When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I used the old school Permatex (the brown stuff in the bottle with a brush) for years on traditional Pontiac waterpumps etc. and it always worked great. But I'm obviously unfamiliar with their newer line of products. I'm hesitant now to pull up the weatherstrip again with all the adhesive goo I put into it last time. But I would if I was confident that I had really found the right product this time.
To be fair, the one that broke was because I tried to bend the tab a little because thats what looked like the culprit to me (The tabs/ clips being spaced too far away from each other, look at the above pic with OEM next to aftermarket).
Muscle Car Industries gave me a full refund, nice guys.
Probably going to try either 1AAuto or Hawks next.
1AAuto is extremely local to me and I know a lot of their employees. If you have any problems with their stuff let me know (if they carry it).
A close friend of mine (my go-to buddy for car work) has been trying to get them to stock more 4th gen parts for me
Edit...... I looked them up and they do carry, but appears to have the thin clips as well. Perhaps less brittle and more bendable?
Just stumbled upon this thread, not sure if they're a sponsor or not, but Camaro Central sells a complete set of window felts for our cars, interior and exterior, for $110.
Not sure if it's the same ones you tried using, but I planned on ordering a set for my car since my driver side refuses to stay on any longer, and I'm in the middle of prepping the car for paint.
EDIT: Just read the camaro central description and busted out laughing....
"This inner and outer window felts set is a real crowd pleaser. Finally a 4th gen window felt that fits as good as or better than original GM. These are not the replacement style felts, these are correct O.E. style inner and outer felts. Made from new tooling to ensure a proper fit and appearance. These are the best on the market."
I referenced numerous existing threads, including this one, before and while I worked on my passenger outer sweep / felt. As an aid to others, I am going to add some additional info to this thread for future reference. I apologize for not getting more photos.
Since I was doing the Firebird door panel crack preventative maintenance (check Posts 159, 349, 476, 483, 485, & 504-508) on my 98 Trans Am, I decided to tackle the RH sweep. My passenger outer sweep had a small, football-shaped hole (no pic) in the weather-stripping that overlays the top of the outer door skin. My sweeps utilize 2-sided plastic clips that snap to the sweep on one side and to the door on the other. In addition, there were a total of 3 - short, pancake head screws that were installed just beside 3 – of the clips. All were accessible with the window fully down. The stock 98 sweep is all plastic/rubber/felt; not an overmoulded piece of sheet metal like the newer sweeps. The plastic clips snap into a “t” shaped slot punched out of the sweep at regular intervals. My stock sweep split (no pic) in the bottom half at one of these slots, which lead to stress being placed on the flexible weather-stripping, resulting in the football shaped hole. I removed the inner door panel and the felt covered guides on the top, inside of the door. This allowed me to tilt the window away from the outer sweep, giving me much more room to work. I carefully removed the stock sweep, leaving most of the clips in place. Then I carefully removed all those clips using 2 – angled picks. When you press the angled picks together, between the top of the clip and fiberglass, you release the tab from the slot in the fiberglass, and the clip removes easily and unbroken with slight upward force.
OEM 98 sweep installed with white, plastic clips and screws.
OEM 98 clip left on door after removing sweep; and very small area for screw attachment.
Slots in door fiberglass for clip attachment.
Multiple views of the 98 plastic clips.
New metal clips compared to older plastic clips.
How I removed the OEM plastic clips without damaging the clips or the fiberglass slots.
I purchased RH ( 1AWSS00104 ) & LH ( 1AWSS00105 ) sweeps from 1A Auto through eBay ~July 2016 in anticipation of this repair. My first pair of sweeps exited the shipping tube in transit and the ends were bent quite a bit. 1A Auto promptly shipped out a 2nd set when I contacted them and politely explained the problem. The second set was slightly better packaged; arrived in-tact; but the RH unit was still bent. With some care, I was able to straighten it enough such that it could be installed. Also, The RH sweep of the first pair sent had 1 – of the clips incorrectly fastened through the felt portion of the assembly. I did not like how the 1A Auto piece sat on the door. IMO, it needs more “sag” in it to match the “sag” in the top edge of the door. No pic, but there was a maximum gap between the top of the door and the weatherstripping (overlap) of ~1/8” inch. There is no practical way of fixing this as you would need to bend the sweep in the same plane (vertical) as the sheet metal. Not going to happen. However, 1/8” gap is probably not a problem for many, and would not be for me either if my car was not so low mileage and good condition. I did break one of the metal clips. They are usable, but brittle. Have to be careful. The clips line up fine with the slots in the door fiberglass, contrary to the experience of others previously. How first pair of sweeps arrived from 1A Auto.
1A Auto clip “legs” fastened through fuzzy, felt area. Little sloppy, but fixable.
1A Auto clip location matches OEM.
Aftermarket clips are brittle. Be careful.
Since I preferred the better fit of the stock piece, I repaired it. With the sweep removed, dabbed some Permatex Ultra Black in the weather-stripping hole. Epoxyed the clip in place at the slot where the split occurred. Pulled the split together and clamped till the epoxy cured. Worked well. Fits better than the 1A Auto piece. This probably is not helpful to many because most sweep failures appear due to busted clips or mounting locations in the door; I have a 98 w/ different mounting clips; and I took no repair process photos. Sorry.
Football-shaped hole in moulding/weather-stripping of outer sweep repaired. No longer noticeable unless looking for it.
Even though I ran into some problems with the 1A Auto pieces, IMO, they are a good lower budget option, compared to new, “OEM” pieces at sky-high prices.
07-26-2016, 12:04 AM
