FYI I mistakenly posted this here instead of on the 964 forum so be advised. I was hoping the moderators would move it but I guess not.

I have been trying for close to 2 years to get my hands on a rear window seal that actually works. I have always been an advocate for buying factory seals but that has come to an end. My understanding is a number of years ago Porsche switched suppliers to a Chinese company. Since then everyone I spoke with has the same complaints and Porsche Classic doesn't seem to want to hear it. I tried reaching out and no luck the factory parts guys just laugh and said don't bother. But I have a car I can't use because i can't get the rear window to fit.

I foolishly cut a perfectly good seal I had installed on my Meanie project back in 15 so I can remove the rear window to access some things. i figured for $200 or so it wasn't worth the waste of my time to try to pry it out. Well lesson learned and huge mistake. This is what I found.

The seal in general is of very poor quality. The first seal I got from the factory came apart when removing it from the bag. I waited for months for another. When it arrived I realized it no longer has the oblong holes pre cut for proper wire placement and access for the rear window defogger. A royal PITA to try to do yourself. I checked the first seal against the old cut seal i had and the seal appeared to be as much as 1" too short. I tried to fit the factory seal and after at least a dozen of these I have done I realized there was no way to make it work. My friend Pino from RSR restoration came by and said the same thing. He has had nothing but issues with seals himself but has been doing a lot of Gbodys which are much easier to make work with the metal frame.

The pictures show the old seal I installed in 15. It was like all prior seals which slipped into place with little difficulty. A beautiful factory like fit. The new seal is way too short.

I tried my best to place one seal on top of the other. Both seals had been installed the newer seal was on the car for over 2 years. So it is a stretched as it is going to get.

This is what it looked like after the install.


No matter what I tried I could not close this gap.


So I ordered another and it too was too small so I tried an aftermarket seal. Well it was even worse. Not only was it short but the outer lip was only 1/8" vs the factories 1/4' Combine the 2 issues and it would be even worse.

So as you can see this is the seal from 15 I tie strapped together with the one from 2024. This project has become a back burner but now time is running out.



Top seal is the one from 15 bottom seal from 24



Lower seal is from 15 top from 24


Again lower seal from 15 top from 24



Top seal from 24 bottom from 15


Top seal from 15 bottom from 24






So the seals are clearly different lengths and the new seals being so short causes the top to suck in which I can't live with. I have to assume that they do no QC on Classic parts since this is a common issue lately. Unfortunately I can find no source for a seal. My friend John Paterek suggested I cut and glue in a section which I have no interest in doing but it might come to that.

Here are the holes that used to be cut in palce as well. It is quite shame that what they sell passes for Porsche quality. i have another seal coming but it is in Germany and won't be here till march.


These were cut in palce for every spade connector allowing the wires to fit better and lay flat. Even the seal I installed on my C2 slick top project had the holes in 22. So it has to be from then on that they switched providers.

This is the aftermarket seal bottom vs the factory seal top as you can see the lip is considerably larger on the factory seal. It was equally as short as the factory seal.

My word of caution is don't remove your windows without knowing you have a usable seal or try your best to remove the old one without damaging it.

I will report back when the new seal arrives in a month. 🤞 They fixed some of the issues. I can live without the holes if I have to but being so short it won't seal is a huge problem.

 

Feel for you and hope the sealing pending from Germany will resolve the situation. Splicing in a piece was what came to my mind while I was reading along, but I can understand why this would be a last resort option.

I believe this is for 964, so it made me think how Singer works around this during their reimagined creations and wonder if they’d be willing to offer any guidance,

Good luck.

 

Yep, 964 not 993.

Sounds frustrating though.

 

I suspect Singer has them custom made. I highly doubt they would want to deal with this nightmare.

 

All Porsche seals are shyte now, its a lottery on which works better out of OE, OEM or aftermarket

 

Hi Cobalt,
As BoomBoomThump notes, previously, the 964 had the old-style glass mount that suspended the glass in a gasket.
The 993 has glass bonded to the body opening, and the surround is more like a strip that sits on top of the glass to cosmetically cover the gutter around the glass, but does not really function as a seal.

I have never personally mounted 964 glass, so keep this in mind.
On your car, a 964, I would think the seal is stretchable. If the mounting process allowed you to mount the seal to the glass first, then use the mounting process to get the body side of the seal mounted in place. it may be a solution.

In any event, to avoid future leaks:
964 Leaks around the glass are common and are usually first observed as wetness in the lower interior corners of the windshield. One very effective and easy way to address any future leaks around the glass is, once monted. to force the nozzle tip of a tube of clear 100% silicone bath sealant/calk between the exterior side of the window seal and the glass, and the exterior window seal and the body, and pump a very small quantity of sealant around the window/windshield. If a very small bead is applied, it should not ooze out from under the seal. Any sealant that oozes out can be wiped up, and if need be, cleaned up with a little solvent. I did this on my '86 Carrera to good effect. I have found that the small squeeze tubes of sealant make for better control and allow me to cut the nozzle to produce a very small bead of sealant.

Andy

 

Not sure how I did this but I thought I was posting on the 964 forum. My bad sorry. This is a first for me but old age is catching up I guess.

I might have to go the 993 rear window route butt this is getting costly for no reason.

Meanwhile I just left the dealership and my most recent attempt ended up significantly smaller seal by a good margin. If there was only a way to stretch it. I talked to John Paterek who is pretty well versed in this and his only recommendation was cut and splice in a small piece. But I shouldn't have to do that and don't plan to. The parts manager was shocked how bad it was and is going to see who he can contact but the guys down at the Easton Training center couldn't help me so? We had several hands trying to stretch the seal and see how close we can get it but you can see how bad it is. The lower picture is stretched taut and you can see the difference. The seam was starting to pull apart as we did this.





Moderators is there any chance this thread can be moved to the 964 forum?

now I see the confusion and why nobody on the 964 forum is chiming in.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience with Porsche Classic parts. I expect most of us are hoping for a higher level of expertise and a better connection with us owners who cherish our classic Porsches. They should do better.

It’s my experience that the Classic Centers are also lacking OEM expertise. I paid premium to have them install a front windshield in my 993 with new seals. I asked them if they have the required templates that are well discussed on this forum. They appeared to take offence to me questioning their expertise and claimed they had all the required tooling. When I picked up the car, during inspection, I ran my hand over the seal and the whole seal fell into the gap at the bottom. They had installed it too high. And there was a pool of sealant all over my dash that they also thought was acceptable. They agreed to redo but I didn’t get a genuine apology and they didn’t want to talk about what went wrong or if they indeed had the templates. It bothered me that they pulled the seal out of the gap so it looked visually acceptable for pickup. With a little wind it would have fallen in. From other sources I heard the Classic Centers may farm out these simpler jobs to local installers. I have no interest in giving them any more of my money.

 

My son is a service advisor at a local Porsche dealership. In all honesty they usually outsource this type of stuff. I had a friend who sadly moved. Shamil from NewAutoglass on IG. He was one of the few I knew that could do these justice. Many are just hacks and I wouldn't let Safelite touch my cars.

 

Done

 

Thank you!!

 

I tripped over a used rear 964 glass seal the other day. Might have come from that Marlboro parts car. I didn't get the rear glass.
I hate 964 seals. A glass installer bent me over this week on installing 993 glass into the Blue Monday Project.
He did a perfect job.

 

The 993 glass is a solution and something I have done before but I want this car to look period correct.

Sorry I have 2 threads on this but I posted a possible solution to my problem on the redo thread.

I believe the only solution is to fill the inner channel the window sits in with black RTV and allow it to cure so it pushed the seal out in the corners by roughly 3/8" per side. I posted pics of what I found there if you are interested.

If you think you have a good rear seal I would be interested.

 

You might have a 1988 Rear Glass.

 

No it is from a 1991 actually in a 1990 tub. I have a NOS older part number seal coming from Porsche Atlanta. About 5 years or so ago they changed the part number due to a new vendor. My understanding is if it matches the one I have from 2015 than they will have the old part number reinstated and make them to a that spec. 🤞