal and the lid to close to the body line properly. Needs to be shut with some speed to allow the lid to catch, but I am good with that, means everything is tight and will not squeak or rattle.
Thanks,
Bob J.

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Here is another reference picture showing the weatherstrip on the lid.

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My '37 120 C has the weatherstrip on the rumble seat lid. It's very old and very crisp, and appears to be original. The paint on the body is original. The weather strip goes across the upper side of the lid, and only comes down the sides to about the bottom of the lid corner radius on each side, a little lower than the seams on the seat cushion. It doesn't look like there ever was any other weatherstrip used.

The trunk lid weatherstrip is also very old, and almost fills the gutter. There's no weather strip on the trunk lid itself. It may be that the trunk lid weatherstrip was expected to seal tight all around. It's clear that the rumble lid seal never was, and any water that came in around it was supposed to be caught and drained off by the gutter and dumped into the catch tray. What weatherstrip the rumble lid had was clearly inteded to seal against the inner lip of the rumble lid gutter, leaving the gutter itself clear.

I stuck some 1/2 X 3/4 WalMart foam weatherstrip over the petrified original strip on the rumble lid and did the same at the lower edge of the trunk lid.

That improved the closing "feel" and snugness of both and helps keep some road dust out. There isn't enough left of the rumble lid strip to get a good idea of its original profile.

In my dads 56 he pulled it out of the body

And put it on the lid. He wanted no. Water to stand in groove.

Kev, rumble seat weather stripping goes on the lid. The channel in the body is to direct water. Got this info from O_D when I had my 1089.

I just spoke to Gary Kulp, who has owned his 115-C C.C. since 1957. The weatherstrip on that car was on the rumble seat lid. But, on the trunk, it was in the body gutter.

There was never a seal on the back edge of the rumble seat lid or the corresponding body edge. It was designed to channel water into the drip pan and drain away.

I agree: rumble seat - on lid; trunk - in channel.

That's how mine is, and it's almost certainly original.
A new trunk lid seal would probably pretty well eliminate the dust intrusion.
Even with the makeshift WahMart rumble lid gasket I put on, it shuts tight and does not rattle.