Putting the new tail lamp housings on the 67 wasn;t as bad as I thought, the bumper had to be loosened up, not dropped. Anyway...along the way..

The new housings didn;t have any gaskets, so I reused the old ones. Problem. Due to a slightly different contour and the old gaskets, sealing along the upper side of the housing is marginal.

Even if I take them back apart and hopefully find the right gaskets, the fit still may not seal well.

Can I use 25 yr outdoor clear sealer, very carefully filled on along the top egde, to seal these? Or will that look cheesy and gig me at shows? I;'m talking about a very fine line. Unfortuntely it'll stick to the paint.

Secondly, the trunk must still leak some. I did go through a monsoon coming back from my first trip to the track 3 weeks ago. But those damn pads. Screw em. I'm running something else!

Are the rubber gaskets supposed to be drains in the trunk floor?

I suppose, the trunk mat/pad should be removed so no water gathers underneath. What can you do instead?

Oh the new taillamp housings look mint BTW, really makes the rear look finsihed.

------------------
G. Chaas
Gold #62/ACES
67 SS396/(427L88) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/chaas1.jpg)

Gene,
I would suggest getting some new gaskets. They are cheap & available from almost any parts vendor. I personally would not want to use a sealant unless it was the last resort. If memory serves me right, this gasket isn't intended to do much sealing anyway. A product like 3M strip caulk is used around the mounting holes and around the big hole where the lamp socket protrusion of the tail section enters the trunk. I suspect that the gasket is more for aesthetics.

I have been having a problem locating new bezel gaskets/cushions.

I don't believe that there was padding originally used under the trunk mat. I certainly wouldn't recommend it. If it doesn't leak now, it will sooner or later.

I also don't believe that holes with rubber plugs were meant as drain holes. I think the holes were a byproduct of the panel's molding process & GM just capped them off. I'm sure that some people remove the plugs to provide relief from chronic leak problems.

Phil

THNX Phil. FWIW, I whittled up some "toothpicks" approximately the size of the gap between the body and the lamp housings. Using those I laid in a fineline of 50-yr. outdoor silicone. The next day, when it dried some and turned clear, it was not noticeable. It simply made the nasty orignal gaskets have a nice smooth shiny finish. Mint, and I have long term protection.

trying to make the old girl last another 30+ yrs.

Next issue to wirewheeling/repainting the trunk and finding some sound absorbent foam to lay in there. The pads just collect water. ( I still have yet to find the leak). Plus I am in quite desparate need of sound insulation back there.

(running 500 HP thru small 3" muffs and 2.5" tails makes the trunk reverberate like mad.)

------------------
G. Chaas
Gold #62/ACES
67 SS396/(427L88) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/chaas1.jpg)



[This message has been edited by Gene Chas (edited 08-01-2000).]

Gene,this might be a dumb question but its just a shot in the dark.Did you replace the trunk weather stripping?I'm sure you did.When I changed mine I still had a small leak and I found it was were the weatherstripping joined together.I had forgotten to put the weather strip glue on the ends so water could still leak in between it.Just a thought bud.

70, yeah I did replace it and joined the gap with RTV. It could be running off my rear window. Its not much, but if I keep the pad in there and don't check on it, it gets ugly.
I'm going to dis the pad, unless its for a show.

Thnx.

------------------
G. Chaas
Gold #62/ACES
67 SS396/(427L88) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/chaas1.jpg)

Gene, just a thought. I have seen many cars where the trunk WS was put in wrong (upside down). Make sure the edge is pointing the right way or you will get leaks.

[This message has been edited by micky69396 (edited 08-01-2000).]

Mickey, hope you see this, and the right way is???

They (paint shop) did a half arsed job of replacing it. I had to trim and seal the ends myself. Could be upside down. In fact now that I think of it, it has a "center ridge" and thats probably supposed to be on the underside!

ding ding ding I think we have a winner here Gene. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif
I would suggest you order up a Metro brand trunk seal and replace yours. FYI the Metro fits/seals better than the Soff Seal and comes with directions that show the proper way to install them. the difference between a leaky Soff Seal part and a dry trunk using a Metro part is a good thing in my book.

JJ FIG

FYI: I do not get paid by or anything else yadda yadda yadda from Metro just know by experience their stuff fits better.

------------------
MCC member #256
http://www.clark.net/pub/chevelle/mcc.htm

Gene, go with Metro, I have switched over, no more hard shutting doors, nice product. Your trunk seal should have a lip pointing away from the body, go get som black ws adhesive to glue it together. Also hopfully your Bodyshop didnt glue the snot out of it putting it in or you will have fun removing it. Clean it very good, when we put new one in we only glue the corners and where the ends meet, you dont need to glue the whole way around. Good luck.

JJ and Mickey thnx. Metro has website or phone???

Mickey, where do you guys glue the package trays? I didn;t glue mine down in back towards the window. And now when I slam the trunk hard, the sucker pops out. I have heat/sound shield underneath it. Guess I'll have to glue it into the rail. Man, hope I never have to take that one out.

I buy mine thru Hinshaws Chevelle parts. I dont glue the shelf down, never had that problem. Micky

Gene, there is a lip that is part of the rear window channel that the rear of the package tray slides into. The lip points toward the front of the car. If the tray is slid under the lip, it should never pop up. I have seen 66-67 cars without the lip due to either a previous rust problem at the bottom of the rear glass or some clawhands idea of a better way. The lip is actually part of the filler panel that goes between the rear glass and the trunk. This panel also has the bottom rear glass channel. The lip is an extension of the channel.




------------------
Bob Murray 66 Malibu
Greenfield, Indiana (Indianapolis)
TC Gold #49
Aces #01941
NCOA #20838

Hale, you glorious SOB. Correct. Didn;t have instructions but they clearly had it wrong, one good look said that. Easy enough to find that the gasket had a raduis that was tailored to fit in the inside groove quite nicely. No glue before, no glue now. Just at the end near the lock. Weather strip adhesive and then Carquest Black RTV , which dries to a nice grayish black. Perfect.

Bob, thank you I'll try that. Can't glue to soundproofing. No real strngth. Didn;t want to glue inside the channel. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif Will try underneath next.

Edit, maybe I'm misunderstanding. It is inside the channel now.

You guys are helping alot in the final details and I really appreciate it!

------------------
G. Chaas
Gold #62/ACES
67 SS396/(427L88) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/chaas1.jpg)

[This message has been edited by Gene Chas (edited 08-02-2000).]

Gene -

When the package tray is installed, the only part that should be glued down is the strip of vinyl that's sewn on the front edge. Like the others said, if its slid in correctly and not trimmed too short, it should stay in place once you glue the front edge. Good luck!


------------------
Rainer Seitz
Vancouver, WA
Team Chevelle Gold #50

'68 SS396 (soon to be for sale!)
'70 LS3 400 Malibu
'70 Malibu convertible 350/300hp
rseitz@chevelles.com