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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2668
Location: Sydney Australia
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 Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:43 pm Post subject: Why you should paint before seam sealer |
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Whilst searching myself for locations of seam sealer used on bug bodies I came across an old photo of my body off restoration and why you should paint before seam sealing.
The photo doesn't show it very well but the original paint on the inner quarter panel and wheel well was in great condition. The paint itself had been copiously covered with adhesive to variously hold the bitumen insulation over the wheel well and the for the padding above the wheel well. The discoloration on the upper part of the quarter panel was not rust, but the remnants of the adhesive smeared over the metal. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo after I removed the adhesive as I wire wheeled everything off.
You can clearly see the rust belt underneath the factory seam sealer. It was heavily pitted and required a fair bit of wire wheeling and rust treatment.
This is positive proof that the unprotected seam covered by seam sealer is not the best way to proceed. You MUST paint the seam first.
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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Slow-N-Rusty
Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2020
Posts: 105
Location: SoCal
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| Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:59 am Post subject: Re: Why you should paint before seam sealer |
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| I wonder if different years and factories followed different procedures? I pulled a piece of original seam sealer off the firewall joint just above the area you show in your picture and the sealer was placed on top of the original primer (which looked brand new under the sealer) and the seam sealer had been painted over with the original paint, essentially sealing the sealer between paint and primer layers. This was on a Belgium-built '64. |
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GjMan
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2004
Posts: 822
Location: Grand Junction, CO
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| Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:24 pm Post subject: Re: Why you should paint before seam sealer |
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| Yep. Seam sealer doesn't always adhere as well as paint. Can let moisture in. |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2668
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:49 pm Post subject: Re: Why you should paint before seam sealer |
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| Slow-N-Rusty wrote: |
| I wonder if different years and factories followed different procedures? I pulled a piece of original seam sealer off the firewall joint just above the area you show in your picture and the sealer was placed on top of the original primer (which looked brand new under the sealer) and the seam sealer had been painted over with the original paint, essentially sealing the sealer between paint and primer layers. This was on a Belgium-built '64. |
I have worked on German made and Australian made Beetles over the years and both factories seemed to have followed the same procedure. The picture I showed was from a 68 Euro owned by the family since new. Other locations were equally bad.
VW used to have advertisements back in the day showing how the whole car was dipped in primer after the body was made. Not sure if any seam sealer had been applied at that stage, but you seem to suggest on your car that the primer WAS there before the seam sealer was applied.
Who knows what sort of paint was used 50 years ago as primer?
I'm sure that there are examples of perfectly intact seam sealer paint/primer around but in my case, mine was as shown.
Even though I live in an area with a climate similar to California, neglect of the car sitting around in the rain with ineffective window seals led to the problems you see.
So my suggestion still stands. It's better to be safe than sorry and use a "good" paint in the area under the seam sealer. That's what I'm doing on mine. Clean the surface of rust, then paint with KBS/MS/POR15/Epoxy primer.
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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67ctbug
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2016
Posts: 3624
Location: CT
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| Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: Why you should paint before seam sealer |
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The best would be to epoxy, then seam seal, then paint. They do make "Bare-Metal Seam Sealer" but I wouldn't trust it on a restoration.
_________________
'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'72 Dodge Wrecker
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World Series Champions 2016
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