You sent a replacement, as the first one the gasket would not fit in at all. The replacement unfortunately is not quite right either. It seems to squeeze the gasket too tightly. I was trying to see if anyone else is having the same problem, or if it is just me, or if I am doing something wrong.
Dean Miller came over to have a look at it a while back, and told me the gasket should be completely flat up against the sunroof glass. I personally did not know that, so there in lies the possible problem I am having.
Here is a photo that shows what I mean, the gasket is being forced into almost a "V" by the track:
Is it just the back one or is the problem all the way around?
I am so sorry, been a little crazy here, had guests for 2 weeks and a wedding 3 days ago, and a memorial for a friend that passed away this morning....
It is just the rear track that I had the issues with.
Please Everyone, keep in mind, the quality of these tracks are amazing! You will never have to worry about them ever rusting! The studs are professionally attached, and line up perfectly with the Fieros existing holes. It came with all the mounting hardware and everything needed to install them.
Rich, please do not send out another track, I want to return this one to you first so you can look it over, and even determine if I am maybe doing something wrong.
I am so sorry, been a little crazy here, had guests for 2 weeks and a wedding 3 days ago, and a memorial for a friend that passed away this morning....
It is just the rear track that I had the issues with.
Please Everyone, keep in mind, the quality of these tracks are amazing! You will never have to worry about them ever rusting! The studs are professionally attached, and line up perfectly with the Fieros existing holes. It came with all the mounting hardware and everything needed to install them.
Rich, please do not send out another track, I want to return this one to you first so you can look it over, and even determine if I am maybe doing something wrong.
John, I am at a loss as to what is happening. You informed me earlier that this was a Fiero Store gasket. Maybe and I mean maybe there is something with the gasket. Instead of sending it back let's try this approach. Can you get an accurate measurement of the gasket? More specifically the notch on the gasket where it fits into the track? I can make a custom track to match the groove. Shipping is a pain and expensive on these. No sense in wasting anymore money than we have to.
To add a little light. I can tell you the last fierostore sunroof gasket I installed was very thick and was hard to compress. It did conform over time but took awhile.
As you have seen there seems to be an issue with the Fiero Store gasket and my tracks. I am being shipped a gasket and will get things figured out.
Rich
I did have a bit of an issue here with the Fiero Store Gasket, and your SS tracks. I just could not wedge the gasket into your tracks.
On the other hand, I recently purchased a NOS original GM gasket, and it fit into your tracks with minimal effort.
I would tend to think that the Fiero Store gasket is a little bit fatter than the OEM. I do not know how well their gasket fits into OEM tracks, as I never had the items to try that scenario, my original tracks were rust powder..... I replaced them with The Fiero Store tracks, and in one year, they were completely rusted out as well. That is when I purchased your tracks.
Bottom line, I will NEVER have to worry about your tracks rusting like that, and the OEM gasket fit right into them, so I am a most happy customer!
I did have a bit of an issue here with the Fiero Store Gasket, and your SS tracks. I just could not wedge the gasket into your tracks.
On the other hand, I recently purchased a NOS original GM gasket, and it fit into your tracks with minimal effort.
I would tend to think that the Fiero Store gasket is a little bit fatter than the OEM. I do not know how well their gasket fits into OEM tracks, as I never had the items to try that scenario, my original tracks were rust powder..... I replaced them with The Fiero Store tracks, and in one year, they were completely rusted out as well. That is when I purchased your tracks.
Bottom line, I will NEVER have to worry about your tracks rusting like that, and the OEM gasket fit right into them, so I am a most happy customer!
I have a Fiero Store gasket in my possession. I grabbed one of my stock tracks that I use for reference and it was extremely tight and did deform the gasket. I noticed when I first started developing these that the stock gasket had a little play in both the stock tracks and my stainless tracks, so that is what I am going to try and duplicate. Here is a comparison to what I think the Fiero Store tracks should look like and what the stock tracks look like. Stock track is on the right
Notice that the one leg is not at a 90º angle. This may pose a problem in the rolling process for the windshield track. I may have to lengthen the side leg and then go to a 90º angle. It appears that the Fiero Store gasket has a little more meat on the outside, and the outer lip isn't quite as defined as the stock gasket. Therefore, I think that I can get a good gasket by either trying to follow the lip closer or if it doesn't roll correctly shorten the groove lip 2mm and adding it to the outer leg. I hope to have and answer by the end of the week, so stay tuned.
I am glad to see you have tracked down the problem, and that is is in fact the Fiero Store gasket, and not the way your tracks are designed for OEM gaskets.
I was able to fit the Fiero Store gaskets into your tracks, but as you said it was a VERY tight fit. This tight fit, did as you described, distorted the gasket. This is the "V" shape that I was trying to describe that the gasket took on from being wedged in so tight back when I was trying to get this to work. The "V" in the shape of the gasket kept the glass up in the air, and I could see light all across the back of the sunroof from in the car.
Seems you are seeing the exact same things, and having the same problems that I was. This tells me that it is not a one time thing, and I think you nailed it when you described the Fiero Store gasket as being the root of the problem.
This is the exact problem I have been having on my 88GT since 2008. I have the fiero store tracks and gasket. The tracks will need to be replaced due to them rusting out fast.
Would it be possible to make the mounting points / procedure exactly like GM originals?
I had an opportunity to work on these finally at work. I have a much better fitting track. It is a little on the loose side, but so is the stock gasket. The design allows for things to be tighter, if the installer wants a tighter fit you will need a bench vice to squeeze things tighter. I do believe that these will work, but I don't have a car to test them on. It almost looks like a spacer will be needed under the track but I could be wrong since I can't do a gasket side by side comparison. I am going to send a set to lordbg0205 since he sent me a Fiero Store gasket to figure things out with. These are a little tricky to roll due to the one channel leg not being a 90º angle. The rolling process tends to want to flatten that leg a little. I played with the angle a little, but couldn't get exactly what I want. Again a bench vise can resolve this if the installer feels it is necessary. Like I stated before the gasket is loose like stock. Gasket adhesive on the inside of the track is a must. Due to the design of the gasket I can see these popping out very easily without some kind of adhesive. Which you can probably tell just by the image i posted earlier.
Two prototype track sets for the Fiero Store gasket have been sent out. Hopefully we will see a review soon. I do have another 2 sets made, so hopefully the reviews are good.
The stock tracks are still available, as for the Fiero Store tracks, I sent 3 sets out and got one no go response. I have no idea if the other recipients had any luck.
The stock tracks are still available, as for the Fiero Store tracks, I sent 3 sets out and got one no go response. I have no idea if the other recipients had any luck.
Rich
You have stock reproduction tracks in SS, but they don't fit TFS gasket? You have another style (also in SS?) to fit TFS gasket?
I am sure glad guys like you are creative and can do things like this. I took out my sunroof and put in a solid roof because of the seals not working. Thanks for doing what you do. I wish I had know about what you do before I went to the trouble to change out my roof! Good luck
The stock tracks are still available, as for the Fiero Store tracks, I sent 3 sets out and got one no go response. I have no idea if the other recipients had any luck.
Rich
You have stock reproduction tracks in SS, but they don't fit TFS gasket? You have another style (also in SS?) to fit TFS gasket?
Do I understand that correctly?
TFS gasket fit perfectly in the regular rail....I did the installation recently.
I will sent picture of the step by step to silver 85 so he will publish them
I am still not sure i understand what is being sold here, 2 different styles of the tracks depending on what gasket you want to use?
I do the stock gasket track. There was a member that had an issue with the Fiero Store gasket and my tracks, so I attempted to make a better track for the Fiero Store gasket. I sent out 3 sets. I received one response on my attempt to make a better Fiero Store gasket track, and that was It didn't work. I sent another stock gasket to a member that was going to try the Fiero Store gasket again and had success with the stock gasket. He is going to send me the necessary instructions to make the stock gasket tracks work better with the Fiero Store gasket. Hope this clears up the confusion.
