Thread: Door vibrations while driving 41 Willys fiberglass cab. how to stop it?

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I would suggest that you take a look structurally first, and if the truck is well reinforced, then go to Steel Rubber Steele Rubber Products - Quality Crafted Automotive Rubber Parts and Weatherstripping or Soff Seal SoffSeal Weatherstripping & Rubber Details go through their catalogs then install something that looks like it should work. Yeah, might not be pretty, but even quarter mill cars like Ferrari's and Lambo's have rubber seals.

Makes me wonder if those doors should have items like mine - about 1/2 way down. A tapered slide goes into a slot in the door that has rubber cushions and called dovetails. Look in any Ford resto catalog like MAC's for them- a good part number for a male dovetail is 40-35577 with female counter parts also available. My doors, and on a roadster have virtually no vibration although I also added a lot of tubular steel framework to cut it back as well even though it is a steel bodied car.

My 40 ford has those if you need a search reference.

'Bucket, I'm in the process of establishing gaps on my 'glass body for painting, and yesterday got the driver's side door pretty well done and I'm amazed at the change in the action of my door. Where before I had to close very firmly to get it to latch fully now it can be pushed in easily, but it also has some "rattle" to it after being closed. I'm going to be looking back at some SoffSeal weather stripping (No E725A has been recommended, placed on the door, not the body - SoffSeal Weatherstripping & Rubber Details ), or if that doesn't work some rubber stops at a couple of places to close against. I still have trouble thinking that the door can shake enough to delaminate though, but that may speak to a poor initial lamination process too, right?

Originally Posted by rspears

I'm going to be looking back at some SoffSeal weather stripping (No E725A has been recommended, placed on the door, not the body - SoffSeal Weatherstripping & Rubber Details ), or if that doesn't work some rubber stops at a couple of places to close against. I still have trouble thinking that the door can shake enough to delaminate though, but that may speak to a poor initial lamination process too, right?

That's what I used on 'glass cars Roger, most recently the Merc bodies, don't recall the part number for the seals but they worked very well on the doors and were built very nicely and didn't just hang there and look like an eyesore!

PS--I've still got a set of the "eyesore" door seals if anyone's interested!!!!!!!

I know it's been mentioned before by some of the guys who've built (or fixed ) these things for many years, but putting chunks of modeling clay on your door or door jamb and closing the door gently to gauge the space is a neat trick. Whatever type of stop or stripping you install is going to have to be able to compress to that thickness or you're going to be slamming doors and cussin' .

Originally Posted by rspears

I know it's been mentioned before by some of the guys who've built (or fixed ) these things for many years, but putting chunks of modeling clay on your door or door jamb and closing the door gently to gauge the space is a neat trick. Whatever type of stop or stripping you install is going to have to be able to compress to that thickness or you're going to be slamming doors and cussin' .

I was thinking about this earlier today as well ironically, I'm checking out some of the steele products as well. The door its self may not have cracked due to the rattling by its self, but it didn't help Im sure.

On my '35 I've chopped the top, and did NOT like the original sealing strips, so I decided to use what is called "bulb seal"-it comes in different thicknesses, and is designed to compress and seal (much like the one that rspears is suggesting, but it is a round configuration-like this:

McMaster-Carr

I'm using some like item #10 (under "rubber bulb seals")-you can get it in many different materials (rubber, silicone, etc.), and it comes in smaller thicknesses than what is shown on this page-Bob Drake sells it too, but he wants too much for his-

Anyway, I've been coming on here for days trying to find a Thread to respond to, and I can finally contribute! Good luck, and let us know what you do (we all like to learn!)-

Another reason I prefer the Soft Seal and Steele products, many of them are available in different thicknesses. The modeling clay tip is a good on to pass along Roger, sometimes we "assume" everyone knows that one!!!!!

One thing to look at is that the door isn't made for suicide operation, the thicker heavy duty edge to supprt the hinges and weight etc is at the 'A' pillar, when people do the suicide thing they just bolt the hinge stuff to the orginal latch side and that part has to be thinner to accomodate the mechanisms and not intended to support the weight of the door. And that door is heavier than you think. Is it the truck that is based on a sedan and uses the sedan door, they were (maybe still are) made in Ohio?

Well Im going to wait to get the doors back, I think Ive changed my mind and I may go with this weather stripping first. My reasoning behind it is this, when I am going down the road and have that rattle (and it is just a slight rattle) there is an abundance of wind that come from the front of the door towards the bottom. So I know that I need some weather stripping there, my issue is that I have a small edge on the door. I think I should be able to mount some of that weather stripping on there though, and to me it should solve the rattle as it is not terrible....at least I hope.

Originally Posted by 1923tbucket

Well Im going to wait to get the doors back, I think Ive changed my mind and I may go with this weather stripping first. My reasoning behind it is this, when I am going down the road and have that rattle (and it is just a slight rattle) there is an abundance of wind that come from the front of the door towards the bottom. So I know that I need some weather stripping there, my issue is that I have a small edge on the door. I think I should be able to mount some of that weather stripping on there though, and to me it should solve the rattle as it is not terrible....at least I hope.

Use the modeling clay trick to see what your gap is before you pick your bumper or weatherstrip. It's very frustrating to get it in place and find that the doors won't close without a shot from an NFL linebacker.

Originally Posted by rspears

Use the modeling clay trick to see what your gap is before you pick your bumper or weatherstrip. It's very frustrating to get it in place and find that the doors won't close without a shot from an NFL linebacker.

Yea I do not want to end up cracking these seams again, I have to go find my play-doh...I had an abundance of it at one time.

Another spot to look at on them is that there is an area low on the door that when closed is face-butting against the riser for the floor etc. The floor dosn't go all the way down to the bottom of the door and i have seen the inside face of the door rub against this riser section.

I have a few questions, what door locks do you have ?, Are the doors suicide mounted ?, How far apart are the hinges ?, What sort of hinges do you have ?, Also post a few pics as that would help us diagnose your issues.

.

It's a 41 Willy's pickup, fiberglass cab, and the doors have been mounted suicide.