Cowl to fender seal- won't budge!

[Missed Approach]

Hi All- looking for any further insight on replacement of the cowl to fender seal (4.3mm #901-503-394-22-M260) I've found all the other useful posts on this forum, and I did loosen the two 5mm Allen bolts on the interior, along with three bolts in the trunk, but the seal is not budging. I did use a plastic wedge try and spread the panel outward, with not much luck. It sounds like this has been a quick job for many on the forum- any thing I need to do in addition?

[kyngfish]

Originally Posted by Missed Approach

Hi All- looking for any further insight on replacement of the cowl to fender seal (4.3mm #901-503-394-22-M260) I've found all the other useful posts on this forum, and I did loosen the two 5mm Allen bolts on the interior, along with three bolts in the trunk, but the seal is not budging. I did use a plastic wedge try and spread the panel outward, with not much luck. It sounds like this has been a quick job for many on the forum- any thing I need to do in addition?

Probably need a bit more detail, but I did this job on mine and it was easy peasy. Are you saying the old one isn't coming out? or the new one isn't going in?

For getting the new one in, you don't really need all that much space, basically you loosen the bolts and just kind of pull on the panel a little to get a tiny amount of space to shove the seal in. If you're not removing the bolts you will need to snip the bottom of the seal so that the seal slides over the bolts correctly, or it won't go in. With mine, it was pretty clear that the seal was meant to be installed by removing the bolts, sliding in the seal, and re-installing the bolts, but if you just create a V-shaped slit going from the bottom of the seal to where the bolt holes are, it should just slide right in.

I sprayed my seal pretty liberally with silicone lubricant to make it move around much easier. It took no more than 10-15 minutes per side.

If your old seals aren't coming out, that might be because your seal has the bolts going through the holes in the seal and it isn't breaking. Mine was old and brittle enough that it kind of broke apart, so I didn't have this problem, but that might be why you can't get it out. I can't really remember if by opening the door you can actually see the bottom of the seal where the bolts are going through or not, but I don't think so. The rubber might need to break for you to be able to get it out.

[Missed Approach]

Hi Kyngfish- Thanks- I am having trouble removing the original old seal. It's just not budging. You are correct in that I can see the bottom of the old seal.

[911nut]

You have to loosen all the bolts in the area of the seal that hold the fender to the cowl. The bolts are all inside the fender except the rearmost two, which you can access by opening the door. Unless someone has loosened the bolts on the inside of the fender, they will be covered in a thick layer of bolt shultz and dirt, which will need to be removed.

[kyngfish]

Originally Posted by Missed Approach

Hi Kyngfish- Thanks- I am having trouble removing the original old seal. It's just not budging. You are correct in that I can see the bottom of the old seal.

Can or can't? I don't think you can. My guess is they are not coming out because they are the original seals and have the bolts going through the rubber - I'm not recommending you yank anything - but if it were me, I'd start at one end, and try to pull them out while simultaneously putting outward pressure on the fender, trying to break one loop at a time.

Obviously you don't want to end up tearing the seal near the top, and leaving the bottom half down there. Spray some silicone lubricant through there and see if that helps get things moving - spray from above and below (inside the fender through the open door)

[Tim K]

In the door jam, carefully inspect the area around the allen bolts for a weld that's used to help hold the fender. I don't know what years this was done but if the fenders have never been removed, it (one per fender) may still be there. A small putty knife between the cowel and the fender and a couple hammer blows should help liberate the fender.

Tim K

[gshiwota]

Just went through this myself and it was a pain. I ended up cutting off some of the seal material to decrease the amount of material to push into the opening.

Just keep wiggling the seal and do your best to spread the opening with a plastic wedge or credit-card.

[moneymanager]

I had the weld on a 74. Serious tapping with hammer wouldn't get thru it. Never did really get an opening to replace the seal; had to cut the seal judiciously so that it was held in position at fewer points than in the stock setup.