Hello and happy thanksgiving to all. Between putting my garden to bed and planting garlic... fabbing and welding a new floor and looking after wiring issues in my 580 backhoe.. I've been tinkering with my 63. My roof rail seals look pretty crispy along the edge so I decided to put new ones in. Probably should have left well enough alone. I looked over all of the choices and decided to try the Metro ones. Rock Auto offered these so I got them from there. They are very nice but although they are correct in length and also shape, wouldn't you it they are 15 to 20% smaller in cross section. I went ahead and put one in (fooling myself all the while) only to find the obvious ... little or no seal with doors closed windows up. A heads up for anyone wanting to try these. I ordered a catalog for 1963 Impala from Steele and have send them a note asking if they have had any issues in this regard. I while ago I got some Whiskers from Repops (I think I posted about that) and those were also an epic fail! This rubber business is time consuming and expensive. I find many opinions in the various forums but little actual experience. Somebody here must have knowledge about top quality stuff. I tried to locate rubber pads for the jack hook I bought as it came without any and you want those if you ever try to use your bumper jack! I ended up getting 2 sets (4) rubber bumpers meant for Curt tow hitch receivers from Canadian tire. The stem and head size was good but the stems were a little long. I just cut them back and used adhesive to hold them in place. I see a jack rubber on the web but no one could provide any specs. ( still haven't seen pics of how the giant hooks were stowed) . Any thoughts from anyone with experience in the rubber debacle department??
give Metro a call with your problem (they have a 800 #). Ask for the tech department. Remember your car is close to 60 years old and we all get a little out of shape by then. Just putting new pins & bushings on the hinges could solve the problem.
good luck ! Dale
-- Edited by NOS on Saturday 9th of October 2021 08:56:53 PM
Cars or Ciadellas? Steele has a great reputation and they will be the same as an Impala. I have found Show-Cars usually sells good stuff.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
Here are pics of the Metro vs stock roof rail rubbers. Not too sure if Metro would retool to fix this issue Dale. As for saggy doors...well, I learned how to do pins and bushings before I even became an apprentice! I have read elsewhere that some guys like smaller/softer seal because they don't have to wait for memory to build. Years ago I remember the whole door slamming issue as rubbers wore in. Don I don't think Cars or Ciadellas offer anything other than the little push in rubbers. I do know that when it comes to the roof rails of the era many makes and models are the same. Chev, Olds, Buick, American Pontiacs and also Canadian Pontiacs.. Possibly even some Caddys.. Not totally sure on that though.
I think anything with that fake convertible top was the same. 62 had the curved vent window, 63-64 was the same straight vent window, so some variation there.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
Somebody here must have knowledge about top quality stuff. I tried to locate rubber pads for the jack hook I bought as it came without any and you want those if you ever try to use your bumper jack! I ended up getting 2 sets (4) rubber bumpers meant for Curt tow hitch receivers from Canadian tire. The stem and head size was good but the stems were a little long. I just cut them back and used adhesive to hold them in place. I see a jack rubber on the web but no one could provide any specs. 
( still haven't seen pics of how the giant hooks were stowed) . 
Any thoughts from anyone with experience in the rubber debacle department??
