Hello all. As a GT owner, I don't want to pay $150 or more for a piece of foam-rubber for the trunk. Does anyone know of any alternatives that work (rather than a factory-type expensive replacement)? has anyone ever tried anything like the stuff JC Whitney sells by the roll? For instance:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-VehicleBrowse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2008721/showCustom-1/p-2008721/N-200729108+111+1987+600003813/c-10101

It would be great to find an alternative to paying so much for weatherstripping.

That is a good subject. Unfortunately the Fiero has a horizontal lip, not a vertical lip on the trunk, so you would have to find a weatherstrip with a *90 angle. I need to square my trunk away, so I might look into this. I have an uncanny skill of finding unique ways to make things work where no one would expect, so this should be right down my alley.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: Unfortunately the Fiero has a horizontal lip, not a vertical lip on the trunk, so you would have to find a weatherstrip with a *90 angle.

hmm?

As I remember it, the lip is vertical, and 180* (straight across from) from the sealing surface.

I'm glad this peaks your interest - please keep us all informed of any findings. This could make alot of fiero (especially GT) owners happy. I'll keep searching too - I believe JC Whitney will send samples upon request. What about modifying the lip so that it is vertical, maybe by attaching thin steel or aluminum angle the whole way around?

I wonder if this would work

Maybe it's both? I seem to remember the front trunk edge being the vertical lip, and the rear trunk edge being the horizontal lip... I can check later if you want..

quote Originally posted by ryan.hess: Maybe it's both? I seem to remember the front trunk edge being the vertical lip, and the rear trunk edge being the horizontal lip... I can check later if you want..

this is correct. the front lip stands straight up, vertical. the rear is horizontal, formed in, toward the open trunk area.

Okay, so you can't use one continuous piece of weatherstrip. How do the sides mount?

the same. to clarify....the front compartment seal goes on a vertical flange. the rear compartment seal goes on a horizontal flange. does that make sense? i can take some pics if needed. my whole car is stripped right now.

just a thought here, does this gasket not fit into a groove on the trunk lid, it appears too.

now if this groove lines up can we not use a foam gasket affixed to the trunk lid which will them match up to the trunk to seal it.

You can get foam gaskets in any width and thickness, they are used in the mounting of caps on pickup trucks

might be a different way of resolving this problem

Tim

i work at AutoZone, one night when it was slower went looking through the weatherstripping we have (down the chemical/sealant aisle for those who may go and try to find it) and found that the door weatherstripping we carry is perfect for it. its set up just like the stock stuff, and work perfect. 29.99 as opposed to 150. it has rained ALOT here since i put it on, and my trunk is no longer a pool inside after it rains. worked great...give it a check guys.

I also refused to spend $150 for a GT trunk seal when I did my GT conversion. I used J. C. Whitney part number SN132568R rubber weatherstripping. It bends well at the corners and the roll has enough material to do 2 trunks. I started in the middle of the trunk closest to the engine and ran it around. Then joined the ends with a piece of round foam backer rod, you get from the hardware store insulation aisle, that I had laying around, and glued together with weatherstrip adhesive. Seals great and looks just about like the OEM piece. Roll of weatherstip sold for $32.99 when I did it last year.

Keith, what was that Autozone part number? Keith and Rogcon - some pics would be great! Thanks for the responses.

Awesome, you guys have pluses from me. I was going to try this next summer, but now I'll just go get one of the recommended weatherstrips and be done. Thanks.

guys, i will get that part number and pics ASAP...ill try to do it tomorrow....

does anyone have pics of any of these alternatives? does it look somewhat decent/stock? or kinda hillbilly?

mike

well, mike beings that your roughly 20 mins from me, im sure you know...its freaking pouring out. lol. it really looks good, if you dont know what the trunk seal looks like, you would never know the difference, we need to meet up sometime and BS a lil....
Im still ganna try to get pics today, im keeping my eye out on the weather...if i notice it stops raining, im ganna run out there and take a couple pics......
keith

You guys got pics yet?
Perrysburg, and BG well, I have been working in Toledo the last 3 months, so I'm not so far away either.

how do i post pics on here guys?

quote Originally posted by KeithGT: how do i post pics on here guys?

at the bottom of every page there is a blue and red icon labled Pennocks Image poster. follow the directions on how to set it up. you have to read them, or it will be kinda confusing!

OK, give me a couple here to figure this out....

Here are some pictures of my trunk using the J. C. Whitney material I described above. For what its worth, it rained steady all day yesterday and you can see the trunk is dry as a bone.

Sweet. This saves me I still need to get the freakin D Plates, theres a like 1 inch gap on each side of my trunk And its snowin big time. So I know theres a big pool in my trunk. This sucks lol

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Email Sent.

[This message has been edited by OldBob (edited 01-29-2006).]

Actually, i think me and rogcon used pretty much the same stuff....but i emailed my pics to someone who shall be loading them up here sometime...

Daaaaamn! That looks great!

Here are KeithGT's pics.

quote Originally posted by theratdude64: Sweet. This saves me I still need to get the freakin D Plates, theres a like 1 inch gap on each side of my trunk And its snowin big time. So I know theres a big pool in my trunk. This sucks lol

What/where are the "D plates" and what do they do? Thanks.

quote Originally posted by Doc-: What/where are the "D plates" and what do they do? Thanks.

You can't keep it oval and seal it with the square decklid. The fastback decklid is about 6 inches too narrow. The oval opening of the trunk would be under the clip. This isn't the best angle but it shows what I am talking about.
Before "D" panels:

After:

The trunk squaring panels are found often on eBay or place a "wanted to buy" ad in the mall.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 01-30-2006).]

ok im in !!! can someone please post the autozone/napa/shucks part number? im a little to slow to figure it out, and the "guys" at the autozone near me said "durrr... weeb dont be sellin any kinda thingers that coulda be used fur that" no wonder they are alway hiring....


thanks in advance
=todd=

quote Originally posted by KeithGT: i work at AutoZone, one night when it was slower went looking through the weatherstripping we have (down the chemical/sealant aisle for those who may go and try to find it) and found that the door weatherstripping we carry is perfect for it. its set up just like the stock stuff, and work perfect. 29.99 as opposed to 150. it has rained ALOT here since i put it on, and my trunk is no longer a pool inside after it rains. worked great...give it a check guys. guys, i will get that part number and pics ASAP...ill try to do it tomorrow....

Keith, will you post that part number for us? Thanks. Bill

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Autozone part number please...

anyone?

LOL... The thread is from January, the original guys probably haven't seen it in a while. Maybe a PM to one of them?

I already threw my box away so I can't help with the part number, but the stuff isn't hard to find. Sounds like your AutoZone suffers from the same fundamental flaw that ours does—poor help. Go back to AutoZone and do everything you can to avoid talking to the attendants, if you do get cornered and have to talk to them don't under any circumstances tell them that you drive a Fiero. Tell them it's for a perfectly normal and anonymous car, like your '89 base model Ford Taurus. This way they won't naturally assume that they don't have the part, or that you don't really need it because your car is already on fire.

Walk down the aisles until you find weather stripping, it will probably be on the bottom shelf. It should be near the help section (not necessarily in it), not in the section with the racing floor mats and stickers or any accessories with a chrome-ish finish or LED light in it. They have two kinds of weather stripping; the first is an adhesive backed foam strip in either a small box or a tightly coiled roll. The other is in a box that is about a foot and a half square and is slightly heavier than you expect it to be. It will look like the standard rubber weather stripping you would expect to find on any car door you looked at. It will probably be advertised on the box as having a "steal core"

Disclaimer: this is meant only to reflect my experiences with my local AutoZone, and not to offend anybody who works at an autoparts store. All stores are different, because they are all staffed with different people.

I hope this helps a little bit. If my receipt ever turns up, I'll post a part number (assuming they print that on the receipt). Good luck.

Mine looks identical to the ones in the picture, and its Metro Moulded Parts, Inc. part number MW00100 on the box. I got it at Murray's so I don't know the AutoZone part number. Hope this helps.

I saw some stuff on JCWhittney's site that looked very similar to the stock stuff, it was more rectangular in cross section instead of round. I wondered if that would be better, but the round stuff was local and cheaper, so I got it rather than experiment. If anybody wants to experiment, I can dig up a link to what I found.

RogCon, Keith, these look great and the price is right! Next on my to-do list! Question: did either of you put any adhesive when attaching to the metal lip, or does it just stay on and in place by itself?
Thanks!
Tom

"Disclaimer: this is meant only to reflect my experiences with my local AutoZone, and not to offend anybody who works at an autoparts store. All stores are different, because they are all staffed with different people."

lol.... i guess i should have included that in my post also, but i would have figured that would have been a given.... SOOooo if i have offended anyone I'm sorry.... it was not ment as an attack on all autozones, just the one in vancouver wa.


thanks
=todd=