Repainting Air Dam, what to do with rubber "weather strip"

[ddddddd]

Hello, I am in the middle of repainting the air dam on my X, and while taking it off, I had to peel off the little rubber strip across the bottom where the air dam meets the roof of the car. This thing had a bunch of rotten adhesive holding it to the air dam (which i scraped out) and a strip of double sided tape that glued it to the roof.

Is this thing necessary? It is gong to be a PITA to get rid of all the sticky tape on it, and I am wondering if i can get away with trashing it. Was this rubber strip only used to keep water from going into the sunroof area? or was it used to prevent air from getting under the plastic air dam?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Roadwarrior]

I think it is to keep air from out of there, you can leave it off but that piece is going to vibrate and weaken itself. I would think that you could get regular weather stripping and use that.

 

[ddddddd]

Ok I'll try to re use it, and if it doesn't work i'll get some regular weatherstripping. THanks.

 

[TKDx00]

Mine blew off years back on the highway. Without it there will be a VERY noticeable vibration that you WILL hear inside. I got a 36" piece of plastic 1/2" clear tubing, razor blade, some Epoxy. Split the tubing then slid it on. Once I got it measured and fitted the way I liked, used the Epoxy on the back side to seal it in place. No problems since.

 

[Prime]

Mine didn't have any adhesive, though there is a clear plastic strip stuck to the roof of the truck where it makes contact. I was able to paint it with everything else and simply reuse it. A note on painting the cowl. Prep prep prep. It's a large flat surface, and if you don't do enough prep work, it's really difficult to paint evenly.