Restoration quality seals? ford F-1 cowl vent seal

[Dirtyrat]

Well I installed a cowl vent seal that is less than stellar.
I ordered it, it was supposedly a high quality setup, but the original was a soft seal style foam rubber, and the new one is just solid molded rubber, so good luck getting it to seal with the cowl vent door.

So here I am, I am in need of a good molded (reads: has corners molded into the areas that should have corners, not one that you make fit) cowl vent seal for my 49 Ford F-1 cab. I'm also looking for a new cowl vent lid itself...

If anyone has a source for one or both I would like to hear from you... my searches have all returned the crappy molded rubber - non-fitting setup with little to no chance of keeping water out types...

This is something I am willing to spend money on as it is directly over some of my electronics...

 

[Torchie]

Care to share where you ordered it from DR?
I have had good luck in the past with Steele rubber products.
You could also try Dennis Carpenter, Sacramento Vintage Ford,Bob Drake or any number of resto parts suppliers out there..
Dennis Carpenter parts are Ford liscensed. Not that it makes them any better.
My experience with repro weather stripping of any kind is that that even though it is brand/parts specific it always needs some messing with to fit right.
As far as the vent cover goes I don't know of any being repro'd at this time. There are some on the bay right now but they seem a little pricey to me. You could also jump on the Ford Barn site and do a wanted add. Price's on that site seem to be much more realistic and there are a ton of F-series owners on there.
I will keep on the lookout for one but my luck at finding parts in a timely manner has been poor lately. And all the ones that I currently know of are still attached to a cab.
Torchie.

 

[Old Iron]

We've got a place here called Surplus City. Used to be called Army Surplus.
They have odd rolls of gray foam about 1/4" to 3/8" thick that would make great seals.
I'm gonna use it for the cowl seal on mine.
Maybe there's a place near you like that.

 

[Dirtyrat]

This was a Dennis Carpenter piece according to the instructions, but I don't even know if it was the right dang part... it seriously had no corners on the piece... Just a big round seal...

I'll try a couple places this week and ask some specific questions, I'll have to look up where I ordered it from...

 

[Torchie]

This was a Dennis Carpenter piece according to the instructions, but I don't even know if it was the right dang part... it seriously had no corners on the piece... Just a big round seal...

I'll try a couple places this week and ask some specific questions, I'll have to look up where I ordered it from...

Could very well be a Carpenter item DR. Or Steele. I was just on the Steele website and the cowl vent gasket that they show looks just like you discribed. Round with no corners. I don't think that there are that many company's producing this stuff. Probably just one, maybe two. Everyone gets it from the same source and then repackages it as their own.
You might try putting it on and then warming it with a heat gun to get it to shape better. But that might screw up your paint. Good luck and keep us posted.
Torchie.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Could very well be a Carpenter item DR. Or Steele. I was just on the Steele website and the cowl vent gasket that they show looks just like you discribed. Round with no corners. I don't think that there are that many company's producing this stuff. Probably just one, maybe two. Everyone gets it from the same source and then repackages it as their own.
You might try putting it on and then warming it with a heat gun to get it to shape better. But that might screw up your paint. Good luck and keep us posted.
Torchie.

Well, I did put it on, and I did get it to fit by cutting the corners as the cowl vent has small radius corners, and any seal that is not molded that way will bunch up in the corner. I ended up cutting it and sealing those areas, but even so, with it being hard molded rubber there is no way it will actually seal to the lid.

Once I find a good seal and door, I'll post it up for everyone. Its sad that they mold these crappy pieces and everyone just buys the same crap and probably has leaks. Sure it will stop rain that is just falling on the vent itself because of gravity, but while driving rain will go right under the lip of the door and in because the rubber seal is so hard you cannot get enough pressure on the handle to seal it.

Just for reference, this is how the car vent seals look with the molded corners:

 

[sneakysnake]

Have you checked these guys?Ive bought a little off of them.
http://www.steelerubber.com/

 

[Dirtyrat]

Have you checked these guys?Ive bought a little off of them.
http://www.steelerubber.com/

I'll give them a call today. Thanks for the link.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Called Dennis Carpenter, had the guy physically verify that indeed their seals are the harder rubber and do NOT have molded corners like the original would have...

Steele rubber shows the same garbage part...
I'm seriously tempted to fill in this vent or make my own seal... there is no more travel on the actuator arm on this setup and I cannot get it to seal off...
I'm going to do a little inspection on it tonight and see if perhaps something was assembled at some point before I got the truck that is wrong...

 

[JBailey]

Have you tried LMC truck? They make some nice stuff and might just have what you need.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Have you tried LMC truck? They make some nice stuff and might just have what you need.

LMC as far as I know manufacturers nothing.
They buy all the same parts as I have found.

I'm very close to sealing it shut....

 

[05snopro440]

Called Dennis Carpenter, had the guy physically verify that indeed their seals are the harder rubber and do NOT have molded corners like the original would have...

Steele rubber shows the same garbage part...
I'm seriously tempted to fill in this vent or make my own seal... there is no more travel on the actuator arm on this setup and I cannot get it to seal off...
I'm going to do a little inspection on it tonight and see if perhaps something was assembled at some point before I got the truck that is wrong...

For Chevy stuff I know guys that have had nothing but trouble with seals from reputable parts places, buy them from Steele and say the difference is incredible. So while the Steele part may look the same, the rubber should be much better and maybe that will make all the difference?

 

[Dirtyrat]

I'll have to see about doing that, at this point I am really leaning toward making my own vents on the side of the cab and filling this one in...