AndyK

Spent some time yesterday removing the tar and or tree sap dots from my white car. I noticed that when I touch the black sunroof rubber seal, it comes off black on my hand. What's up with that? Seems all the rubber door and window seals do that...like they are decomposing or something.

Really annoying getting black rubber color on a clean white car!? Can anything be done?

pete944

My white car did the exact same thing. Just wipe off the black smudges with a clean cloth without touching the sunroof seal.

AndyK

I hear ya, but the other problem is, the black comes off on my P21S drying cloth, when I'm drying the car. Kinda tough to avoid the black seals...?

Perry 951

That is the carbon black that is added to rubber during manufacturing. Over the years, the rubber drys out and the carbon black comes out of the rubber.

Not much you can do but protect the rubber, or replace them.

AndyK

I know the sunroof seal and outer door seals are replacable...but what about the window seals, and the windshield seal?

Rich Sandor

Last I heard, replacement of ALL the rubber seals, and I mean all of them, will run you in the thousands if you go OEM from the dealer.

Perry 951

It's a hair over $900 for all the seals, purchased from Paragon. Some are harder to replace than others.

I would not replace them unless they are torn, leaky, or otherwise all messed up. I tore most of mine when I took them off for paint, so I decided to order them all up and do it right.

AndyK

$900 is steep! Like you said, if there was a need (tear, leak, etc), I could see splurging. But I think I could get away with 2 door seals, a sunroof outer seal, and maybe outer window seals. That comes to about $270. I may do it, after the rest of my possible problems are taken care of.

KuHL 951

I've used the Mother's "Back-to-Black" on other cars and now on my 83 Arctic White. My spoiler and window rubber were very bad and chalked. I washed everything with Dawn, soft brush and then two apps of the B2B, looks like new again. Before this I always used 3M 303 Protectant to prevent the damage in the first. Worked for me, YMMV.

Steve

Perry 951

$900 is a good chunk of change, but there are a ton of seals and trim that can be replaced.

2Tight made a good point, a tooth brush and some detergent does wonders on getting them clean and refreshed. If you apply a good protectant on a regular basis, they will look and feel new for a long time.

AndyK

Interesting! Question is, if my seals are already coming off black, will scrubbing them remove the carbon break-down, and bring back the non-smudging finish? Seems like the 2 previous owners were **** about engine maintenance, but didn't believe in protecting the rubber from the harsh sun, etc!?

Rich Sandor

I think it's somewhat normal, actually. My '97 cavalier did this from new as well, and when I use the tires shine spray on the new falken tires, they rub off black as well.

I think it has to do with what chemicals you try to clean it with. Keep at it with the soapy water until it comes off clean.

If you go over it with a chemical like Vinylex or Maguire's Vinyl protectant, they act like release agents and make the black rub off again.