Door gasket

[mmcpherson]

my 69 overlander appears to have a leak in the front door gasket as I get water seepage on floor and floor is spongy at that door entrance. Is it difficult to replace the gasket/seal on the door? It looks like it was sealed into outer and inner panels of the door (riveted). Thanks.

[mbmbstreamer]

We replaced the weatherstripping on all windows, compartments, and the door of our 69 Overlander. The process is simple, but time consuming and details are available from Inland RV. In summary:

1. Cut old weatherstripping off with utility knife. Get it as close to metal as is reasonably quick.

2. Using a wire brush on a drill, remove remaining material and glue residue. Be very careful not to catch the aluminum edge - it bends and scratches easily.

3. Using a solvent (like alcohol) clean the frame.

4. Cut a piece of weatherstripping about 1" longer than needed.

5. Apply black 3M Super Weatherstrip Adhesive to weatherstripping and to frame.

6. Allow both to dry per instructions on adhesive.

7. Carefully place weatherstrip in desired location and work it around with both hands.

8. At joint (should be in the middle of the bottom edge, let overlap stick up (unattached) for about 10 minutes.

9. Cut excess material and finish pressing weatherstrip in place.

10. Wipe off excess adhesive carefully (don't pull on weatherstrip).

[Aage]

Originally Posted by mbmbstreamer

2. Using a wire brush on a drill, remove remaining material and glue residue. Be very careful not to catch the aluminum edge - it bends and scratches easily.

The only suggestion I would make to this is to use a copper-wired wheel on your drill. It's softer and less likely to do damage to your frame or any other bits it touches, yet will do a fine job of burnishing the old bits of stuff off.

Copper wheels can be a bit more $ than regular metal ones, but it's an Airstream: you're used to that, right?

[mmcpherson]

Thank you so much. Did you get your materials from Inland?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by mmcpherson

my 69 overlander appears to have a leak in the front door gasket as I get water seepage on floor and floor is spongy at that door entrance. Is it difficult to replace the gasket/seal on the door? It looks like it was sealed into outer and inner panels of the door (riveted). Thanks.

All the exterior gaskets, are easy to replace.

No special tools required.

Scrape off the old, best you can, burnish off the rest with a wire wheel in a drill.

mbmbstreamer, above, lists the installation instructions.

Andy

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by mmcpherson

Thank you so much. Did you get your materials from Inland?

You can get them from most any Airstream dealer.

[mbmbstreamer]

My instructions and weatherstrip came from you, Andy.

Worked great! Now if I could just adjust the door latch. The new gasket (none was present when we bought the trailer) makes it very hard to close. Hints or tips?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by mbmbstreamer

My instructions and weatherstrip came from you, Andy.

Worked great! Now if I could just adjust the door latch. The new gasket (none was present when we bought the trailer) makes it very hard to close. Hints or tips?

Is the striker bolt in good condition?

Is the striker pocket nylon, as it should be?

Andy

[mbmbstreamer]

The bolt and lockset are new last summer (from you). The striker pocket is original metal. With the weatherstrip in place, the bolt doesn't reach the pocket without significant force to compress the weatherstrip. I either need a spacer to push the bolt out, away from the exterior surface of the door, or I need to move the pocket closer to the exterior wall.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by mbmbstreamer

The bolt and lockset are new last summer (from you). The striker pocket is original metal. With the weatherstrip in place, the bolt doesn't reach the pocket without significant force to compress the weatherstrip. I either need a spacer to push the bolt out, away from the exterior surface of the door, or I need to move the pocket closer to the exterior wall.

First of all, the correct striker pocket is nylon, not metal.

Replacing it may solve the entire problem.
.
It also sticks out further than the metal pockets.

Andy