Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Quote:

It's different than the one on my '54. The '54 has a large loop for the nylon line. No loop that I saw on the '53. I'll check it again tomorrow and see if I can get more info.


On a different note, I had another package come in from Max Merritt. This time with some weatherstripping for the doors. There was almost nothing left of the original stuff, and what was there I removed when I painted the door jambs.

Never done weatherstrip before but I think it went okay.






As expected, the doors were very hard to close. And both doors are sticking out now, whereas before the door gaps were pretty close to perfect. I assume this will correct itself over the next couple of days?

Good job! I doubt that the gap will change on its own as the latch is now pressing against the striker where it should be so some adjustment might be in order to get it flush again.

The Steele Rubber seals are firmer than the originals, so they take a little bit to squish down. You have to slam the door for a few months. Some the heat of summer hits, it will tame them quickly.

There is a small piece of metal I made mine from stainless that fits into the cavity it's attached with screw to hold in addition to cement

Attach file:

---

  1000000951.jpg (2,095.39 KB)

Thanks Don and Kev. I'll give it some time and see how they compress.

Does anyone have good pictures of how this upper piece is supposed to sit? I know there is a metal piece that should be there, and I'll have to fabricate it. But I'm not understanding how the rubber is supposed to sit with the door handle mechanism in the way.

Make sure your clip is fully seated. It seems to me that it's sticking out a bit.

Acolds - it looks like you posted while I was typing. Thanks for the picture, that's exactly what I needed. Yours is sitting nice and tight inside the door edge. I can't get either side to do that. The door handle hardware is in the way. Is your rubber trimmed to allow the hardware to stick through?

Kev - I didn't realize that clip was supposed to be pushed in all the way. I'll see if I can do that. The driver's side does not have the clip seen on the passenger side, but there are still two prongs sticking out that prevents full seating.

-Kevin

It could also be possible that someone in the past used the incorrect clips, left to Right, etc., or modified a rear door clip. They are all different. For example, the Sedan uses four different clips. I can't remember if it's the front or the back, but one clip is longer because of the distance from the handle to the door edge.

The rear clips are longer.

Here is the front right clip:




And the right rear clip:




Notice the rear one is longer at the back portion. So perhaps someone used a rear on your front doors? Just spitballing here.

You might be able to tell the difference because the rear looks like it has a smaller tang piece on the end. Well, at least on these reproduction ones, it does.

It is kind of a pain, but if you take off inside window garnish molding and roll the window down all the way, you can see the back of the door handle and the clip. Just to verify, it is fully seated with the "knobs" on the back of the handle in the middle of those retainer barbs.

If the end of those clips breaks off, which is common when trying to remove clips that are rusty, rolling down the window and removing the molding is the old way to access those clips so you can drive the out with a long flat screw driver.

Kevin for including your '53 Clipper Deluxe Club Sedan in the Registry.