Slowly starting to redo the interior of my LaSalle. I've got all new glass for the side windows and am encountering some difficulties with the rear quarter windows. I have gotten them out okay, but the insides were a complete mess. Seals and sweeps are completely rotted out as are the tacking strips. The drip pan was full of rusted crud and crumbled materials. Fortunately, the pans and body metal all seems to be in good shape.
My problem is, how are the seals along the front edge made? I have ordered the replacement rubber portion from Steele, and a post I found on the AACA forum regarding a Buick which seems to more or less apply to mine but is a bit confusing. They mention a strip of thin metal 9/16� wide by 18� long which has a wrapping of a cloth tape type substance. As I understand it, they then indicate that it had a strip of felt glued(?) to one face of it. Indeed I do have shards or remnants of a thin metal strip, some cloth tape type substance, and pieces of felting. They also said the rubber is then laid over the felting and then all three layers are screwed into the frame of the window. Does this sound correct to anyone here who has dealt with this situation? The rubber strip butts up against the glass and the screw heads are exposed? Somehow that doesn't sound right to me.
Also, the rubber piece has a lip on one edge, and one end tapers down to being narrower than the other. Which end goes up? The narrow or wide end? Which side does the lip go to? The inboard or outboard side of the window?
Finally, does anyone have any advice on how to get the drain hose out of the body? Mine was so brittle that it snapped off way down in there and I can't find the end which drops down to under the car. I'd really think it prudent to replace that hose.