Has anyone tried to re-create the black sealant GOO on top of the Non Ac heater box on the firewall. All original Flint cars I have seen have this. I have never seen this re-done on a restored car. They all look to neat and clean. This was not the way it was done. I have experimented with asphalt roofing caulk but it may end up a black runny mess. Any suggesstions? Maybe black seam sealer?
Eastwood has black strip seal, that's what I'm using, stays soft. Sold by a 2 lb box. http://www.eastwood.com/ew-flexible-strip-caulk-bk-2-lbs.html
Easiest way to replicate is to wear a surgical glove and use finger to spread and seal. Works every time. Any automotive paint store etc. can supply proper sealant in black....made by 3M. Concours judging should deduct a point. For making any visible seem underhood. If not ask them why?
I used some windshied sealer ribbon rolled out thin and smooshed with a rolling pin. worked great. I dont care about concourse and I had it in the shop so it was free.
The strip caulk is the wrong idea. That is for the recess inside the lip of the heater box. It is not correct for the outer area..The windshiled sealer sounds more correct but the 3M stuff might be the ticket. check out the pics below. One is of a 1970 magzine test car. The other is an original owner untouched 70 GS455.
Correct - that's likely the asphalt based undercoating being used as a sealer on the firewall. Basically you need to figure out a way to thicken up some undercoating and try applying it in small shots to get that pattern. That or get one of those undercoat application guns and play with pressures, distance, etc to see if you can get similar results. I think the factory probably had some sort of sprayer with a "wand like" deal on it with a fan pattern tip.
On my 69 with AC (Flint Car), it used a combination of both. It looks like the box seal was applied (looked like they used a caulk gun of some sort) to the edge of the box and then installed it. When tightened down it squished out a little, the strip caulk will work for this. Then they after it was installed they smeared the sealer just in a couple areas, as shown in the picture (To the right behind the engine). They also use the same stuff to cover the E-brake mount. Roofing tar works well for this, it comes out of the tube a bit on the runny side, but firms up nicely in a couple of weeks. George's site details the sealer: http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/CowlLeaks.htm
Dave This is what my GS looks like around the heater area. I did not have any goo on it. I have owned my GS since 1985 and still has only 62k miles on it. I guess it depend who was working on the area and how sloppy he was or wasn't. I don't believe a judge and deduct points if its not there. George
Pretty much the way we did mine. We used spray undercoating, up close, holding in the can in one place long enough to get that gobered up look. You'll have to go over it several times to get the desired degree of funkiness. Kind silly the things we do trying to reproduce poor factory fit and finish.
Thanks Guys... George where was you car built?? ---------- Post added at 12:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ---------- I am thinking a black seam sealer in a caulking gun covered with a shot of spray seam sealer might produce the desired result.
Dave I believe my 71 GS was built in Flint. I was really supprised how little sealer was used on my car. What I did was just clean-up around what sealer was on the car and resprayed it. I would ask Duane how he would judge the issue on sealer. As I stated before depending on who was working, what time of day it was, what the worker was doing the night before and if he really could care less on how he installed the sealer or not on the assembly line. These cars are not identicial or perfect because they were built by human hands back in the day not by computers which are perfect now! George
I'm a little late seeing this thread so you've probably moved beyond this point in your restoration. Seems like some cars get a heavy amount while others get little, or none. Anyhow, for the '69 Chevelle SS396 sedan that my dad is restoring, he just used some stuff out of a spray can ecause this particlar car didn't have an excessive amount from the factory. In fact this suff he sprayed is really heavier than what it had originally. Not many people are willing to replicate this ugly mess.
Based on personal experience with the level of inebriation that might be expected of the guys applying that goo (like, right after lunch), I can attest to the variation on the application. Working on the assembly line is a pretty boring job, and some of the guys get a little "over-served" when they go to lunch. At the Van Nuys assembly plant where I worked (after the ~90 day strike in 1970), the bars across the street lined up pitchers on the bar countertop, scooping up the money and handing the pitchers over. I've seen guys snarfing TWO pitchers of beer before heading back across Van Nuys Blvd. That doesn't account for the guys who switched over to sour mash- it takes a lot less volume to get toasted. No surprise to me that the quality varies...note that I was 18, in the bar (drinking Coke, laugh if you want to), but the harder drugs were around, and I didn't partake of them either. And still don't.
Steve, not sure if that is funny or sad? Gary interisting what you did with the Chevelle. I ended up using strip caulk in the the box and tightened nuts until it squeezed out. Originals lokked like that. I then sprayed it like you with the 3M brand undercoating and it looks just like yours.
DL, too late for that. Mine is done. I think it look pretty good without being csloppy. Will post pics soon.
