Weatherstrip options, Vendor recommendations Options

[SWH]

Both of my new weatherstrips provided by a well known supplier for my front and rear trunks do not fit well. These parts have been on for months. Both stand too high and do not allow either lid to close to align with fenders. Looking for people in this group that can recommend vendors that you have used to your satisfaction. Thanks in advance.

[JamesM]

Front Trunk seals
Rear Trunk seals
Triangle window seals
Main Targa seal

I always insist on seals directly from Porsche for these areas specifically on any restoration. The current 914rubber parts are serviceable but have some minor issues for these applications. The few URO main targa seals I have attempted were just unusable.

Triangle window seals, any non Porsche seals I have used here wound up cracking within a year.

Windshield trim clips, those absolutely have to be Porsche as well.


False economy not to if your time has any value at all.

[Matty900]

Front Trunk seals
Rear Trunk seals
Triangle window seals
Main Targa seal

I always insist on seals directly from Porsche for these areas specifically on any restoration. The current 914rubber parts are serviceable but have some minor issues for these applications. The few URO main targa seals I have attempted were just unusable.

Triangle window seals, any non Porsche seals I have used here wound up cracking within a year.

Windshield trim clips, those absolutely have to be Porsche as well.


False economy not to if your time has any value at all.

I have had our seals on my car since the build-off in 2017 with none of these issues, so they were not on my radar for looking into. Now I will add them to the re-evaluation list. It would be great if you could DM me the details on the dates of purchase for any parts that you had an issue with, so I can try to track things down internally on production runs.

[Superhawk996]

Front Trunk seals
Rear Trunk seals
Triangle window seals
Main Targa seal

I always insist on seals directly from Porsche for these areas specifically on any restoration. The current 914rubber parts are serviceable but have some minor issues for these applications. The few URO main targa seals I have attempted were just unusable.

Triangle window seals, any non Porsche seals I have used here wound up cracking within a year.

Windshield trim clips, those absolutely have to be Porsche as well.


False economy not to if your time has any value at all.

I have had our seals on my car since the build-off in 2017 with none of these issues, so they were not on my radar for looking into. Now I will add them to the revaluation list. It would be great if you could DM me the details on the dates of purchase for any parts that you had an issue with, so I can try to track things down internally on production runs.

Agree with all issues JamesM noted - purchased whole car seal kit in 2018 era

Need to stop assuming so much rubber shrinkage and upsizing seals way beyond what OEM was.

Here is example of window seal of what I’m talking about.

OEM On top (torn - base only that goes into extruded aluminum channel)
Reproduction below note width and section thickness differences.

You are spot on about what was previously OK for a $2500 car no longer being acceptable when cars are trading hands at $20k+.

I don’t want to come across as ungrateful, having some part is better than no part but there are a lot of seals in my kit that don’t fit, had wrong durometer, or wrong profile / size vs OEM.

[Matty900]

Front Trunk seals
Rear Trunk seals
Triangle window seals
Main Targa seal

I always insist on seals directly from Porsche for these areas specifically on any restoration. The current 914rubber parts are serviceable but have some minor issues for these applications. The few URO main targa seals I have attempted were just unusable.

Triangle window seals, any non Porsche seals I have used here wound up cracking within a year.

Windshield trim clips, those absolutely have to be Porsche as well.


False economy not to if your time has any value at all.

I have had our seals on my car since the build-off in 2017 with none of these issues, so they were not on my radar for looking into. Now I will add them to the revaluation list. It would be great if you could DM me the details on the dates of purchase for any parts that you had an issue with, so I can try to track things down internally on production runs.

Agree with all issues JamesM noted - purchased whole car seal kit in 2018 era

Need to stop assuming so much rubber shrinkage and upsizing seals way beyond what OEM was.

Here is example of window seal of what I’m talking about.

OEM On top (torn - base only that goes into extruded aluminum channel)
Reproduction below note width and section thickness differences.

You are spot on about what was previously OK for a $2500 car no longer being acceptable when cars are trading hands at $20k+.

I don’t want to come across as ungrateful, having some part is better than no part but there are a lot of seals in my kit that don’t fit, had wrong durometer, or wrong profile / size vs OEM.

I don't take it as ungrateful at all. We all want things better now. At the time the process was a community development process, with the community suggesting the parts and testing them. So one person's version of good vs the next person's was not a great development standard then, but it is what it took to try and figure out all of the variations. What was really interesting was that when I came on in 2014, the general consensus was that there were "Early" and "Late" versions of parts. And that the Late was probably better because Porsche had figured things out through production, and when they superseeded a part, it would be better. It was all new to me, so I had to learn by putting my hands on things. I worked in Cary's shop, where we had every year's 914s to be able to compare the differences, and it quickly became obvious what had happened. The parts got smaller and cheaper over the years. They had to offset a lot of expenses to keep the cars affordable, given what was happening with the exchange rates and the safety and emissions regulations imposed on them.
So things that were metal (like the thresholds) went to plastic, and things shrunk (Like the alternator cooling boot)
So I am curious: what year is the seal that you are comparing that is so much smaller?

[Superhawk996]

So I am curious: what year is the seal that you are comparing that is so much smaller?

My car is a 73’ and seals were original.

Here is another great example.

This is the stuffer from the main targa seal at end.

The OEM stuffer is on right - it’s a closed cell, compressible neoprene type rubber.

The reproduction seal stuffer is on the left. It is hard nearly incompressible rubber.

I had to remove the stuffer to have any chance of the window triangle nesting in the seal. With the stuffer in place it pushed the glass outboard and out of the seal.


I have at least a handful of problems like this that I have photos or videos of that I documented when i did my seal install. I still have a number of seals in storage that I found to be unusable and can document those if that helps at all.

Thank you for the understanding and being willing to look at these things for improvement.