I have a question for those out there who have installed new weather striping on there doors. I had a local custom paint shop perform a complete paint job on my 69 BB. Doors, fenders etc were removed. Upon installation of the doors after paint new weather strips/seals were installed for all windows/doors etc. The doors are lined up nicely with the body panels but the doors need to be slammed to shut. The owner of the custom paint shop has informed me this normal until the seals break in which usually occurs after 1 year, then the doors need to be readjusted and will shut properly. I have never heard or this... Has anyone experienced this before?? I have adjusted the doors so that they shut nicely but they do not line up with the body panels properly. I previous adjusted the doors with the old seals and they could be shut with one finger. Now it requires to slam the door harder them normal...??? And yes the correct weather strips/seals were installed. I doubled checked the part numbers. Any thoughts would be of great help.

try rolling down the windows when closing the door

mine would trap air in the cab and do the same thing

roll the window down some and shut much easier

worth the try anyways

The seals will naturally compress some over time. I wouldn't think it would take a year. I'd be more apt to figure a couple of months at least.

Yes there is some breaking in of the new rubber but not a lot. Not enough to cause you to have to re-adjust the doors and they not line up.

There is a brand of seals that are actually too thick and cause this. I can't remember which one but there two types of seals. Someone on here should remember.

Slowly push the door closed and feel to see if it moves up or down as the latch grabs it. If it does then the hinges are out of adjustment and he is using the latch to compensate for it which will wear out the hinges, the latch and on some cars like E-bodies cause the door handles to break.

The doors should be fully loaded and the hinges adjusted before the latch pins are installed. That way the latch only latches the door and doesn't force the door into position because of mis-adjusted hinges.

My

Thanks everyone for your help.

I tried shutting the door previously with the window down with no change. I thought that the cabin pressure was causing it but I was wrong.

IMGTX,

I think your on to something here. I truly believe that the door is not aligned correctly one way or another. What do you mean by break the door handles? The paint has already cracked around the door handle from the body shop owner slamming the doors. He is going to repair this area but I believe that he didn't take his time in correctly installing the doors.

Either you have hard rubber seals or your strikers are in to far. If you used Soft Seal there is no break in time. They fit perfect from day one. Try moving the striker plate out a hair and see if it helps. If it's in to far you need to slam the door to crush the rubber so secondary catch ingauges. Easy test. With door closed push it in. Yopu should get a little movement. If solid then striker is in to far.

E bodies have a lever type door handle that you have to lift up to activate the latch. If the door is out of adjustment you have to pull up (or at least out) on the handle to get the door open. This causes the weight of the door to be supported and muscled around by the pot metal lever which causes them to break.

Yours should have a push button handle which will not break very easily but it will stress the door skin around the base of the handles possibly causing the paint to crack.

The door handle should only release the latch and gently guide the door open and closed. If you have to use force on the handle to close or open the door something is wrong out of adjustment.

Remove the latch pins and see where it lines up.

If the problem is weather stripping it should cause the door to pop open on it's own when the latch is tripped. If your pulling to open the door it is definitely out of adjustment.

I will try the above recommendations tonight once I get home. I will add the when I depress the button on the door handle to open the door, it is very hard to depress and a loud clunk is heard. Then a little more the normal effort is need for the door to be pulled open.

what brand weatherstrip are u using?
I heard soft seals crush easier

If theres a lot of presure on button to open the door your strikers are in to far. Door needs to go in to far for secondary latch to catch. Seal is putting presure on the latch. Losen the striker and move it out a bit. If body lines are good make sure you don't move it up or down just out.

I don't know about "Breaking In" new door rubber. Doesn't the mean the doors on new cars wouldn't shut properly until the car was a year old? I put aftermarket door seals on my pick-up. I could hardly get the doors to shut. I went to the dealer and bought factory parts, the doors shut perfectly.

I had a 70 Challenger that had the same problem. I took the Year One seals off and replaced with Metro Soft Seal and they shut great after that. See Ya!

My 69 Bee has door seals from YEAR ONE and you have to really give some effort to close the doors. I tried for hours adjusting this and that, the gaps are perfect but the doors just plain shut hard.

I've always hated that!!!!!!!!!!

Your at a car show and you have to pound the door shut.........

Maybe Metro Seals ARE the way to go?

change the seals

Thanks everyone for posting on such a off the wall topic.

My door seals are from Year-one, who there supplier is I have no clue. With my doors shut you can not push in on the door to get it to close anymore, it is SOLID. If I adjust the door latch out any further the doors will not be aligned properly. I did this previously and the door alignment looked terrible.

I think I may try a set of Soft-Seals, but before I think I will remove the year-one seals and inspect how the door closes. Thanks again to everyone.

can anyone confirm if SoftSeal is the Y.O supplier?

I have two sets of door seals one being the SoftSeal and the other is unknow manufacturer but purchased from Jacks.

is there anyway to reuse the original seals? I dont remember seeing the little clips around anymore.

Soft seal is not the supplier for China one....OOPS i mean Year One. I don't buy anything from them anymore. 99% of there products are poor to fair at best quaility and there the most money for parts.

When the door strikers are properly aligned when door is shut you should be able to push it in an 1/8 inch against the seal. Your problem sounds like bad door seals. I tell everyone to buy Soft Seal only. They fit and never had to realign a panel after they were installed. Seals need to break in is just a wise tale told by guys who couldn't get the panel aligned or used cheap China made seals that didn't fit. I've been doing body work for over 35 years and replaced 1000's of door seals. Good seals fit the first time.

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If you used the Soft Seal door seals change them to the Metro Super soft door seals and toss the others in the trash. I had the same problem with my Challenger.

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You started a post on this problem in two different sections and are getting two different sets of answers. In this section people are saying the Soft Seals are great. In the other thread they are saying they are junk. Soooo...

Are Year One seals the "Soft Seal" ones? I'm getting confused here.