M5 cowl, sill and around door rubber seals

[astudious]

I am in the process of installing the rubber seals on my 1946 M5 truck. From all the manuals and phone calls, I can not determine exactly what goes where, and how positioned. Sill seal: does it glue to the body or the bottom of the door? Cowl seal: does it glue to the hood or to the body? Where exactly? Around door seal: I assume the "L" shape fits snugly into the door edge along the sides and top, but does the smaller edge of the rubber face upward and outward or inward, perpendicular to the door? If the sill seal is attached to the body, does the around door seal go around the bottom of the door as well? What are the metal flanges for along the bottom of the door that are screwed in there?

Thanks very much for your input and expertise!

[Guido]

You might have some luck posting over on the Studebaker Truck Talk site. Also, Gary Ash has a fairly detailed account of the restoration of his M-5 on his web (www.studegarage.com) that may provide some insight.


Guido Salvage - "Where rust is beautiful"

Studebaker horse drawn buggy; 1946 M-16 fire truck; 1948 M-16 grain truck; 1949 2R16A grain truck; 1949 2R17A fire truck; 1950 2R5 pickup; 1952 2R17A grain truck; 1952 Packard 200 4 door; 1955 E-38 grain truck; 1957 3E-40 flatbed; 1961 6E-28 grain truck; 1962 7E-13D 4x4 rack truck; 1962 7E-7 Champ pickup; 1962 GT Hawk 4 speed; 1963 8E-28 flatbed; 1964 Avanti R2 4 speed; 1964 Cruiser and various other "treasures".

Hiding and preserving Studebakers in Richmond, Goochland & Louisa, Va.

[garyash]

Sill seal: bottom of the door, with the small flanges to help hold it in place. Modern adhesives probably get tacky sooner than the old ones, so the flanges may be superfluous, but put them in anyway. Remember, the factory guys had to do this in a few minutes and move the truck along the assembly line.

Cowl seal: on the cowl, about 1/2" forward of the rise, so the folded edge of the hood doesn't make the contact.

I put the L seal right into the corner of the door. It doesn't really seal well, maybe there is a better way. Heck, the wind noise will make you think you are going REALLY fast! I'm not sure which side the short edge goes on. It is very difficult to install the seal on the front edge of the door with the door on the hinges, much easier before hanging the door. Be sure to have a helper to hold the long rubber strip while you place the seal on the adhesive.

[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/gary_ash_m5_sm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com

[astudious]

Thanks for the feedback, Gary and Guido.

I went to the Studebaker Truck Talk site and read about 15 of 20 tantalizing tidbits about the various rubber seals. I called Studebaker International where I bought the rubber kit. I went out to my Stude M5 and experimented with different methods.

On the sill seal, I found 3 different 'opinions.' One guy said a sill seal on the body AND a sill seal on the bottom of the door. Stude International said the sill seal goes on the body (see their info at https://www.studebakerparts.com/stud...ubberinst.html) and Gary, you indicate it goes on the door under the clips.

All three seem reasonable, although my kit doesn't have enough rubber to allow for a sill seal on both the body AND the door.

Gary's 'door option' was something I thought of as well because the clips down there have to perform SOME function! However, this option is contrary to the Stude International diagram mentioned above for M and C Cab sill seals and how they are glued. Gary's option would only be glued on one side and clipped.

The around door seal seems to fit best with the longer part of the "L" shape rubber laying flat against the edge of the door with the shorter side perpendicular to the plane of the door. This probably would give the best seal against wind noise because the longer part provides more surface area contact when closed against the cab.

Gary: On the cowl seal, there is a lip on the cab just forward of the air ventilator (against which the hood rests when closed with a small gap) that is just the right heighth (about 1/2") for the cowl seal. Are your saying to go about 1/2" forward of that lip using the same 'curve' as the lip?

Bottom line:

1. It's a toss-up between Stude International and Gary Ash's recommendations on the sill seal. I'm inclined to go with Gary because the clips (flanges) are there.

2. I'm going to lay the around door seal with the long side against the door and use a helper so I don't make a gooey mess.

3. I'm going to take another look at the cowl and see if I can make sense of Gary's 1/2" forward so that the folded hood doesn't make contact.

I'm getting closer, but could still use some help!

Thanks very much for taking the time, guys... I'll keep you posted on my progress.

1946 M5 Pickup
SN 18849
Navajo Tan Lt

[DEEPNHOCK]

This may fly in the face of the restorer's here, but...
I put my door weatherstripping on with silicone gasket adhesive.
I recently painted the truck, and pulled all the weatherstrip off for the paint job. Cleaned it all off, and reapplied it with the silicone gasket adhesive. Worked great, and saved me from buying a second set of weatherstrip seals. I had no issues with it coming loose, or moving around. I just taped it into place and let it set up overnight...
Jeff[8D]

[Roscomacaw]

My C-cab's sill seals are attached to the bottom of the door - like they're supposed to be.

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[garyash]

Yes, I meant that the cowl seal goes about 1/4-1/2" forward of the lip and follow the curve.

I'm not sure why Stude International says to mount it on the body. The cab body section in the parts catalog doesn't show any rubber strips [Of course, the catalog also doesn't list seats, but every truck got some!] Also, the parts book shows 8 clips to hold the weatherstrip on, all mounted on the door, and the strip is clearly shown on Plate 24-2 in the parts catalog. But now that I'm looking at the catalog, it lists a bottom outer strip 283030, 35-1/2" long , and a bottom inner strip 1294XAT33 1/4, 33-1/4" long. My truck was so shot when I got it, there wasn't enough left to tell what had been there. Were there really 2 strips? The 1294X part was an old Studebaker "X-standard" and is listed in the very back of the catalog as being 1/16" thick x 2" wide rubber watherstrip. I don't remember seeing the remains of anything like that on the door bottom. Strange!

Gary Ash