Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I wanted to share with everyone what I've used to replace the worn and cracking weatherstrips on my Bird with. A while back there was a post discussing the fact that JC Whitney had changed the part numbers on their weatherstrip products. I have done a little research to find out what the new numbers are. My Bird has the vent windows and I needed the run seals which are in the channel along the vent window. The previous JC Whitney number was KM810358. The new  number for this seal is F1007. It is listed for an 86 Ranger. I had purchased these seals awhile back but just got the one side installed today and they are a perfect fit. I did not want to post any info until I had checked the fit. I also needed the window run seal for the top and back of the window. I recently made a trip to a local salvage yard and found an 86 Tempo 2dr and pulled the window runs seal. Only one was useable so I grabbed it. It worked out great also. It fit the channel perfect. You do have to do some tpuppies as the seal is longer than needed for a Bird with the vent window. I do not know if this seal would fit a Bird without the vent window. I wanted to verify the year of the Tempo but the door sticker was damaged so I couldn't read the VIN. The year was painted on the car by the salvage yard so I am assuming the yard was correct in marking this car. I am going to replace the dew wipes soon also. I purchased these from JC Whitney before they changed numbers but I did some research to find the new number. The old number was KM819751. The new number is 1369-4. If you search these new part numbers on the JC Whitney website you will see there is a SKU number next to the new part number. This SKU number is the old part number. I hope this helps anyone who is trying to find these seals for their T-Bird or Cougar. I had contacted JC Whitney awhile back and it turns out they were bought out by US Auto Parts. This explains the part number changes.

Good info,thanks for posting !!

Thanks, No problem. Now I have to find one more Tempo window run seal for my other door.

I agree, Very good info.  I am in need of both dew sweeps for my 86.  I ordered both dew sweeps tonight.  Will be anxious to check them out for fit and look.

Thanks. They will need fitted, trimmed and fastened to your original mouldings just as the old number did.

As I recall, the window channel weatherstripping from a Tempo/Topaz will only fit the Thunderbird/Cougar with vent windows (after tpuppies, as you noted). The pieces just aren't long enough to fit our doors with the full glass.

It's a great option if you have vent windows, though.

I thought that was the case but I wasn't sure. Thanks for clearing that up.

Cougarcragar I believe you had posted a while back that you used the window run from a 92(?) Tempo with sucess? I wanted to post my findings with the 86 Tempo seal so others knew there is a range of years to draw from. I don't believe there are many Tempos out there anymore so the more years that will work the better.

Well, I finally got to replacing my dew wipes on the T-Bird. The JC Whitney items are narrower than the factory ones are, but look as they will work out fine.

I need some advise from someone who has replaced their dew wipes. I need to remove and re-use the clips which hold the moulding/trim on the door. They have little tabs which are pushed through the metal part of the moulding. What method did you use to get them into the new moulding? I don't want to bust a couple trying to transfer them over as I am sure you can't get them any more. Thanks.

Do you have a pic of what they look like?

I got one door finished over the weekend and it turned out to be alot more work than I expected. I didn't recall anyone explaining how they re-used the clips which are fastened to the original dew wipes. So, It took me a while to figure out a way to re-use them. These clips are what holds the moulding/dew wipe tight to the door. I carefully pried the clips out of the old dew wipe and straightened the tabs on it. I then fastened the new dew wipe to the original moulding with rivets and notched them so the clips would sit properly. I then glued the clip between the dew wipe and the moulding with weatherstrip adhesive. The weatherstrip adhesive held the clips in place while I drilled holes and pop riveted the pieces together. If you look at the pictures I posted you will see how I placed the rivets to hold the clips. The placement of the rivets will keep the clips from pushing up when you reattached the moulding to the car. The grip of the rivet should hold them in place if they have to be removed again. The replacement dew wipes from JC Whitney are much narrower than the originals are. I was a bit worried this would be a problem but they worked out fine. I used a small Black and Decker cordless reciprocating saw to cut the mouldings. I used to use this saw to install roof racks on Honda CRVs and Odyssey vans when I worked for Honda. I will post a picture of the saw in another post.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished door. I will post a picture later. One other thing I should mention. The rivets will protrude through far enough to interfere with reinstalling the moulding. I used short 1/8" rivets.You could grind the rivet down some but this is tedious. I took a pair of channel lock pliers and squeezed the rivets to compress them some. It was enough to allow the moulding to be re-installed. You will have to work the moulding around the get the clips started into the door and get the end of the rivet past the edge of the door. I hope this helps anyone else who is looking into using the JC Whitney dew wipes.

The Black and Decker saw I used to cut the dew wipes.

Here are some before and after pictures of the dew wipe on the drivers side.

How hard is it to get to the dew swipes to even get them off.  I assume removing the door panel, but does the black cap at the back of the door have to come off, and if so, how does it come off?  I have never taken that part of my car apart and really don't want to damage an otherwise pristine piece.

You will have to take off the door panel, mirror and the black trim or cap at the back of the door. I believe there was more work in figuring out how to fasten the dew wipe and the clips than actually taking things apart and putting them back together. The trim or cap at the back of the door is held on by a clip which has a spring like wire which keeps it tight. If you grab the trim and pull it out at the front and push toward the rear of the car you should be able to unhook it from the clip. The spring is inside the front edge and the back edge hooks around a lip on the clip. They are pretty tight on the clip. I hope my explanation makes sense. You may have to use one of the plastic trim tools to help get the trim off. You will have to pull the window run seal out of the top of the door frame to get ahold of the trim. If your window run is brittle like mine is you may not want to pull it out until you have replacement for it. I need to find a window run for my passenger door before I can do the dew wipe on that door. When I pull mine out it will be in pieces because it is so brittle. Hope this helps. Maybe someone else will chime in with a better way to get the trim off the door.

Thanks for the vent window felt info...the guys at JCWhitney didn't know the new part number when I'd made an inquiry a few months ago.

Sure, glad I could help.

Appreciate the part numbers.  Just ordered the window run channels and the dew wipes!

Glad this has helped others to keep their T-Bird or Cougar looking good.

I am updating my thread to show the revised method I used to replace the dew wipe on the passenger side of my T-Bird. I didn't notch the JC Whitney dew wipe as I did on the drivers side of the car. I first thought it would help the dew wipe to lay flatter but after looking at it while doing the passenger side notching them is not necessary. I have included two pictures to show this. Eliminating notching the dew wipe definitely makes it a much easier project as you only have to make one cut to the length of the dew wipe. I think the clips will be held into place better by not notching the dew wipe. I decided not to put weather strip adhesive on the clips either, as I did on the drivers side. I finally found another Tempo window run. Now both sides are finally done.

? I have a 86 3.8  but no vent window

I'm not sure if these dew wipes will fit a non-vent window car. Hopefully someone will chime in to verify.

I'm trying to find replacement outer wipes for my 1980 Thunderbird...talk about impossible. At this point, I'd be happy to find a place I could just send them to to try to match them as best as possible.

My 80 has no vent window and has the sail mounted outer mirrors, so I need a wipe that's 38" long.

I'm not sure the ones I've used will work on your '80 T-Bird. Look through the JC Whitney Catalog or online. They have many different styles of weather strips and have cross sections and dimensions of them to compare to yours. There are some other companies out there who also have universal weather strips, but the names elude me at the moment. There are some vendors who sell varying types of weather strips that show up at the Carlisle PA Spring and Summer car shows too. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I was planning to get out to the Carlisle PA shows earlier this month but couldn't get the time to go. I just received a sample piece today in the mail, from a vendor selling what I'm guessing is Fairchild Industries part # 1369-4 molding. Its the same one as seen here: http://www.jcwhitney.com/p3039069/sku-225817.jcwx?filterid=d667y1980g2u0j1

The funny thing is when I look at it on the JC Whitney site it now says it does fit my 1980 base T-bird....whereas before it said it would not fit..... Weird.

It's a pretty close match, so I guess I'll order two lengths and hopefully if I make a few cuts and mods as required, I can get it to look close enough to factory... that no one will ever notice the difference.

Let us know how it works out. The things we have to do to keep our Birds in shape. :D

I'll have to give a report how it matches up. The molding s in fact,  Fairchild # 1369-4 molding, which I'm hoping to get cut to size, modified and attached...soon as I get a little free time.

My T-birds still in the body shop, but I need to get this molding swapped over onto the trim ASAP.