59BlueSilver

I've talked to two professional installers and told them that I had already purchased the complete weatherstrip kit and wll furnish it.
One installer claimed that the rubber rear bow was too stiff and would be difficult to seal and he said the mohair seal would seal much better. When I look this up in a catalog, it says 1956-58. Mine is a '59. Didn't think there was any difference?
Does anyone agree that I should order the mohair, and will it fit my '59?

gbvette62

The mohair rear bow seal will fit, but I don't see any real reason why you should use it on a 59.

59BlueSilver

Another reason they say to use mohair is the rubber will wear a hole in the paint. True?
I don't know, since I bought the car, the top was never put up so I have no experience with this sort of thing.

Low Rider

The rubber will definitely scratch the paint and leave an impression in it, not sure f it would actually rub through...Corvette Central has a plastic over lay in either black or clear to protect the paint and it works.

3310vette

If you purchase the plastic protector strip and keep it in place, the soft top rear bow w/s will never touch your paint. Most installers don't like to install the rubber w/s because it takes time to get it right and if it is not trimmed a bit where it goes over the stainless on the back of the seats, it will come off of the rear bow. There is a way to slice the w/s in that spot so that it lays down over the stainless and the w/s stays in place.

59BlueSilver

Hi Joe, well, I hope I have an installer that knows his business!

59BlueSilver

I have another question, please. I plan on buying a hardtop later on after I get the new soft top installed. One of the installers said that I'm doing this backwards. The roll up windows need to be set to the hardtop, then the soft top is made to the windows. Sounds logical, is it?
It will be a while before I can locate & restore a hardtop and I need to get a cover now. Can't the soft top be adjusted later if need be?

JohnZ

1. Yes, it is - that's the way the plant did it.

2. Yes, but it's a PITA job.

Pilot Dan

That's the bass ackwards way I did it. I installed my own soft top and it fit very well. Then I decided after all those years of the Hard Top sitting in the basement it would be fun to put it on the car one winter a while back that was cold but no salt on the roads. That led in to diagnosing the right window track problem which I did not know I had and which failed original factory detection probably because it was a soft top only car originally (mis aligned factory weld on the front track which I found after taking the whole door apart). So, aligned all with the Hard Top and then luckily I was able to still adjust the soft top frame.

Lessons learned, adjust the windows to the Hard Top first or better yet, skip the Hard Top altogether if your car did not have one as most people rarely use it and it takes up space. Pilot Dan

59BlueSilver

Yea, makes me wonder why I want one. Think I'll try the soft top for a while and see. Thanks for the info!

rich5962

...a little late coming in, but......

I wouldn't use the mohair. I have one on the '56 here and it won't seal water well, will probably get smelly when it does, and it looks loose and messy after installation. The top edge doesn't cover the rear bow top edge. I see why they changed to rubber.
The rubber looks neater, seals better, but is a pain to get fit properly but IMO is a better solution. Then get the clear plastic protector for the paint.

Maybe you could borrow a Hard Top to get the sideglass set right before the Soft Top work.

Rich

59BlueSilver

Thanks Rich, it's always worth the wait to get your opinion. I'm going with the rubber & plastic protector as others have suggested. May not get a hardtop at all, at least for now. Car never had one as the deck is not drilled for it.

BTW, if you could only have one, which would you prefer, hardtop or soft top? This is an open question to anybody, just like to get different opinions.