- Joined
- Jul 27, 2012
- Messages
- 3,128
- Reaction score
- 500
- Location
- Brisbane - Australia
- My Car
- 1973 Mustang Convertible
Hi to all,
One of the many parts you can't get for '71 to '73 Mustangs are the original door to pillar rubber bellows that let the electric wiring for power windows and speaker link ups happen. These rubber bellows link the front door and the pillar which goes into the cabin of the car.
I know that recently a Forum member found some rubbers that came close in size,and could be used effectively,but were on the thin side. Well my news is good, because by accident, i stumbled on a find recently that lets you get hold of door rubber to pillar bellows that are almost the same as the original 123 Mustang ones. These rubbers are from Ford Mustangs from 1979 to 1993 i believe. I ordered two and had them shipped to Australia. At the same time a private seller on E Bay, was selling only one original 1973 door rubber bellow in mint condition for $54.00 Au. I bought it and recently made an accurate comparison between the original Ford factory bellow and the '79/'93 ones.
The stats are as follows - Overall length = the same. Thickness = '79 was 1 and 9/16 thick while '73 was 1 and 7/16 thick. Hole diameter drill out for door was '79 2 inches and ''73 1 and 7/8 inches. Hole diameter for pillar drill out was '79 1 and 5/8 inches and '73 1 and 1/4 inches. So your hole for the pillar drill out will be a little larger for the '79 bellow than the '73 bellow. The door drill outs are virtually the same. The conclusion is, that these rubbers will fit the bill very well if you end up needing to buy this type of door rubber. Mine were in very good used condition, but will need some cleaning and detailing up before i use them, just to get some dirt off them. Both ends of the bellows have sealing grommet lips to slip straight into the drilled out holes for good weather seal out. I have not yet gone ahead and tried to install any wiring that would make me use the rubbers at this stage, so sorry, i can't give any accurate info on how the rubber bellows install would go precisely.
OK, the company that sells these door rubbers is called Encore MPW. They deal in all types of Mustang parts for between 1979 to 2004 and stock the door bellows as i described above. See references below. They do have plenty in stock, but could i appeal to any Forum member not to bulk buy these rubbers for they are a second hand part and are not in limitless supply.
That's about it. These rubbers should work great until someone comes along and produces new repro ones for our market.
References -
THE COMPANY.
http://store.encorempw.com/about-us.aspx
THE PARTS.
http://store.encorempw.com/1979-1993doortopillarbellow.aspx
THE PICS. ('73 rubber is the clean one)
AUSTIN'S HANDY INSTALL TIP -
The measurements i provided above should be accurate. I used a vernier caliper to get them. However, before any drilling out of the doors or pillars takes place, you should experiment by test drilling holes in scrap auto sheet metal first, and try fitting the rubbers in those test holes to see what kind of a fit you will get. Also, trying pulling fairly hard on the rubbers to make sure they will not pop out easily from the drilled holes.That's super important when you think about it, because you don't want the rubber bellows popping out of the holes easily in real life, and also, if you drilled the wrong sized hole on your car, you'll be in real trouble to try and rectify that problem as well. You shouldn't need any lubricant when pushing in the rubber bellows, as the lube will only make it easier for the bellows to pop out when under any stretching when the door is opened. Experimenting first is the important key here.
Many thanks,
Greg.
One of the many parts you can't get for '71 to '73 Mustangs are the original door to pillar rubber bellows that let the electric wiring for power windows and speaker link ups happen. These rubber bellows link the front door and the pillar which goes into the cabin of the car.
I know that recently a Forum member found some rubbers that came close in size,and could be used effectively,but were on the thin side. Well my news is good, because by accident, i stumbled on a find recently that lets you get hold of door rubber to pillar bellows that are almost the same as the original 123 Mustang ones. These rubbers are from Ford Mustangs from 1979 to 1993 i believe. I ordered two and had them shipped to Australia. At the same time a private seller on E Bay, was selling only one original 1973 door rubber bellow in mint condition for $54.00 Au. I bought it and recently made an accurate comparison between the original Ford factory bellow and the '79/'93 ones.
The stats are as follows - Overall length = the same. Thickness = '79 was 1 and 9/16 thick while '73 was 1 and 7/16 thick. Hole diameter drill out for door was '79 2 inches and ''73 1 and 7/8 inches. Hole diameter for pillar drill out was '79 1 and 5/8 inches and '73 1 and 1/4 inches. So your hole for the pillar drill out will be a little larger for the '79 bellow than the '73 bellow. The door drill outs are virtually the same. The conclusion is, that these rubbers will fit the bill very well if you end up needing to buy this type of door rubber. Mine were in very good used condition, but will need some cleaning and detailing up before i use them, just to get some dirt off them. Both ends of the bellows have sealing grommet lips to slip straight into the drilled out holes for good weather seal out. I have not yet gone ahead and tried to install any wiring that would make me use the rubbers at this stage, so sorry, i can't give any accurate info on how the rubber bellows install would go precisely.
OK, the company that sells these door rubbers is called Encore MPW. They deal in all types of Mustang parts for between 1979 to 2004 and stock the door bellows as i described above. See references below. They do have plenty in stock, but could i appeal to any Forum member not to bulk buy these rubbers for they are a second hand part and are not in limitless supply.
That's about it. These rubbers should work great until someone comes along and produces new repro ones for our market.
References -
THE COMPANY.
http://store.encorempw.com/about-us.aspx
THE PARTS.
http://store.encorempw.com/1979-1993doortopillarbellow.aspx
THE PICS. ('73 rubber is the clean one)
AUSTIN'S HANDY INSTALL TIP -
The measurements i provided above should be accurate. I used a vernier caliper to get them. However, before any drilling out of the doors or pillars takes place, you should experiment by test drilling holes in scrap auto sheet metal first, and try fitting the rubbers in those test holes to see what kind of a fit you will get. Also, trying pulling fairly hard on the rubbers to make sure they will not pop out easily from the drilled holes.That's super important when you think about it, because you don't want the rubber bellows popping out of the holes easily in real life, and also, if you drilled the wrong sized hole on your car, you'll be in real trouble to try and rectify that problem as well. You shouldn't need any lubricant when pushing in the rubber bellows, as the lube will only make it easier for the bellows to pop out when under any stretching when the door is opened. Experimenting first is the important key here.
Many thanks,
Greg.
[THUMBS UP SIGN] Thanks for sharing this with us all [THUMBS UP SIGN] Have i Nice day My friend [sMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES] Regards Lars
