55/56 Sedan door gaskets
 

I know I have seen this bounced around here on fordbarn a few times in the last many years, yet I don't know if we've ever really come up with a fix.
These darned Dennis Carpenter door gaskets are terrible. I put a new set on my car in 1993 and put a set on my Courier wagon in 1998.
Both sets have shrunk so much that they don't even touch the doorjamb at the top and rain splashes in, soaking the seat upholstery and leaves puddles on the rubber floor mat.

The car has always been outside these last 45 or so years, but the Courier has mostly been parked in the garage, so if exposure to the elements is the excuse to fault these gaskets, I would be forced to testify that it does not take very much exposure to ruin the gaskets. I believe they are basically worthless.
I have tried to supplement them with stick on foam rubber, but that is not very helpful since the gaskets shrink in both horizontal and vertical measurements. The gaskets at both the top and bottom are deficient in height to begin with, comparing to the original gaskets and to have them shrink only adds to the problem.
Has anyone found anything to help stop the water from coming in? I don't care if its complete gasket replacement with something better, or something to supplement the substandard gaskets.

Re: 55/56 Sedan door gaskets
 

Have you talked to Steele Rubber Products? They list your parts in their catalog. phone: 800-544-8665, www.steelerubber.com .....Bob L

Re: 55/56 Sedan door gaskets
 

Steele gets most of their rubber from Carpenter.

Re: 55/56 Sedan door gaskets
 

Uh... yes, I believe I have heard that before, and I believe that many of the popular resto parts suppliers (Concours, Mac's, etc) are nothing more than resellers of Dennis Carpenter rubber products.

There is an outfit that has been around for many decades you may not heard of; (Metro Moulded Parts) who offer several types of extrusions and hollow foam rubber gaskets. Their inventory doesn't seem to be what it used to be, but I am looking in to getting something from them to "cut-and-paste" onto my old gaskets, perhaps after doing some dissection of a portion of the existing gasket. UNLESS somebody has a better idea, as doing this will be very difficult.