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Body / Hinge sealants

BigFlo

BigFlo

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There are two things I’m trying to identify and any help is appreciated. On my 65 Belvedere -
1) It looks like the factory used something that looks like plumbers putty in between the inner fenders and outer fenders at certain locations. The same putty is jammed into some of the corners at other locations of the car. Anyone know what this is? Was this used mainly for sealing out moisture or for panel vibration?
2) when I removed my door hinges from the body, there was a black sealant material that sealed the square hole in the body to the bolt going through it. What is this, is it available or is there a substitute?

thanks
 
@Bold & Old keep up with this thread. I told you that what you found around the door hinge bolts was a sealant. You had some good pictures that need to be seen.
What kind of sealer was used I don't know, but there are many today that fit the bill.
 
Thanks- that’s a good suggestion. You can stick it where you want and it will stay in place
 
We used this, 3M strip caulk when I worked at the Bramalea Assembly Plant. It went into everything from Jeeps to 300's to Challengers.
It didn't dry out, even when sent through the paint ovens. I have found it in parts of my 64 Plym. still reasonably soft. I have seen guys use "plumbers putty" aka
epoxy putty. I find that it dries hard as a rock. I'm sure it will fall out over time.
Use caulk strip.
 
I found some strip caulk at Home Hardware and used it on my1964 Polara along inner fender to front fender join. I forget the name of it, but found it with plumbing supplies. It stays flexible and was paintable, too.
 
Fury 440 said:
We used this, 3M strip caulk when I worked at the Bramalea Assembly Plant. It went into everything from Jeeps to 300's to Challengers.
It didn't dry out, even when sent through the paint ovens. I have found it in parts of my 64 Plym. still reasonably soft. I have seen guys use "plumbers putty" aka
epoxy putty. I find that it dries hard as a rock. I'm sure it will fall out over time.
Use caulk strip.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info
 
Hey Big Flow. Getting back to your first question, "mastac" was what we called strip caulking at the plant. It was used pretty much to keep water out in corners and other tight spots where panels would butt up to each other. The strips were cut into "pinches" usually 1 inch or so. As the car came down the line, there would be a guy
or gal on each side of the vehicle to insert the mastac where needed. Depending on the vehicle there could be 2 or more teams doing every second or third car. Sometimes there was also another team that would do the trunk and under the hood. After this the car would travel down to have liquid seam sealer/sound proofing sprayed into the wheel houses and other seams under the car. Next into a sealed area where again 2 or more teams would wipe down the entire car with silicone pre wash before its trip into the paint shop. Of course, mastic and spray sealer was also applied thru out the early build on various top and underside parts of the car starting when the shell was first constructed until just before it hit the paint shop to be lightly baked with the paint.
 
Again, if your interested. The spray sealer/sound proofing that went into the new cars was an acrylic base. I never asked my 3M rep what the trade name was.
Because it was acrylic, it was mostly applied just before being baked. Our old hot rods used a solvent based product in the trunk, underside etc. I guess that's why you can remove it with a propane torch and a scraper. I would not like to try to take off the new type, it seems to harden much more than the old type. I'm told that as a replacement for the old stuff, todays "restoration experts" actually use truck bed liner. Can any one tell me if they have used it in their resto? Does it work?
 
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Fury - interesting info on the production line. Regarding bed liner, I did not use it, but I’ve seen threads here that say it’s been used. Search around and you’ll find them. Some folks swear by it and others don’t.
 
Jerry Hall said:
@Bold & Old keep up with this thread. I told you that what you found around the door hinge bolts was a sealant. You had some good pictures that need to be seen.
What kind of sealer was used I don't know, but there are many today that fit the bill.
Click to expand...



Jerry Hall said:
@Bold & Old keep up with this thread. I told you that what you found around the door hinge bolts was a sealant. You had some good pictures that need to be seen.
What kind of sealer was used I don't know, but there are many today that fit the bill.
Click to expand...


The thing is how to get the sealer in the square holes with bolt in place?

and not getting any sealer interfering with the bolt threads.

all Bolts were dead center of the square and rectangular holes on the body side hing placements when taken off... see pictures.

Possibly the square holes were fitted with oversized square foam rubber holding the bolts in dead center at factory for correct lineament of the hing to body?

when rubber is compressed seals the hole up

that is just assumption that has some merit from my prospective.

Thank you





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9 7 21 007.JPG
9 7 21 004.JPG
9 7 21 002.JPG
today 003.JPG
 
Last edited:
Bold & Old said:
The thing is how to get the sealer in the square holes with bolt in place?
P
and not getting any sealer interfering with the bolt threads.

all Bolts were dead center of the square and rectangular holes on the body side hing placements when taken off... see pictures.

Possibly the square holes were fitted with oversized square rubbers holding the bolts in dead center at factory for correct lineament of the hing to body?

when rubber is compressed seals the hole up

that is just assumption that has some merit from my prospective.

Thank you





View attachment 1168263 View attachment 1168264 View attachment 1168266 View attachment 1168267 View attachment 1168268
Click to expand...

I believe that stuff was shot out of some type of dispenser and was wet when assembled. It’s the same stuff found under the fender to inner fender rail at least it was on my 67’ barracuda.
 
I found this in many of my restos over the years. I usually kneed out a small piece of 3M windshield tape. Put it on a piece of wax paper. Cut a square to fit the hole in the car with an x-acto knife. Then take a brass tube (K&S brass tubing is found at almost all hobby shops) slightly larger than the bolt and punch a hole in the square you cut with the tube. After a bit of playing around you will get the hang of it. You will have a number of small square "donuts". Insert donuts in hole on car. I find that the windshield tape is easy to handle. It is fairly sticky and will stay in the hinge hole while you pass the bolt thru. By the way, the wax paper is just to stop the tape from sticking to your work bench. It might not be "factory" but it works.
Most body shop supply places have this tape as does Year One. I've had a roll of this stuff for over 30 years, and it is still like new.
 
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I guess I should add that when installing the square donut you made into the car use the brass tube as a tool to pick up the donut by inserting it into the hole you punched. Put a little oil on the tube so it is easy to remove from the donut after it is in place. I know the way I've written this makes the process seem complex but think it thru and you'll see it's easy to do.
 
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Yes, A perfect tool for doing this job. I use the brass tube simply because I happen to have them around. A leather punch set is something that once you have one, you don't what you did without it.
 
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