Steele Rubber Products is now offering 1966 EL Camino taillight housing gaskets. They are packaged with a set of lens gaskets. The part number is #70-3207-15. These have not been available in catalogs until now and they did a great job of recreating a replacement gasket. I had actually sent a request to Steele along with one of my taillight housing and old gaskets and they recreated a rubber version of the original gaskets which they are now selling in their catalog. It was really nice to see a company that is willing to help all of classic car enthusiasts. If there are other gaskets or rubber products that you might find hard to get, I would recommend giving Steele a call because they just might be able to recreate it if they do not already have it in their catalog.

Tom

Tom,
Thanks, for sending your housing and gaskets to Steele! :hurray: I was going to do this a few weeks ago and found out that someone else had already done it. :thumbsup:

I got a message last week telling me the part number and price ($39.90). But the message also said to check back in 2 or three weeks to buy them.

So, have they returned your housings and gaskets, and have they sent you a complementary set of the new ones? I would like to see photos of originals compared to the repros.
Bruce

Edit: Just checked and they are listed. I ordered mine.

Bruce,
Steele did send me a set when they returned my taillight housing to me. I was not expecting it so that was a nice surprise. I do not have a comparison picture of the gaskets, but I thought the new ones looked and fit pretty good. At least it is something that is made to fit the part and saves you from having to try and recreate the gasket yourself.

Did they say that the lenz gaskets come with the housing gaskets? I just remembered that I also sent them a set of lenz gaskets because they wanted to recreate those as well and they might have just shipped mine back in the same package as the housing gaskets.

Tom

I received my new gaskets this week, and you can imagine how excited I was to receive them! Unfortunately, I have bad news.

This morning I got my housings and old gaskets out of storage to compare the old to new and try fitting the housings and gaskets to the body. I knew there was a problem as soon as I dropped the first gasket into a housing. I didn't even need to mate it to the body to realize that the gasket is not thick enough on one side to provide enough compressible material to seal and keep the housing from gouging body and paint. My old compressed gaskets are a better fit than this new reproduction. The inner lens gaskets included with set fit good, but the material doesn't seem quite right, but I guess they'll work. They are a black foam material.

I think the housing gaskets could be made to work by back-filling the housing with other material. Those of you who have nothing to work with, otherwise, may want to do this. I have chosen to request a Return Authorization and get my money back.

I sent them a couple photos showing the problem. Hopefully, they will make corrections.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01049.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01058.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01057.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01056.JPG

I've got an update! Matt Agosta, President, of Steele Rubber Products contacted me early Monday after I had sent them a message over the weekend asking for a RMA. I sent Matt some additional information and he is revising the mold to make the gasket thicker. He will send me a revised gasket to trial fit. So hang in there, folks. Matt is a good guy and this gasket is going to work when it is done.

I'll keep you posted.

Another update. Matt had the mold revised early last week and sent me a new pair of gaskets to trial fit. They are improved, but I made some more suggestions and Matt is going to do another iteration.:yes: Hang in there! I'm surprised at how fast these guys can make changes!:thumbsup:

Another update! Matt has actually done two more iterations of the gasket since the last update and it gets better each time. I sent a housing and original gasket to Matt this last time. I made another suggestion to make a change to the thin side of the gasket, as seems to be compressing more than the thick side and I would like the gap to be equal all the way around when the housing is installed into the body. Here are the latest photos. :)
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01126.JPG

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01121.JPG

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/DSC01122.JPG

Another update. Matt at Steele Rubber Products needs to find a local El Camino or wagon in the Denver, North Carolina area near Charlotte.

The gasket is very thick on one side and thin on the other, and the mounting bolts are off center, which makes it difficult to get the spacing equal all the way around when tightening. Matt needs a local car so that his technicians can do the final tweeking of the gasket design so it will fit evenly all the way around.

If you have a Chevelle wagon or El Camino and live in the area near Denver, N.C. PM or email me and I will get you in contact with Matt or email him directly and find out how you can help. Here is the email address:

Matt Agosta: magosta@steelerubber.com

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce,

I just wanted to thank you (and Steele Rubber Products!) for taking all this time to make this gasket 'just right'. After all the disappointments I have gone through with aftermarket stuff it's going to be great to order these when they are done and know I am getting an awesome product!! :beers::thumbsup:

-Edgar

I concur, this is great service. Very unusual in these times.

I'll be a customer as soon as the parts are finalized for fit.

Eric

Wow! I read this whole thread and thought it might be some kind of fiction story. Totally amazing that a mfg'er would do this. Generally they have the "sorry man, if you don't like the product, too bad" attitude.

Thumbs up to this guy!!

Thanks, guys, and I have been impressed with Matt, also. Still looking for an El Camino or wagon in the Denver, N.C. area.

Matt is also looking at doing a reproduction of the 65/66 Chevelle shifter grommet for the manual shift non-console cars. Check out a thread about that in the Restoration Forum.

If you guys know of a rubber or vinyl part that needs to be reproduced, contact Matt. He seems to be very proactive in looking for new products to make.

I just got an email and Matt at Steele Rubber Products found an El Camino and has checked the fit of the gaskets. I'm not sure if the latest gaskets are in stock, yet. I asked Matt when they will be in stock, and I'll let you know when I find out.

Matt says the latest iteration is going into production and you can order them right now.