Kick panel vent door seals ???

[DAVEN1256]

I need to replace the seals on my kick panel vent doors.

They are 1/8 inch thick foam or sponge rubber.

I have two choices.......buy reproductions or make my own.

Reproductions....I am always leery of these. Most reproduction gaskets or seals I buy I end up scrapping or sending back because they are the wrong size, wrong material, don't fit, poor quality, or some combination of those.....I read an old post where someone had bought a repro pair and they were too wide in one direction (not a problem) but too narrow in the other direction.

Making my own......I would actually prefer this because when I am done, I know they are going to be right. The problem is finding the right material to cut them from. You would think that would be easy but I can't come up with anything locally. I can find sheets of rubber online but am leery of what the stuff will actually be like when I get in my hands. I tried ordering a sheet from Grainger but when I picked it up, it was different from what I thought it would be.

So I am wondering if anyone has had a good experience with repros......or if anyone can recommend a good source for some 1/8 inch thick sponge rubber that would make a suitable replacement. 

Thanks.....Dave

[ZLP955]

Dave - can't answer your question on the repros but you may be able to find something suitable in the hardware store, in the self-adhesive door/window strip seal section. Fitting the curves might not work, but I've been surprised how many times I've been able to repurpose something from the hardware store to work well on previous vehicles - after exhausting all other options!

[Mark]

Here you go, enough to do 2 cars at least, all for $2.57 at Home Depot.  Clean up the surface well, stick it down and trim with a razor blade, you will never see it once its put back together and its probably functionally equivalent to the original foam.

[262jp]

I made mine out of a fender cover.

[Mike S]

 I've used this to seal hatches on my boat and it works great considering exposure to weather and UV.
 It works better when using the 3M 8008 black weatherstrip glue.

Mike

[KevinW]

I redid mine with neoprene rubber from McMaster-Carr.

[jacmac]

Ive redone a few on my chevelle buy some neoprene rubber.Its sold by the foot" usually at 3 foot wide" I would buy it 1/32 thick It comes in different thickness but 1/32 is perfect so its flexable enough.It works great & was really cheap.I bought mine at an industrial hardware store  drill out the rivets, Its a" full" piece of rubber then cut your piece punch out the holes for the rivets & re-rivet

[jacmac]

It also works great on certain trim pieces "side marker bezels emblems ect" if you dont want certain pieces marking the paint.Its thin enough to be nearly unseen.

[DAVEN1256]

Thanks for the replies so far.

So far in my search for material to make my own seals, I have walked the aisles at Lowes and Home Depot, the hardware store, 2 hobby shops.......and searched the websites of all the auto parts store, Grainger, and a few others.

I have not seen anything in person that looked right.....I've not seen anything online, that by it's description, I could be sure it was what I wanted.....for a reasonable price anyhow.

I will be going to the the annual Turkey Rod Run car show and swap meet in Daytona this coming weekend. There will Camaro vendors there who might have repros that I could look at before buying. If that doesn't work, maybe someone will have suitable material to make them from.

If that tuns up nothing, I will check into the 1/32 thick neoprene.

On the suggestion of the Frost King tape, I am not sure how 3/8 inch wide tape would replace an oval shaped piece of flat rubber that is about 5 by 8 inches wide.

Thanks....Dave