Body Caulk?

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Captainkirk

Captainkirk

Old School Mopar Warrior
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OK.....so The Captain has ripped out his seats, interior, carpeting, etc and is scraping and wire-wheeling to beat the band.....and some of the seam caulk is peeling off the panel seams (under the carpeted area). Is it OK to simply use latex caulk to replace the missing 'junk' or do I need some Extra-Super-Special stuff?
 
I'm not making a definite recommendation, but I've been thinking when I do mine of using polyurethane caulking from a box store. Polyurethane is very tough stuff. I kinda think you pay a premium for automotive seam sealer and get inferior performance.

(Someone else may correct me -feel free)

Edit: quick google search shows at least some of the higher grade seam sealers are PU. One downside, you won't get it off easy.
 
Roofing tar in a tube at home depot. Lot of people use this to replicate that factory look. I'd use the polyurethane from there and call it a day. I agree with Idaho on the seam sealer, that sh*t is expensive!
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Roofing tar in a tube at home depot. Lot of people use this to replicate that factory look. I'd use the polyurethane from there and call it a day. I agree with Idaho on the seam sealer, that sh*t is expensive!
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roofing tar does not completly dry and its not for a nice car, more for sealing up the floor on a $100 junker to get you by

the correct stuff is only $10 a tube and it will seal all you need to do if its just the inside, just don't seal over bare metal with anything you use or it won't stick good
 
Man, you do enjoy being contrary to what I say don't you? Every time.

My tiger UPOL says right in the spec sheet it will go over bare metal.

Read the spec sheet.
 
I used the Dynatron stuff for most of the interior seams (similar to factory), but it is up to $15 a tube at autozone. May be available cheaper , but probably paying shipping. You can get it from places like Eastwood in quart cans - brushable. If you really want it to look like factory, you will need a bucket full cause they just slopped it on. Pretty sure they were dispensing it from 55 gallon drums, LOL. For stuff I sealed underneath i used roof sealer. I used Black Jack Superflash Neoprene.. This stuff does dry, is flexible and will adhere to pretty much anything but grease (whether you wanted it to or not).
 
Well, the more I pick at it (Just STOP IT then, dumbass!!!) the more comes off...and it's brittle with very little adhesion. I'm considering just resealing the entire rear floor panel seam. How much would I need for that seam?
 
If you can pick it off, you should. once it loosens, it traps moisture and starts rusting the seams. If you just want to seal it, you can do the whole floor pan with 1 or 2 tubes. To duplicate original ???
 
Latex caulk is crap. No offense, just my experience. I use polyurethane on lots of stuff cause it has quality adhering, non shrinking, bad *** properties.

Most that old sealer stuff just comes off in clumps. A putty knife will usually get the hard dried stuff off quickly. Wire wheel like your doing for the tuff stuff.

So, at lowes and probably other stores is pure polyurethane caulk. Clean your seam with thinner or mineral spirits really super clean and apply nice bead of polyurethane. It will seal and bond the panel.

3m makes great polyurethane caulk for about 9.90 a tube. You will probably need 2 tubes to do the inside. It dries slowly, so give it 2 days before messing around in there after caulking it.

Also loctite makes some great polyurethane (like 6 bucks a tube). I got the white stuff last time but cant remember which product. I just remember it was white pure polyurethane caulk. It dries slowly.. It is high density, excellent adhesion, slightly flexible also.
 
Of all the products, seam sealer is designed to skin over very quickly, it remains flexible and is paintable within a couple of hours.The cheapest is NAPA and it comes in black and grey @$8 a tube.
Andrew
 
blue missile said:
Of all the products, seam sealer is designed to skin over very quickly, it remains flexible and is paintable within a couple of hours.The cheapest is NAPA and it comes in black and grey @$8 a tube.
Andrew
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exactly the proper stuff is cheaper then most of the replacement stuff you'll find and its paintable quicker
 
66plyValiant said:
roofing tar does not completly dry and its not for a nice car, more for sealing up the floor on a $100 junker to get you by

the correct stuff is only $10 a tube and it will seal all you need to do if its just the inside, just don't seal over bare metal with anything you use or it won't stick good
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The roofing tar trick is being used by guys doing concours restoration. I read that trick from the guys that had the highest scoring car 2 years in a row as well as a few well known resto shops.
 

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AdamR said:
The roofing tar trick is being used by guys doing concours restoration. I read that trick from the guys that had the highest scoring car 2 years in a row as well as a few well known resto shops.
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But those guys are going for correct appearance, over-time performance is secondary.

With that said...... Roofing tar would probably last for years.
 
The tar sure LOOKS good! I'm more concerned with performance than looks. Anybody goes peekin' under my carpet, they're gonna have a Remington 870 goosing them. Just sayin'......:D
 
AdamR said:
The roofing tar trick is being used by guys doing concours restoration. I read that trick from the guys that had the highest scoring car 2 years in a row as well as a few well known resto shops.
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Adam-that pic looks incredible! One of yours?
 
So, I dropped by the local Ace Hardware and picked up a tube of the polyurethane caulk. It went on easy enough. Will check it tomorrow to see if I screwed up in my choice as to how quick it sets, and if it really is paintable (tube says so)
 
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