weather stripping metro v soff seal v ?

I'm looking for opinions of which weather strip you guys have used and why. I've heard some problems with them being to thick and panels not shutting completely. It is for a 70 GTX door seal. The one we have isn't very pliable and keeps the door out quite a bit but they were on the car when we got it.

Thanks,

Steve

Contact Dixie. They have Metro, SoftSeal and Steele. So they can and will tell you which one works best for your needs.

Unless they have restored a number of assorted vehicles and tried every manufacturer they offer, or have recorded feedback from every sale/return,...it's a shot in the dark

I find that I end up ordering every seal needed from ALL the manufacturer's offerings, because no one brand guarantees a good fit/seal,so you go thru a lot of trial/error to re-weatherstrip an entire vehicle, and in some cases nothing but original/NOS works DAMHIK


Mike

So, back in the mid-90's I worked in New Product Development for Year One. They decided it might be a good idea to purchase all of their w/s from one vendor in order to get the best discounts. So, we tested a variety of w/s on different cars. One in particular I remember was a '69 Charger owned by one of the employees. We tested a Metro and SoffSeal door opening w/s on the car. The owner of the car and I did the test. I liked one brand and he liked the other. We each had our reasons. I don't remember any details beyond that at this point. But, the net was, YO decided to keep buying different w/s from different vendors, because they didn't all fit the same.


Fast forward 20 something years. Tooling wears out. Leadership changes, so ideas of quality vs cost change, material vendors change, etc. Newsflash - just because the Chinese can stamp out a steel part doesn't mean they can mold quality rubber products or electrical ones. Often vendors will tell you the seal will "soften" over time. That really depends on the rubber formula and how it's made. So do, some don't.

We talk to customers and suppliers every day. We get constant feedback on why someone liked a part or why they didn't. We'll ask suppliers why a particular part fits different than it did last year, and find out they have new tooling, or some other reason. We have our own cars we work on. So, while we're not conducting extensive tests every day, we do have a good grasp of some of the better parts out there. Consequently, we carry multiple brands. And you know what? Different parts from different vendors still fit different, and people still like them for various reasons.

Dayclona makes a good point about trying multiple seals on a car, but not everyone can afford to do that. NOS seals? I wish I could buy them by the truck load. They just aren't there in quantity and the price is often too high for "cruise night" cars. One more thing to add, some vendors, rebox certain competitor's seals and sell as their own.

HEMICHALLENGER if you bought one brand and don't like the fit, try the other two. Your choices are SoffSeal, Metro and Steele Rubber. I don't think there is another brand for door opening w/s for that car. Let us know what you chose and how it worked out. Inquiring minds want to know!

We're happy to help in anyway we can. Dave, thanks for the referral!!

Steve, from my experience on the 68-70 B body, the current seals on the market for the doors sucks, I've tried EVERY Mfg's door seals on 68-70 B bodys, either the durometer is too high, or the profile too large, or both, end result is the same, the door dose not want to close properly, nice used or NOS for doors, again for the rest of the car, it's hit or miss on mfg's offerings, I will say the Metro vent window rubbers fit very nice

Mike

I have made sure during my current disassembly of my Superbird that I will keep all original rubber components ( as much as possible ). I just took off the door weather strip and they are in relatively very shape. Hate the reproduction top forward end(the part that attaches by the wind window)...

You might want to keep the upper roof rail weather striping too if it's in good shape as the aftermarket stuff is too soft in durometer and the profile is not correct, so it either pushes up into the channel or gets dragged out by lowering the window, if you have to use the repro upper roof rail weather stripping you end up gluing it in place to retain it, the Metro trunk weather stripping is usable for the 70 B bodies, the 68-9 Plymouth trunk weather stripping durometer is too hard


Most of the SOFFSEAL weather stripping I've tried over the years for B and E bodies always hit the trash, Metro or Steele products were the most usable products

Mike

thanks for the input guys I think what is on is soffseal, I have had better luck with metro and steel, ill try that route

On my last Dart project, I had ordered Soft Seal for the roof rail. It was a horrible fit in several ways. I actually contacted Soft Seal about it. They had me send them a piece of my original molding and they sent me a box of extrusions that I could choose from for them to make me a molding out of. But none of them would work. We went round and round for weeks.

Then I posted this saga on A bodies and a couple of guys responded that they had been through the same merry go round with Soft Seal. So Soft Seal was selling a roof molding that they well knew wouldn't fit. The other thing that came out of the A bodies post was a referral to Dixie for Steele moldings. I had never even heard of Steele before that.

I called Dixie and discovered that they carried all the major brands and wouldn't hesitate to share their experiences with the different brands in their particular applications.

The Steele fit pretty good, not as good as the original, but good. Which was light years ahead of the Soft Seal which wouldn't fit at all. So, from now on, I'm calling Dixie first. And posting the question here and on A bodies. The collective experience that can be tapped into is priceless.

Which of the Vendors has the best return/refund policy when you get a poor fitting set?

Year One was the only vendor willing to take the moldings back if they weren't cut/modified or glued, buying weatherstriping is like buying electrical components, you own it regardless, and the vendors know it, that's why they keep selling the crap

Ugh, that's harsh. Thanks for answering, Dayclona.

We don't have that policy. Don't confuse vendor with manufacturer. Most manufacturer's will take them back from a vendor if there is a true fitment issue. So, unless cut/modified or otherwise damaged, there shouldn't be an issue to return. Always verify return policy before buying any product from anyone.

Hate to disagree, but whenever I called the vendor and/or mfg to TRY an address the issues or offer feedback with the moldings/weatherstrippings in question, I was always met with the responses that "this is the first we're hearing of this, we'll get back to you" or "we've never heard any complaints about this product, you're the first", or "maybe you need to adjust the panel/trunk/door/etc", "Do you have the right application", "perhaps your installation is incorrect" the list was endless, but the answer was always the same, no return,...Year One has a "no questions" asked return policy on anything they sell, except special request orders

I have not personally tried to return any moldings to Dixie, so I can't verify their return policy, but I think it's safe to assume they know their own policy. And that of their suppliers.

Just to be clear here Dayclona, are you saying that Dixie refused a molding return from you? Or are you saying generically that suppliers haven't taken your returns? I think that is an important distinction.

My comment was in response to Dixie, not about Dixie...

Mike

I have bought from dixie many times. Got a say some of the best people out there never had a problem. lots of times they are my first choice depending on what part I need. Call them they will help you.

For the roof rail seal get Soft Seal. Super Seal roof rails do not fit. Wrong shape and go into the rail. I've tried A,B and E and all won't fit. Soft Seal fit great in all bodies.
Have used both brands for doors seals with no problems.