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<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
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<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family business,
Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service, Inc. in New</font>
<font color="#000000">Bedford, MA. </font> </i>
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<i><font
color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE Master Technician and Parts Specialist.
He also holds the ASE L1 certification, and has an
associates degree in business</font> <font color="#000000">management.
<br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age Magazine and is the past secretary
of the Alliance of Automotive Service Professionals, (AASP).</font></i>
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<big><big><b> Tug - O - War</b></big></big>
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<p><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal of The Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) </font></i></small></p>
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<div align="justify"><br>
<div align="left">Well, it seemed like it was going to be one of those
crazy days and it was. We had a customer come in for warranty work
on her 1992 Mercury Topaz 4dr. The customer reported water on the l/f floor
after a rain storm. I don't know when I became the "water leak guy" at our
shop but I had a feeling I was going to be given the responsibility of this
repair myself. The customer left the car for a week while she was away on
vacation. Monday afternoon I removed the l/f kick panel, left A pillar interior
trim, left sill plate and rolled back the rug about 2 feet. The jute backing
stunk and was soaking wet. I removed as much as I could knowing the "smell"
never goes away. While I laid across the front seat, an employee hosed down
the left "A" pillar and door area. After approximately twenty minutes, water
started dripping about halfway down the "A" pillar. Upon a close inspection
it appeared that the water was actually coming in over the body flange that
the weatherstrip sticks on to. This is similar to a pattern failure on GM
Bonneville, Olds 88's etc. The water actually walks around the body
flange because the seal no longer has the correct clamping load on the flange.
A check of TSB's revealed nothing. A little history : As you have seen,
most cars have either a weatherstrip on the door or a weatherstrip on the
body opening. This car has the type on the body opening. The strip itself
is not molded. It appears to be manufactured in rolls and is cut to length
and boxed. When pressed on, the seam where the ends meet always lines up
at the bottom near the sill plate. A fairly cut and dry procedure. <br>
I called the dealer and ordered the molding. The next
day the part came in. With the old seal already removed I simply pressed
on the new one. Easy right? Not! As stated before, on a body opening weatherstrip,
the seam where the ends meet is always at the bottom. So, you start at
the bottom and push the weatherstrip on, going all the way around the body
opening. With the weatherstrip almost completely installed I was coming
up 3 inches short at the sill plate. Did I not tuck it in far enough at
the top corners? What had I done wrong? Help! <br>
I pulled the weatherstrip off and lined it up with
the old one, side by side, on the shop floor. Sure enough, the new one was
3 inches too short. I called the dealer to explain my dilemma. He checked
and cross checked the part number. He knew the part number was right and his
only explanation was that it was boxed wrong. He ordered another while I
went home with a headache. <br>
The next day, there I was with another weatherstrip laid
out on the floor next to the original. Still 3 inches too short. I called
the dealer again. After contacting Ford he verified that it was a packaging
problem and may take 3 months to resolve. Now, let me ask you a question.
How do you tell a customer that their car will leak water for 3 months.
In an act of desperation I grabbed one end of the molding while Larry, one
of our techs, grabbed the other end. If tug-o-war was an Olympic event
we would have won the gold. As our service writer walked in the shop she
was puzzled to see us pulling on this seal with all our might. It must
have looked pretty silly. We knew that seal wouldn't stretch but
it really allowed me to release a lot of mental tension, mainly as a result
of working on this car. <br>
In the end, my brother Glenn had suggested taking
the new seal and splicing in a good 3 inch section of the old seal. I did
not want to create a second seam and called the techline for ideas. After
a call back they suggested my brother's idea or ordering the seal for a
2dr since that would be larger, then cutting it back, so we would still
have the one seam. This being all well and good, providing a 2dr is 3 inches
longer. There was no way to tell. <br>
Due to time, and lack of other alternatives, we went
with Glenn's idea. <br>
In the quest for doing the "right job" or the "professional
repair" I realized that there are times when you have to settle for a little
less. No one wants to Band-Aid a repair, but when the parts are unavailable,
what can you do? You can't redesign the car. <br>
After all was said and done, the spliced-in section
was hardly noticeable and was watertight.<br>
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