Weatherstripping seems to be one of the things needed for these cars so I thought I would start a thead just for places and part numbers that are known to work..
I used Ranger door stripping on the back of my 75 wagon that I bought from JC Whitney part # ZX504530A ($19.95) but its 5 1/2" short. That weatherstripping is for standard cab.
This weaterstripping part # ZX527739T shows for the 4 door so I would think it would be longer so some trimming may be in order.. I would rather trim then come up short :)
I also have some weatherstripping samples coming for the doors and I will pass along my findings ($115 for repops is just too high for me)
Anyone else have any low cost fixes for weatherdtripping?
I own a 91 regular cab Ranger. When it was a couple years old, I had to replace the drivers side door seal because I damaged it. I bought a Ford one and had to trim it to fit. It was 4-6 inches too long. I parted out an extra cab ranger two years ago and kept one of the door seals because it was in good shape however as you pointed out it was too short to fit on my crusing wagon. I guess what I am saying is that maybe a new Ford seal will fit the Pinto if it has not been installed on a truck yet. I do have another NOS Ranger door seal somewhere as I bought two because they were so cheap. I do not know where it is at the moment but when I find it I will measure it to see if it fits.
The one I got from JC was 12 foot long for the standard cab. It would be nice to find a place to buy it by the foot.
I bought a set of new repro door seals ($100) and window channels ($25) for my 78 sedan from www.topsdown.com. They JUST NOW started making this (in USA with supposibly the original Ford dies).
They claim they fit all 1971-1980 Pinto sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons.
I was skeptic of why this convertible top place would make stuff for Pintos, but it turned out pretty well in the end.
The door seal fit was very good. The top part fit in the channel snugly. I was able to use the white plastic push-in clips around the door part (I made marked and cut the holes). NO cement is really needed, but I used a little bit here and there.
They sealed well around the door, but they could be a little thicker around the window area. My car was in a bad frontal crash years ago, so this may be the reason... I had to add a secont layer of weatherstrip on the body itself around the window area and it looks and seals great now.
The window channels are okay, but they could have been more accomidating to the thinner glass on the later models. You will need 7 feet per door. Cement is not required but can be used here and there.
They do not have trunk seals but I am going to try a cheap GM 1968-1972 A-body seal, as they are very similar. This WILL need to be glued!
The tiny-trunk seal--
The trunk seal was replaced a few weeks ago. This has not been reproduced (through my research), so i improvised...
My main project car is a 1972 Olds 442 clone convertible and I noticed the trunk seal on it is similar! So I bought one for that car (GM A-body) for only 15 bucks and installed it on the Pinto. It is the Metro brand, about 17' long. I used only about 9' of it on the tiny Pinto trunk. This brand has two hollow section, which makes it very soft and pliable.
The old 30+ year-old seal had to be scraped out with popsicle sticks with sharp "edges" cut into them like a chisel. This helped protect the paint. Razor blades took the thick sections out. I also had to reshape some sheetmetal back there, as it was still buckled slightly from three rear-end wrecks long ago. There is no channel to insert the weatherstrip in (just one lip) and no clips. Therefore the entire seal must be glued on with 3M black weatherstrip cement, all the way around on the bottom and lip of the sheetmetal. This would need to be done even with a factory NOS seal. It was tedious, but it went well. I left the lid open an hour after it all dried and it stayed in place well. The lid was hard to get closed for a week or two, but now it closes like it did when new and it seems to seal well - I had no leakage through the past several rains!
Take a small sample of your weatherstripping with you next time you go to your local -YOU PULL IT -I got less than $20.00 in a arm full for all my weatherstripping ,on my 79 wagon .It took me awhile to search around and I ended up throwing some away but it's in and nobody knows any different...
Quote from: dcorry on May 31, 2009, 10:40:11 PM
Take a small sample of your weatherstripping with you next time you go to your local -YOU PULL IT -I got less than $20.00 in a arm full for all my weatherstripping ,on my 79 wagon
This is a good idea if you can find some in good shape from a newer car. Can you remember what car(s) you pulled it all from? I heard that Ranger pickups might be similar... How easily did your door seals install?
72 pinto sedan // need to find rear window and trunk lid seal also turn signal switch (#4 that works) thank you.