EVLGSX
5+ Year Contributor
- 655
- 253
- Dec 7, 2017
-
Wallingford,
Connecticut
One of the things thats been on my list that I am finally getting to is the failing seam sealer all over my 97 GSX. The car has less than 80k on it but its obviously old now. Almost every bit of seam sealer on the car is dried out, not sealing anything, and is very brittle. If left unattended, water is able to work its way into every sheet metal joint on the car and create rust in very unfortunate locations. If your car is in good shape and you plan to keep it, this is something you will want to address.
On my car, the sealer beads are so brittle and dry that I am able to simply chip/pick it off with a flat blade and pick. This is actually making the job much easier and straight forward as its cleaning off entirely and leaving a great surface for a new bead. I am catching it before any rust has really started. This is also a car that will be getting painted jams and all in the next few months so now is the time. I have had other DSMs where the seam sealer was fine and there was no reason to touch it.
I will be using SEM self leveling seam sealer to seal all the joints that I clean up. This is a great product if you know how to use it but it requires a special gun and static mixing tips which are rather expensive. Regular 3M urethane seam sealer would be fine for this application.....but if youve never worked with it, I would recommend practicing laying out beads on something before you go near your car with it. It can get messy.
I will update with more photos after I finish it all up. Right now I am doing the drip rails under the lift gate and the joints at each end of the cowl.
On my car, the sealer beads are so brittle and dry that I am able to simply chip/pick it off with a flat blade and pick. This is actually making the job much easier and straight forward as its cleaning off entirely and leaving a great surface for a new bead. I am catching it before any rust has really started. This is also a car that will be getting painted jams and all in the next few months so now is the time. I have had other DSMs where the seam sealer was fine and there was no reason to touch it.
I will be using SEM self leveling seam sealer to seal all the joints that I clean up. This is a great product if you know how to use it but it requires a special gun and static mixing tips which are rather expensive. Regular 3M urethane seam sealer would be fine for this application.....but if youve never worked with it, I would recommend practicing laying out beads on something before you go near your car with it. It can get messy.
I will update with more photos after I finish it all up. Right now I am doing the drip rails under the lift gate and the joints at each end of the cowl.