Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I assume these are for a sedan? Will a Caribbean version be available? I would be a player for one to fit my 55 Caribbean if in the $100 range.

The Caribbeans use the exact same gasket so it will work perfectly. It will NOT be in the $100 range, that is simply impossible. Unless you want to buy 100 of them, then sure.

I expect $200-300.

The process to make these is:
- Get drawing from Studebaker museum.
- Interpret drawing, make and check CAD model. In this case, since the corners are cast separately, I made two models.
- Submit model to vendors for quotes. In this case I am submitting to several vendors, some specializing in molded parts, some in extruded parts.
- Engineer a fixture and adhesion method to make the assembly.
- Purchase one mold for the cast parts (almost $1000) and one for the extruded. This is the greatest cost overall, since there is so little demand, each unit must bear a significant fraction of the cost.
- Buy a bunch of parts, and don't forget the shipping cost of like 200 lbs of rubber.
- Glue these together over the course of weeks since each joint requires a 24h cure time.
- Sell maybe like 2 per year for the next decade? Therefore, amortizing costs is necessary as well.

So you can see how my pricing comes out pretty close to Steele's. Unless some vendor wants to buy a whole production run from me. The advantage is:
- It will actually fit your car properly.
- Slightly lower price (probably).

That being said, I have more wiggle room on the extruded stuff, so keep an eye out for a very competitive price on some other products in the near future.

Howard,

I notice on Steele's page that their weatherstripping reads 75-1/2" lower, and 78-3/4" upper (total 154-1/4"). I'm not super sure what they are measuring as the arrows are drawn outside but the dimension says inside. If we assume it's the inside channel (corresponding to the outside of the glass) then the correct measurements, using Steele's nomenclature, are 75-3/32" lower and 79-11/32" upper (total 154-7/16"). On the pre- Revision E weatherstrip, add one inch to the lower and total measurements.

The other main issue I spot is that Steele's appears to have the glass and body slots aligned, whereas per the drawing they are at about a 10° angle. This causes the Steele weatherstrip to pull in by comparison, shortening the distance for the trim to attach, and generally forming an incompatible profile.

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