River

Okay, to make it easy:

Disconnect wire at top (located near sunroof gizmo). Before you pull it out (LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE!), tie some fishing line, or string too it. (prolly think fishing line would be best). Pull it up and out. Use enough to give a lot of slack. Then, when you have it pulled out, cut the line and tape the end coming out of the hole to the body below(BELOW!) the seal. Make sure you have enough slack to tie a knot on the connector business end. (you'll see why in a second).

Take your new rubber and leave it in the sun, or toss it in the dryer for a bit (shrink it a bit). While that's going on, go to your car and remove the old seal. Clean it. Use goof off or the like and make sure the surface is perfect. Wipe. Clean with rubbing alcohol. Wipe, let dry.

Once dry, go grab your seal. Apply seal to car dry. Shoving it in and making sure it's dolphin tight. You will have to cut it. Cut it in the middle by the lock, NOT where water could sneak in anywhere else. Save the piece (and cut a small piece off your old one too, just in case of shrinkinge,you have a replacement piece). Let it form (site) for about...oh, a beers worth.

Come back and use Porsche recommended 3m super weather stripping (find black, Ace Hardware carries it. Make sure it IS black before you go through what I went through). Apply this snot like crap on the top and bottom of the metal part of the hatch. (I warn you, it IS like snot, you WILL drink beer, and you should have a helper to make it easier). Shove it all together, make sure it's perfectly flush with the frame of the car and you're good to go.

Wire. Time for my wire trick. (which I SHOULVE DONE FIRST!). Re-connect the line by tying a good fisherman's knot. Shove it in as straight and as far as you can by hand. Then, slowly pull the line and reattach. If you do NOT do it this way, you will be forced to swear, grab another beer, and use the tool called "Coat Hanger" to shove it back in. It is NOT, repeat, NOT fun! LOL!

Your hatch should be dry by now. Close it. Keep it shut for awhile. Enjoy no fumes, less road noise, less squeaks and floor it.

The End.

Send me beer.

River

p.s. You don't want that gap in the back, it lets in fumes and water. It means your seal has shrank over the years. Mine was oem, bought at the dealership. (on sale of course during the once a year sale) Highly recommend to buy things then! LOL!

IGROWL

I bought mine from Pelican.

IGROWL

River my head is still spinning from your post.

I did save the piece I cut out.

My seal already had a sealant inside the crease that attaches to the body of the car.

River

It already had sealant?! Interesting, lol!

Yeah, I've had to deal with the most pita small-big things in my car.

Seized hatch, thrashed sunroof.

I still don't know which one was a bigger nightmare to fix, lol!

Fintro11

if you cut it loctight sells a great glue for rubber i forget the number of it >.< but it works like a charm

Hollywood D

The seal IS NOT too long and you do not have to cut it. I ran into this same problem. I had about 3 or 4 extra inches of seal. Then after some beers and brainstorming, I discovered that the seal was not all the way into the corner. At each corner (curve), grab the seal and push it toward itself. I don't know the best way to describe this, but it's the same motion as if you're pushing a wire into a butt connector. There's a lot of slack in the corners and you can make up that extra 3-4". Then it fits nice and tight and you didn't have to cut it and worry about it shrinking again over time.

JohnKoaWood

Pull back the panel in your picture, there is a connector under the panel to disconnect the wires... no need to cut anything!

You can see the connector in this picture!

River

Yeah, I took rubber hammer on those corners too. Still had to cut it. I didn't have 3/4 inches, more like an inch. Still enough to cut it.

This was before I heard about the sun/dryer trick. (so I'm pretty positive it could've shrunk had I done so)

I did keep about a foot of the old seal and a piece of the new. Cut it, glued em both together.

It was alllll worth it in the end. No matter how you go about it. Having it done is great. Ditto for the sunroof and seals for the doors.

CurtP

That's because you stretched it while installing. What will eventually happen is the seal will pull back and you'll end up with a gap. While the cut is fresh, you should at least connect the ends together with a cyanoacrylate adhesive. It will slow the process down, but will end up pulling apart when the gasket shrinks.

My method of installation is to lay the gasket in the sun for a little while to make it more pliable (and the adhesive softer), then start at the top center. When I get down to the joint, which should be at the bottom in the middle, I almost always have extra. I push the joint down, and start working my way back around the other way. By the time I've worked back up to the upper corners, the slack is gone.

Everyone pulls the gasket too tight around the corners. Never, ever cut the gasket. If anyone is in my area is having an issue installing a hatch gasket, please contact me and I'll give you a hand.

If you think the hatch gasket is a PITA, you should try the door seals and the outer window scraper.

white924s

when I did the hatch in my car, The wires looked like they had already been cut and resoldered at one point, so I cut out the solder joints and installed a nice weather-pak connecter. I didn't need to cut the seal at all

IGROWL

Well damn - I wish there was instructions in the box but there wasn't. I will keep an eye on it now as it can not have an open area now with the 968 hatch because when I wash the car it forces water in and on the carpet in the hatch.

I was extra careful not to pull or tug on the seal as I guiding it along the metal edge with a rubber mattlot. When I got to the corners I was slow and careful to make sure it was all the way in there before moving along.

nasty9er

i just pulled my hatch 3 days ago and mine had the 3rd break light plus wiper. all you have to do is pull the rubber grommet out then go behind the carpet where your sunroof motor is and unplug the round plug you will find. then all you need to do is pull it up and out the hole the grommet was in.

now if only my new hatch would sit right. my left side is sitting up really high compared to the passenger side and my lock pins on both sets i have are seased..............

Scott Evil

Out of curiosity, how long does it take to replace the rear hatch seal?

Hollywood D

Took me about 20 mins. I only needed to remove the hatch shocks though, no wiring. You really just pull the old one off and push the new one on. Remember to push hard in the corners to take up the slack so you don't have to cut it.