wind noise and hard top cads, eldos, etc. please share your experience

[pacificnwrider]

HI:
I'm curious this morning about experiences had by forum members regarding the wind noise potential for these  hard top vehicles.  These of course include the Eldorados; I can't help but think those monstrous doors and the lack of window frames make these leak air pretty bad.  The ones I've ridden in leaked air pretty bad.  Can the wind noise be eliminated in these vehicles? later model vehicles? Please share!

[Dave Ventresca]

part of the experience of older cars is the wind noise , creaks and rattles of hardtops and convertibles. I am sure even a 31 model A four door sedan would have wind noise.just my 2 cents. Dave 

[Quentin Hall]

I've found that on long bumpy drives, especially after spicy Mexican, I often encounter wind noise. If I look in the rear view mirror and see the the poor old kids in the back going puce green then I roll down the window and say "Who let fluffy off the chain?".....or blame grandma, regardless of whether she is travelling with us at the time.
I had the same problem when I was a boy, and  had a catamaran. It was appropriately called "Passing wind"

[Scot Minesinger]

There are two sources of wind noise, one is the lack of aerodynamics which was suffered when the car was new and is just not going to go away, and the other is leaks which were not present when the car was new presumably.  My 1978 Oldsmobile (first car out of college) was very noisy at highway speed pushing that squared off car through the air. 

The air leaks can be silenced to a great degree by replacing the door hinge pins and bushings (especially on bottom hinge), and by replacing rubber seals around window and door, along sides, top and bottom.  Then if you want to go all out, replace the body to frame bushings to allow less movement of body to prevent deformation and air leaks. 

Any closed body car Cadillac after WWII should be good -remember the demonstration of the fire hose blast on the Cadillac when it fared so well.  It is just a matter of repairs for air leaks.  I write "just", but this can be quite involved, and did not address window alignment and other potential issues.

[R Schroeder]

Quentin, your always good for a laugh. Very colorful description.......ha
Roy

My 78 Coupe is tight. No noise for her. Also hard to close door if windows are up. Tries to compress the air inside, and the door always bounces back.

[waterzap]

I just replaced the window and door seals in my Eldorado. There is still some wind noise. No water comes in though. Also the driver side door is now difficult to close.

[jagbuxx #12944]

Just my 2 cents, my '76 is awesome quiet and tight, the '70 Convert needs l/f window adjusted to minimize a whistle and the '61 is pretty windy around the vent windows.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

All the rubber on my 70 is shot.  It's just so darn expensive to replace them.  Will have to wait until the budget gets a little better.  As for now I went to the automotive section of Home Depot and got some of that self sticking foam weatherstriping and put it on what's left of the rubber around the windows.  Works pretty well, actually.  What I really need is the beltline rubber at the base of the windows.  It leaks inside the doors as water runs down the windows.  Again, the Duct tape department of Home Depot. 
Jeff

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

My wife's 1979 Fleetwood Brougham is all that a Cadillac should be in this respect. 160K and she still cusses the doors when they won't close because it is so tight still. (When did it get to be hers?)

[TJ Hopland]

I remember on my 78 I would roll down a window slightly if a passenger was getting in or out because of the pressure and the 'bounce back' that others have mentioned.   I must have figured out how to close the door when I did it.  I could not tell you how but I bet if I got in a 78 I would be able to do it. 

[Jeff Moffo]

Has anyone ever replaced the rubber around the windows?  Is it tedious?  My '76 Coupe could use new rubber, but I am leary about taking the old ones off. 

[Walter Youshock]

No doubt new weatherstripping makes a HUGE difference in cutting down noise and leaks.  Everything was so dryrotted on my '57 that it had to be replaced.  Made it a completely different car.  I get a little whistle from the driver's vent window and that's about it.

I do remember my aunt and I going through automatic car washes with the '71 and '72 Sedans deVille.  Both leaked at the roof rail where the front and rear windows met.  The cars were at most 4 years old at the time.  I don't remember wind noise issues, though.

A hardtop that doesn't leak--not sure there was ever one made.  Any car with frameless windows will be more prone to leaks. 

[cadillacmike68]

Wind noise is a fact of life in the convertible. Even with all new weatherstripping, there are just so many joints to leak air. The biggest PITA is the drivers door.  I don't think I'll ever get that right.

Sometimes cracking one or both vents silences the whistling, but not the overall wind noise.

My solution is to just drive with the top down most of the time. That and the radio at high volumes. 

[Viator Trudeau]

In 1950 my brother bought a new 1950 Chevy. two door sedan.  It was impossible to slam the doors with the windows all the way "up".   The hinge side  weatherstripping was a continuous piece of gasketing fastened to the door on one side and the other edge to the door post.  With the windows up no air got past the hinge side making pressure in side the car at the last 1/2" of door sealing.??   Tried many times no matter how hard trying to slam doors, would not latch.
V.Trudeau  #8697

[Aaron Hudacky]

My 70 Eldorado has all original weatherstripping, 90,000 miles, and it is very quiet at 80mph.  Big doors and frameless glass don't equal wind noise unless something is worn out or misaligned.  My 79 Coupe deVille has much more wind noise than my 70, but it has had a harder life and the window seals inside the door glass frames are completely shot.  It was a tight, quiet car until the drivers door window was shot out.  The new window cracked the seals while I was adjusting it, and even with leaky seals it still isn't very noisy.

[Scot Minesinger]

My 1970 DeVille convertible does not have any wind noise after replacing all (I mean all, doors top rails, bow and etc.) weather stripping, top mechanism bushings, body to frame bushings and door hinge pins and bushings.  Top down driving is preferred though, otherwise I would have purchased a closed car.

[cadillacmike68]

Scott, 1969 & 70 didn't have the vent windows which are a PITA to get just right. I had all the weatherstripping replaced, which helped, but there's still wind noise.

My passenger side is OK, but not the driver side. The driver's door had been replace some time before I got it, and nothing has ever been right on that door. I'm getting a new hinge, door latch, & vent window regulator for it to hopefully tighten it up.