In stalling the tail lights and back up lights that I got from Concours Parts and find that the back up light housing gasket does not fit well at all. I m wondering if Carpenters might be a better fit? Any one have any experience with these?
Is this the cork gasket or a rubber gasket? Most rubber pieces carried by everyone come from Carpenter. Some re-package them, some don't.
unless they have changed in compound since the early 80s they do not fit.the rubber I use the name rubber loosely is to stiff to fit properly.let us know how you make out. good luck
I received the new park light housing rubber seals from Carpenter today, perfect. In fact they fit better than the original ones that I cleaned up best I could in case I had to use them. Of course the originals are 62 years old so, like me, they may have changed shape somewhat. Anyway, the Carpenters are great.
Carpenter makes them for almost everyone and I'm happy with what they make. Have my door seals to do, that will be the acid test of how good they are.
Bob, I hope your '59 door seals fit better than the '57's. I removed the ones that were on the car when I repainted...still need to get the new ones reinstalled. Glad to hear the '56's tailight gaskets work so well. Generally speaking I'm happy with 95% of DC stuff.
I heard they were a tad on the heavy side. Is there an alternative using general weather strip like the trunk kits come with?
Yes, on the heavy side in some areas, but on the thin side in others. Everybody that has posted on the subject has had the same problems in the same areas, so not a problem unique to a specific car. I considered trying a length type weatherstrip, but you'd have the same problem of needing to vary the m*** to seal correctly. You would also have the additional problem of trying to get it around curves and 90* corners. When I reinstall mine, I'm going to attempt to lay on some rubber sheeting strips in the area I know to be thin before I install the seal.
An update on my backup light saga. After a week off getting my 40 ready for, and making a trip to Ft Worth GG's, I am back on fitting tail lights and backup ***emblies. Thought once I had the Carpenter gaskets I would ready to install. However, I installed some 1156 bulbs only to discover the socket that Concourse Parts sends for the housings are WAY to short and the lens will not clear the bulbs. Luckily my original sockets are usable and will allow using the 1156 bulbs. I wonder what CP's thinks is supposed to be used for bulbs. Maybe Carpenter has a better setup. I believe I will order from Carpenter from now on.
Well, upon farther research, I see that Carpenter has an illustration of the correct socket in their catalog but does not list a part number for it. So you need the original 55 sockets.
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