The Pantera Place
"Your de Tomaso Connection"

Door Opening Weather Strip

By Mike Dailey

My door opening weather strip was replaced in 1994 by the previous owner but I've never been very happy with it because it is too thick and stiff and makes the doors hard to close.   After all these years the strip was getting worn on the lower side of the door opening so it was time for a replacement.   I selected Pantera Performance’s strip and other than the tendency of the rubber tube part to kink on the tight corners it works very well.       

The rubber tube part of the seal collapses very easily when the door is closed and I’ve been able to adjust the door closing so they line up with the body much better than the old weather strip.

View of the old strip

The old and new strip end view 

The new strip installed

While I had the old weather strip removed I took the opportunity to sand out a few pant chips along the lower door opening and repainted the area around the door opening with flat back.  The paint I used was Krylon indoor/outdoor flat black #51602 and the finished color matched closely to the original black used when the car was painted brandywine red.  Be carful when removing the door striker plate that the nut plate behind it does not drop out of position.  I do not know if the plate can drop down but I always remove one bolt at a time and replace one bolt to hold it in place while I'm working around the area.

For owners that put water on their cars to wash them or drive in the rain it would be worthwhile to take a look under the weather strip. The shape of original factory weather strip can collect water and hold it along the pinch weld causing rust along the lower edge.