C4 hatch weatherstrip installation

I got 'round to installing the new hatch weatherstrip yesterday. It all
went fine until I tried to close the hatch. I thought I was going to break
the glass trying to slam it down, but, it finally closed. I called a friend
in the local club and he said to leave it shut for a few days so the glass
will imprint itself on the new rubber, and then let it sit out in the sun
for a few hours with the hatch open so the sun softens the rubber some.
Sounds reasonable.

Should I have done something to soften the new weatherstrip first before I
installed it? I suppose all's well that ends well, but I was a bit
surprised the hatch didn't want to close.

I think I'm going to be needing a new water pump. Ugh.

AJM
'93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp, both tops

"CardsFan" > wrote in message
...
>I got 'round to installing the new hatch weatherstrip yesterday. It
>all went fine until I tried to close the hatch. I thought I was
>going to break the glass trying to slam it down, but, it finally
>closed. I called a friend in the local club and he said to leave it
>shut for a few days so the glass will imprint itself on the new
>rubber, and then let it sit out in the sun for a few hours with the
>hatch open so the sun softens the rubber some. Sounds reasonable.
>
> Should I have done something to soften the new weatherstrip first
> before I installed it? I suppose all's well that ends well, but I
> was a bit surprised the hatch didn't want to close.
>
> I think I'm going to be needing a new water pump. Ugh.
>
> AJM
> '93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp, both tops
Good to hear it worked out for you, always makes a guy feel just a
little bit better. Yes, most trim/upholstery shops have a hot box to
heat rubber and plastic before they install them.

The water pump (Bosch $122) is only half of it, if it has leaked you
should change the Optispark ($200/400) while you're at it. From '92
through '94 they didn't even seal them. Not to bad but will double the
cost easily and triple the work.

Good read on the pump and the Optispark.
http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/16758/index.html

"Dad" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CardsFan" > wrote in message
> ...
>>I got 'round to installing the new hatch weatherstrip yesterday. It all
>>went fine until I tried to close the hatch. I thought I was going to
>>break the glass trying to slam it down, but, it finally closed. I called
>>a friend in the local club and he said to leave it shut for a few days so
>>the glass will imprint itself on the new rubber, and then let it sit out
>>in the sun for a few hours with the hatch open so the sun softens the
>>rubber some. Sounds reasonable.
>>
>> Should I have done something to soften the new weatherstrip first before
>> I installed it? I suppose all's well that ends well, but I was a bit
>> surprised the hatch didn't want to close.
>>
>> I think I'm going to be needing a new water pump. Ugh.
>>
>> AJM
>> '93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp, both tops
> Good to hear it worked out for you, always makes a guy feel just a little
> bit better. Yes, most trim/upholstery shops have a hot box to heat rubber
> and plastic before they install them.
>
> The water pump (Bosch $122) is only half of it, if it has leaked you
> should change the Optispark ($200/400) while you're at it. From '92
> through '94 they didn't even seal them. Not to bad but will double the
> cost easily and triple the work.
>
> Good read on the pump and the Optispark.
> http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/16758/index.html

Thanks for the link. I'm going to discuss this with the local shop that
most of the Corvette Club users prefer. I replaced the opti on this car
about 5 years ago, so I hope it might have survived. I wish I knew why the
engineers put that thing underneath the water pump though. I hope there was
a really, really good reason.

AJM
'93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp (both tops)

"CardsFan" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dad" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "CardsFan" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>I got 'round to installing the new hatch weatherstrip yesterday.
>>>It all went fine until I tried to close the hatch. I thought I was
>>>going to break the glass trying to slam it down, but, it finally
>>>closed. I called a friend in the local club and he said to leave
>>>it shut for a few days so the glass will imprint itself on the new
>>>rubber, and then let it sit out in the sun for a few hours with the
>>>hatch open so the sun softens the rubber some. Sounds reasonable.
>>>
>>> Should I have done something to soften the new weatherstrip first
>>> before I installed it? I suppose all's well that ends well, but I
>>> was a bit surprised the hatch didn't want to close.
>>>
>>> I think I'm going to be needing a new water pump. Ugh.
>>>
>>> AJM
>>> '93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp, both tops
>> Good to hear it worked out for you, always makes a guy feel just a
>> little bit better. Yes, most trim/upholstery shops have a hot box
>> to heat rubber and plastic before they install them.
>>
>> The water pump (Bosch $122) is only half of it, if it has leaked
>> you should change the Optispark ($200/400) while you're at it. From
>> '92 through '94 they didn't even seal them. Not to bad but will
>> double the cost easily and triple the work.
>>
>> Good read on the pump and the Optispark.
>> http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/16758/index.html
>
> Thanks for the link. I'm going to discuss this with the local shop
> that most of the Corvette Club users prefer. I replaced the opti on
> this car about 5 years ago, so I hope it might have survived. I
> wish I knew why the engineers put that thing underneath the water
> pump though. I hope there was a really, really good reason.
>
> AJM
> '93 40th Anniversary coupe, 6 sp (both tops)
Everything has got to be somewhere, every wonder why the crapper is so
close to the fun thing? I learned something about the thermostat when
I read that link, didn't know it served two purposes.