1985 Thunderbird Door Weatherstripping

[WildWill]

Good evening,

I am looking for some door weatherstripping for my 1985 Thunderbird. In particular, i am looking for the strips that run along the driver and passenger windows. The weatherstripping I have is very worn and cracked. Would some of the pieces for a fox mustang work? They look the same, I am just not sure about dimensions.

Thanks!

[mcm51]

If your talking about the "what I call the fuzzy stuff" that keeps the window snug in the door frame when it's up yes, it is out there on most fox Mustang sites, I know how they can get looking after all these years, I did one of my foxes about 10 years ago, is it the same size as my fox window frame ?, not sure BUT, it would not shock me either if they were the same, being I got fox Mustangs, I'll go get a measurement for you, standing outside the driver's door, at the very back of window, running tape measure from felt on top to rubber on bottom is 15 3/8 and a measure up and down just before the curve on top to the rubber on the bottom is 15 1/4 and to measure the very bottom from mirror to felt(fuzzy) at the back of glass is 36 1/4...........

[WildWill]

Thanks for the response. Do you think the weatherstripping in the attached photo would work? I will get some measurements this weekend and give it a shot. Return policies are really nice lol

[mcm51]

OK, your talking about the rubber strips along the bottom, yes they are the first to show age, it was that way on my Mustang, a crack/split about every inch or so, and it's always the first thing ya notice when ya go up to look in the window............The measurement on my SVO, I've got 36 1/4 inches from side mirror along the bottom, to the back corner of the glass......ya know that rubber blade, so to speak, looks like it would be easy to custom trim if it was to long, too short would be a problem..................

[WildWill]

I measured the door last weekend... it is a little over 40 inches lol (makes sense since the wheelbase of the Thunderbird was 4.4 inches longer than the mustang). Do you have any other ideas where I could find some weatherstripping? Could I custom-fit some from a different car?

Also, I really don't ever plan on driving this car in the rain, so do I really need the weatherstripping to be in good shape? Do I even necessarily need it if I only plan on driving it in good weather? (I know that's a long shot lol)

Thanks!

[WildWill]

Also, when you mentioned from the side mirror to the end of the glass, do you mean from the mirror's surface to the back of the window, or from one end of the weatherstripping to the other end? I measured from one end to the other end since I have my mirrors off.

[mcm51]

Yea WildWill, I measured from where the mirror is up against the glass to the back of the window, as far as a custom job from another
ford/Lincoln/Mercury, I don't see why not, if you could find one long enough, every Fomoco product that I saw in those years always looked the same to me as far as that rubber strip on the bottom, and ya know Will, I don't keep up with '83-'88 Birds as much as I use too, but do they not have a specialty parts book for the aero-Bird yet ?, I know I've seen them parts books up through a '79 Bird, and if they don't have one yet, I'm sure your time is not far off.....
I'm like you, my SVO stays out of the rain if I can help it, that's why I let that rubber strip get kinda nasty looking before I swapped it out, I guess I just got tired of looking at all that cracking going on.......Running without that strip, it is the main thing that does keep water out of the inside of the door, I've seen the bottom of doors rotting out way before that water causes window motor or assembly parts inside the door fail, a great working rubber strip is always great at clearing off that outside dew to be able to see out of, and last, sure you can run without that strip, I would say a cracked-up one would look better than no strip at all, with nothing there, it will look like a pretty big gap at the top of that door, I don't know how bad your are but if they kinda look like my SVO did, I'd hold off, stay clear of rain AND ya never know, if they don't have a special parts book for aero-Birds yet, they could be working on one as we speak, then problem solved..........

[WildWill]

I haven’t really looked for any speciality parts books, but I haven’t come across any with my (at least) millions of searches for 1985/9th gen Thunderbird parts lol.

I am thinking about buying some of the mustang weatherstripping and just returning it if it doesn’t work. The stuff on the car is pretty bad with a couple of chunks missing, so I do need some new strips.

If nothing else, I will just put up with it I guess lol

[Alan H. Tast]

I haven’t really looked for any specialty parts books, but I haven’t come across any with my (at least) millions of searches for 1985/9th gen Thunderbird parts lol.

I am thinking about buying some of the mustang weather-stripping and just returning it if it doesn’t work. The stuff on the car is pretty bad with a couple of chunks missing, so I do need some new strips.

If nothing else, I will just put up with it I guess lol

Short of finding NOS examples, your next best bet is probably to modify the Mustang pieces by getting a third piece and splice the length you'll need into the other two. With today's glues, bonding the rubber profiles together may yield a modicum of success, but you'd want to keep an eye on the splice joint to make sure it stays together and doesn't allow unwanted water to drain into the door.