Is this the only way you can seem to keep yourself dry during a rain storm in your Corvette? Well, do not feel alone. Keeping water out is a common problem. The environment we live in and common every day use cause the rubber weatherstrips on any Corvette to dry out, crack, tear, compress and generally wear out after a few years. Thanks to Zip Products, Inc., worn out rubber weatherstrips are no longer a problem. They carry a complete line for all 1953 and later Corvettes. We called them for help and they were able to supply all of the correct weatherstrips we needed and all of the associated attaching hardware. All of the items fit just as they should and were of excellent quality. We replaced all of the rubber weatherstrips in our Project 73 easily in one afternoon. Now we can put our umbrella away because the rain stays out while we stay dry.

01: Here is everything needed for our installation: The rubber weatherstrips, 1 tube 3M Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive #08008, 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner #08984, Krytox Weatherstrip Saver, Masking Tape, Screwdrivers both flat and phillips, knife or tucking tool and an awl.

02: First disconnect your battery. Your doors are going to be open for quite sometime and you don’t need a dead battery. Next carefully remove the old door weatherstrip. Remember that most of the door weatherstrips have screws holding it in place at one or both ends. Remove these screws first, then the door weatherstrip can be removed.

03: After the weatherstrip is removed, thoroughly clean the old weatherstrip glue off with the general purpose adhesive cleaner. The cleaner the area is, the better the glue will hold.

04: When you are done cleaning the door area, take the new door weatherstrip and pre-fit it. Make sure all of the mounting holes line up and that you have the correct side on the corresponding door. By pre-fitting each weatherstrip, you will then know how it should fit.

09: Thoroughly clean the channel with adhesive cleaner before you install the new vertical weatherstrip. Also wipe the weatherstrips themselves with the cleaner to remove any mold release agents still left on.

10: Apply the Black Weatherstrip Adhesive to the channel and the weatherstrip just as you did with the door weatherstrip. A bead on each piece. Place the vertical weatherstrip into the channel at the top and slowly tuck it into place with your putty knife or tucking tool, pressing the weatherstrip into the channel. Line up the screw hole at the bottom, insert the screw and you are done.

11: To replace the windshield pillar weatherstrip, remove all of the mounting screws first. Then remove the channel and weatherstrip as one unit.

15: The T-Top weatherstrip retaining channel is just like the pillar weatherstrip channel. It has to have either strip caulking or post sealer installed on it to keep it watertight. Here we are installing the strip caulking but the post sealer will work just as well.

16: The T-Top weatherstrips are first installed into the outer T-Top weatherstrip retaining channel. Again place a thin bead of weatherstrip adhesive both in the channel and onto the weatherstrip. Place the weatherstrip into the channel carefully aligning the holes. Use an awl in one hole while installing the mounting screw in the next. When this is fully installed, move onto the rest of the weatherstrip.

17: Again place a small bead of adhesive on the T-Top and also on the corresponding weatherstrip. Do only a few inches at a time. Let the adhesive skim over, align the studs and mounting holes and push them into place. Slowly work your way all around the T-Top until the weatherstrip is fully installed.

18: While we were at it, Zip supplied us with the T-Top adjusting bolt. Someone had placed some incorrect bolts on our T-Top during its life and installing the new ones made the top fit better and best of all, it no longer squeaked.

19: We also installed new T-Top alignment pin bushings since ours were very worn.

20: We placed the T-Top with the new weatherstrip back onto the body and adjusted the adjustment bolts so that when the latches were closed, the T-Top was even with the rear stationary roof section and fit tight over the windshield.

21: Before we closed everything up, we placed a thin layer of Krytox Weatherstrip Saver onto all of the weatherstrips. This product is a weatherstrip saver and prevents weatherstrips from tearing. It keeps the weatherstrip much more supple. New weatherstrips sometimes squeak when first installed. Krytox will also help prevent this from happening.

22: Now with all your new weatherstrips installed, slowly close the door and let the car sit for a few hours to let the weatherstrips compress naturally. You will notice that the doors will close a little hard, but this is only until the weatherstrips have conformed. This also assures you of a good tight, waterproof fit. Now re-connect your battery and go play in the rain!