# Trunk rubber seal problems



## BWGoat (Mar 31, 2010)

1966 GTO back from frame off restoration. Trunk lid body gap lines are great, but trunk lid will not shut tight enough to be all the way flush with rear quarters. Told that rubber seal will soften with time and correct this problem. Make sense? Any thing that can be done to soften seals?


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## freethinker (Nov 14, 2009)

BWGoat said:


> 1966 GTO back from frame off restoration. Trunk lid body gap lines are great, but trunk lid will not shut tight enough to be all the way flush with rear quarters. Told that rubber seal will soften with time and correct this problem. Make sense? Any thing that can be done to soften seals?


makes no sense. do they have it in backwards? the lip is supposed to point out.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

No Sense at all. Paying good money to have a job done and having to accept explanatins of why it's not quite right, but will fix itself in time, is pretty much a cop-out. It has the wrong seal installed. The correct seal is about 1/2-5/8" tall. The one a lot of vendors are selling is over an inch tall and is ridiculous. Just went thru this on a friend's '67. Same problem. Thing was, this was supposedly the "correct" skinned seal, the most expensive one. He sent it back, got the cheap one, and the trunk fit was perfect. The new "correct" seals I've been seeing have no resemblance whatsover to the original seals. I got a new seal about 5 years ago for the '65, and it was identical to the original seal. I don't know what's going on these days with all these huge seals I'm seeing on ebay cars, etc. Get the right seal. Man, I sure said "seal" a lot!!!!


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## BWGoat (Mar 31, 2010)

Lip does point out and it is about 1/2 to 5/8" thick if you measure what is exposed. I actually ordered the part myself from Year One. Unfortunately I do not have the original to compare to.


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

I have HEARD, that SoftSeal brand trunk gasket is too thick and causes this problem.......I have also HEARD that Steele is a very good brand and is a little thinner so this problem doesn't occur.


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## BWGoat (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks Eric and Merry Christmas!! Hope that '67 project is going well. Will I have a big problem removing the adhesive on the old seal without damaging the paint? Is there a release agent?


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

I don't know what it is glued down with...3M adhesive? Also what kind of Paint is on the car? I am sure there is a way to remove it, but you MUST know the answers to both questions. Ask the guy who installed it. Good luck! Go slow. Eric:cheers MERRY CHRISTMAS !


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Merry Xmas to all, as well. On mine, I used a little 3m weatherstrip adhesive, and used hardly any. The channel holds the strip in place. Mineral spirits, or MEK should do it.....I can't guarantee your paint holding up. I'd be inclined to pull it out and work on the cling-ons very very carefully. Or take it back to the restoration shop and ask them to install a correct seal that actually fits.....


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## daveh70 (Sep 4, 2008)

Merry Christmas.

Can't any adjustments be made to the trunk lid hinges to make the seal work?

This reminds me of the situation with the hood/cowl seal I got for the restoration on my '64 currently in progress. The seal in makes the hood pop out, but without it the panels are nicely flush. Adjustments COULD be made to make it flush with that cowl/hood seal in place, but I decided they just scrap that seal. It's not really needed anyway. Gotta remember these cars were built back then to drive every day, which doesn't happen anymore. 

Dave


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Merry Christmas everyone..............:seeya:


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Dave, it has nothing to do with the hinges. You could remove the hinges and just rest the decklid in place, and it would still sit about 3/8" high all the way around with the rest of the car. The seal is 2 times thicker than original, and can not be compressed enough. No reason to fight it and compromise the rest of the car....the solution is to ax it and replace it with the correct part. Merry Christmas, Green Goat!!!


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

did you replace the rubber bumpers on the trunk lid? i have found that the new ones can be too thick. i tried to trim some down once then just ended up leaving them off.i have also seen trunk lids that had to be slammed even with no rubber installed because the latch needed to be lubed. just for grins i would take off the bumpers and spray some w-d40 in the latch. if you remove the rubber make sure the lid is adjusted correctly and
closes properly before you put something back in its place.


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## BWGoat (Mar 31, 2010)

I will check out the bumpers and the latch mechanism. If that does not work - will order the steele product thinner rubber. Will report back results.


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