Weather Stripping for Vintage Buses, i.e. Gillig & Crown

[paddywagon]

Anyone who owns a vintage bus, like myself, with sliding windows that slide down into the walls (see pictures), knows that the weather stripping at the bottom of that window is unobtainable. Several mid-century bus companies used these windows; notable ones being Gillig and Crown.
The weather stripping on my '68 Gillig has deteriorated and I would like it to be weather-tight when it's done. For this reason, I am going to, at great expense, have the weather stripping reproduced. If anyone is interested in this weather stripping, let me know since bulk quantities will significantly lower the production cost.

[cadillackid]

couldnt you use a felt wiper like we do on the GMC classic cars? esp the 2 door cars we made our own felt wipers out of aftermarket pieces to fit.. it seems like these single panel windows would be the same

[paddywagon]

The way the windows slide into the walls makes it difficult to adapt an existing seal for the purpose. If I could, I would definitely go that route. If anyone with these windows has come up with a solution, I would love to hear it.

[cadillackid]

I was cutting the wiper up to fit my specific length.. it should just need a straight across rubber on the outside and a felt on the inside..


I also believe that like the vintage cars there were drain holes in the body for any water that does get in to be able to get out..



hidden windows present a challenge for being able to insulate all the way out to the skin.. on the GM cars we took the doors apart and sprayed undercoating on the inside of them and then re-drilled the drain holes so that any water that got in has a pathway out.

[likeafish]

We will probably also be running into this problem, though we are a ways out from getting to this point on our bus. I would be interested to see what you end up doing, and down the road we might be able to go in with you on a bulk purchase but like I said were a ways out. I was wondering what we could do to get new rubber for the front door because it seemed pretty specific at least on our bus. We have a 1951 GMC bus.

[paddywagon]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

hidden windows present a challenge for being able to insulate all the way out to the skin.. on the GM cars we took the doors apart and sprayed undercoating on the inside of them and then re-drilled the drain holes so that any water that got in has a pathway out.

My plan for insulation is to put the metal interior panels back in after repairing the windows, then put foam board or spray foam onto that, then tongue-and-groove cedar onto that. I'll lose +/-5in of interior width but it's better than being trapped in an ice box/toaster.