Trunk Weatherstripping

[Dennis Detweiler]

Yours looks like it might have been square on a couple of sides and rounded on at least one corner? Whatever I find, it can't be too tall and keep the trunk from shutting or too shallow to not do it's job. Maybe I can shut the lid down on a ball of rope caulk to make an impression and get some idea of the thickness needed?

The sill trough on my car leans inward, which will allow water to pool in it. Maybe it's supposed to have some kind of sealer or rubber jammed into it? Or, since I removed all of the old rubber and silicone sealer from the body channel, maybe there's a couple of drain holes along the bottom sill that has been plugged? I haven't done a total solvent cleanout of the channel yet.

[38plymouth]

7 hours ago, Dennis Detweiler said:

Yours looks like it might have been square on a couple of sides and rounded on at least one corner? Whatever I find, it can't be too tall and keep the trunk from shutting or too shallow to not do it's job. Maybe I can shut the lid down on a ball of rope caulk to make an impression and get some idea of the thickness needed?

The sill trough on my car leans inward, which will allow water to pool in it. Maybe it's supposed to have some kind of sealer or rubber jammed into it? Or, since I removed all of the old rubber and silicone sealer from the body channel, maybe there's a couple of drain holes along the bottom sill that has been plugged? I haven't done a total solvent cleanout of the channel yet.

 

Mine has an indentation in it from the lip on the body when its closed. 

[Dennis Detweiler]

The particular weatherstripping design that I have in the pictures above doesn't seem to conform to any way to lay it into the lid and be effective.  However, the best way seems to work into the body channel as in picture #2 (second from the top). It tucks nicely into the channel and leaves an indentation all the way around the channel for the lip of the lid to fit into. If I apply some adhesive to the outer side of the body channel, it should keep water from getting under the weatherstripping.  After spending a few hours pouring over pictures of trunks on 30's model Plymouths, I've seen the weatherstipping applied to the lid or to the channel. Most late model cars have it applied to the trunk body. I'm thinking 1930's reproductions came in either placement depending on the design of the weatherstriping? The channel seems like the only effective option with this design. I got it from Bernbaum and it's supposed to be for this trunk? It looks good in the body channel and is the right thickness when the lid is down. I'll post a picture after I install it next week.

[Dennis Detweiler]

It's been a toss-up for mounting the weatherstripping on the trunk lid vs body channel. I couldn't find a logical position with this weatherstripping design to mount it on the lid. However, it did pinch into the body channel nicely. I used weatherstipping adhesive on the outside edge of the channel to keep water from getting under the stripping and to hold it into the channel. The lid closes snuggly.

[davesrus]

I just bought this for my car. It looks exactly like the seal you show in the pictures but it's for a 1941 which doesn't have the lip pointing down on the edge of the trunk lid. The edge of my trunk lid is flat. It seems odd that the same profile of rubber would be used on two very differently shaped lids.

I've been trying to figure out how the seal is installed and I think it would work if I installed it like you show in your first picture. The top point of the rubber would press against the bottom of the lid. Can someone who is following this can verify that?

 

Thanks,

Dave