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Door handle gasket fit ???

3K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  slazisme 
#1 ·
I bought outside door handle gaskets from Metro for my '68. Metro offers two sets. A molded set and a cheaper flat set. These are the better quality molded ones. I bought Metro because their weather stripping has such a good reputation.

I put my door handles on today. They are my original GM handles. I was less than impressed with the fit of the gaskets. The small one is not bad. I had to stretch it a little bit to get the edge of the handle inside the molded lip of the gasket.....The large gasket is does not conform well to the shape of the handle on the top. There is excessive space between the edge of the handle and the inside edge of the molded lip of the gasket. About an 1/8 of an inch. The hole for the mounting screw was off by an 1/8 inch. That was easy to fix.

What bothers me is when you look at the door handle, because of the excessive amount the gasket sticks out past the edge of the handle on the top and the thickness and bulky-ness of the gasket, the gasket jumps right out at you where I would think it should hardly be noticed. My original gaskets were to far gone to know what they looked like originally.

So I am wondering what gaskets other people have used that fit well and look like originals. The label on the bag lists all Pontiacs but the Metro website says these are also correct for '68 Camaros

Thanks......Dave







 
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#3 ·
The originals were flat so those are not correct and look strange because of it. The cheaper ones were probably closer to the originals in this case.
 
#8 ·
Thanks to all for the info.

Since the original gaskets were flat with no bead, I am curious why Metro even produced a more expensive set with a bead. More money for something that is not correct! I am scratching my head on that one.

So should an original appearing gasket not protrude at all past the edge of the handle ? And how thick is an original gasket ? The flat part (not the beaded edge) of these Metro pieces is 3/32 inch thick.

Doing some research and seeing pictures of NOS gaskets (GM part number 1154551) I see the fabric reinforcement that Jeff mentions. I looked at the HBC die cut ones that Scott mentions. They say they are cut from thin paper like the originals. Were the originals actually paper while later produced NOS ones were made from fabric reinforced rubber? I would think that water would disintegrate the paper.

I will check the Chevy dealership to see what's available. If I strike out there, I will try the cheaper flat pieces from Metro as I have to order some stuff from them anyhow. If they are no good, I will go after a set of NOS from Ebay or wherever.

Again , thanks for all the good info.

Dave
 
#9 ·
Dave - Market is the answer. Just like molded carpet sets which were never available from the factory, but some find easier to install and that they are popular so many vendors start to market them.

So why the bad fit? Over the years many fitment issues with reproduction and "enhanced" parts such as these molded gaskets have been widely found and discussed by the community.
Often it is found that the part fit fine on a reproduction part, but not on NOS or factory installed ones or the part only fit NOS, and Factory because the manufacture used only one or the other as the base in design and testing. This is why constructive customer feedback to the manufacturer is so important, but often not offered by customers.
 
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