Still doing body and mechanical work, but looking ahead to refurbishing all the weatherstripping and other rubber or fabric parts. This project has been stalled so long I am not sure whether all the outfits from 20 years ago are still around. I have new windshield gasket and nailing strips for top, the round cowl drain gaskets, taillight casting gaskets and maybe a few more small gaskets.
Mac's was sold to new owners and I would guess Dennis Carpenter is still around, but any other sources? The heavy fabric covered rubber strips that attach to top side rails are probably the most costly pieces I still need. Will need a new top well and pretty much every other fabric or rubber part on the car.
Probably forgot where everything goes and what parts had gaskets between them, but I have shop manual plus retractable and hardtop parts cars out behind the pole building to refresh my memory.
Glass is no problem cuz Isanti Classic Glass is 20 miles away. Top hydraulics used to work and been inside for 25 years, but have not tested them lately...
So, any current recommendations on weatherstrip window channel, body gaskets and perhaps any top installation tips from convertible owners?
No help with top installation....Don't chintz out with the soft goods. Carpenter soft goods are the best out there. They sell to many vendors, example, I purchased door gaskets for my Ranchero from Concourse, they were packaged in Carpenter wrappings. They were door gaskets for a four door sedan, not a two door. Called them, no problem. Day later got a call from Carpenter, "do you have the packaging?", yes, "we will send you a new set with a return shipping label". Done and taken care of with no hassle.
Brushwolf.................make sure you've seen our listing of 57 Ford specific parts vendors!!!
With that said, you mentioned window channels, and the best source for those is what used to be called Ford Obsolete, but now is Classic Auto Parts, in Oklahoma CIty. Classic is owned by a guy named Dale who also owns Dale Manufacturing, which is the maker of all those channels, anti rattler strips, etc. Quite often the items @ Classic will be shrink wrapped on a yellow Dale Manufacturing cardboard.
The company Dennis Carpenter is still around, but Dennis died earlier this year. Hopefully, his son will maintain the quality levels his dad established, or sell the company to somebody other than Eckler's.
I read in one of the car books that Dennis had stepped aside in the day to day running of things and his one son had stepped to the plate to keep things on track. Hope that is true because I have nothing but praise for their customer service and their soft goods.
Steele Rubber will give you a model specific catalog. They have a lot of small parts. Also look at Restoration Specialities.
https://www.restorationspecialties.com