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Despite trying to stay out of the rain, it can be quite unpredictable and therefore unavoidable in Houston. In one downpour, there was slight seepage appearing on the headliner above the windshield on the driver’s side of my 1932 Club Sedan, although this was long enough ago that I can’t recall for sure if this could have worked its way up from the hole for the windshield wiper.
Presently, the opening in the top is covered with an intact, textured, vinyl-like material. The edges are covered with a slightly rounded, 5/8 inch wide aluminum strip which has nails 2 to 3 inches apart to hold it in place. In most places, it appears as though the gap between the aluminum strip and the body has caulk already in it, but I don’t see sealant at the inside edge of the aluminum strip.
I would like to seal the top as it stands rather than removing the insert and starting over, and I would like to make a visible seal at the inside edge of the aluminum strip as well as any places on the outside edge of the strip where a seal is not apparent.
I could use black silicone caulk in a caulk gun to make a seal, but caulk in a gun is hard to work with and can get quite messy. And although I’ve looked some on the web, I haven’t yet found a ribbon type product that looks appropriate for my application, nor do I know that such a product would work well.
I’ve also been told that I should use urethane rather than silicone, although I would think that this would require removing the present insert.
Any experience or thoughts from members would be most appreciated.
Buy a large hypodermic syringe. I use Permatex Ultra Black gasket sealant RTV. It is way beyond any ‘silicone’ I’ve used.
Squeeze some of the ‘Ultra Black’ into the syringe, and practice using it as a very small caulking gun to put a fine, controled bead of sealant under the edge of the top’s aluminum strip. Practice first on some pieces of wood, or whatever to learn how much pressure, speed of applicaiton works etc.
I have seen and bought a syringe that has a plastic curved nozzle on it, they are usually used for grease, but would work well I think with the sealant. I’m sure there are online places to buy this type of syringe.
If I can dig one up, I’ll photograph it and post it here.
Greg Long
When I did my 1929 Club Brougham insert I carefully masked both sides of the bead with HIGH QUALITY masking tape, The thin edition of blue 3M is perfect. Smoothing the sealant bead with a wet finger after approx. every 2 feet. Keep a good supply of paper towel small (I found that around 4″ square the best)offcuts handy to frequently clean your finger & the caulking gun tip using a new piece EVERY time. This stops the “”Sticky guck fingers”” syndrome. Leave the masking tape in place for 24 hours & then carefully peel it off. This leaves a very neat bead. The added benefit is that smoothing the bead with your finger forces the caulking into any gaps. Worked a treat for me. Ps. It was a neutral cure black silicone made by Sikaflex. NOT the local plumbing store stuff.
Good Luck