Restoration Rant

[Harry Moon]

another problem that comes up when you smear the stuff and get it into a blind hole, the wrench got a little squishy before getting tight and then BANG i blew the ear of the waterpump mounting, (on my HEMI no less) I had hydrauliced the casting and the pressure found it's own way out . I've got smarter since then .

[hrpearce]

Yes Richard I use sealastic on gaskets because I usually cut the gasket out of the side of a cerial box so a thin smear helps the seal. Where shims are used and thickess is critical I use loctite No. 3 autmotive non-hardening sealant. As for it bubbling out of joins I'm too cheap to use that much

[Howard]

Silicone sealant, gaffa tape & zip ties. Three of the most critical 'tools' in my shed. But you are right, too many people use too much of the stuff. And in my daily work I often see DIY mechanics (like myself) stuff electronic sensors such as air flow sensors & oxygen sensors by using the incorrect type of sealant too!
(Not that this is a problem on CMP's!)

[cantankrs]

Hi Phil,

Sorry to hijack Richard's (important) rant for a moment - and silastic partially blocked engine oil passages can end up disastrous, but..

I've seen this business mentioned in another post I think. Interesting idea and I will certainly consider borrowing it . Washing the c**p off my hands before I touch the computer will slow down the process...
On the other hand getting the gasket cut right the first time is an advantage..
Just need to find some gasket paper that doesn't curl so stiffly you have to soak it in a bucket for a minute before you can get it flat!



Alex
--
M3 Grant, Val, Ferrets, WM20, CMP's

[gordon]

I recommend to the House black semi-structural panel sealant, the sort of stuff they use to seal panel joints during repairs. Bodyline is the most common UK brand from Brown Brothers or wherever.


My Dodges originally used rubber strip to seal round the windscreen glass, side door glass, and rear window glass. Each of those locations are rot-traps because the rubber tends to admit and trap the water exactly where you don't want it.

Dodge windscreens tend to rot along the bottom edge INSIDE where the condensation has run down and collected. You have to cut this rot out and MIG it up, which leave a solid but imperfect channel to re-mount the glass.

Military side window frames with the full metal frames all round can be OK, but the versions used on the militarised civilian trucks (WC3x and WC4x half ton 4 x 2, for example) just used a single bottom runner which when new has a spring effect channel to clamp the glass in its rubber strip. Many of the ones I've seen (OK - all of them) have still been structurally solid, but with no spring left in the U channel area - forcing glass + strip into it just pushes the side of the channel apart.


The structural sealer covers both jobs, and many others. I can mount the windscreen glass in that sealer all the way round and it give a solid clean appearance that absolutely seals, and just filling the bottom channel of the side window frame and pushing the glass into it before it sets gives a solid watertight joint that will never move in ordinary use.

In both those applications, and many others, when it is set, it is rigid, but not so hard that you can't cut it out, shape it, or ease the glass out to refit it if you got the location wrong, plus it also works to glue rubber seals like windscreen outer seals to the appropriate areas, and mount panels.

I'll have to admit I've never used it as a gasket substitute though.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Phil,
Nice to see another dinosaur out there. Neat idea with scanner, if I ever get that far advanced electronically I will be giving that one a shot.
Gordon,
you have described the only correct use for the stuff (is that the sound of guns being loaded), as with a lot of products they are excellent for what they are designed for, and sealing glass like that would be it. The problem is that it is not a cure all for everything that leaks, saw it used on a fuel line (Petrol) once, they do not mix at all well.
If a quick fix is a must, there are several reputable brands of liquid gasket products that are at least designed for this enviroment.

Just don't ask me about my other pet hate, Adjustable Spanners (Shifter's over here) otherwise we'll be here all night....
Chip removed from shoulder
Rich

[Mike K]

I use permatex No. 3 ...you get quite fast at hole punching after a while . I once saw a VW beetle with silastic repair in the fuel tank.. the owner had stripped down the caby 3-4 times , but small bits of the stuff kept on clogging the carby up.

The neighbour here uses liquid nails, the builders adhesive , for many applications..he restores X series Falcons from XK to XF . He's a bush mechanic, but very clever too.

BTW does anyone know where to buy sheets of the special diaphram rubber used in carburettors ... Like Phil, I print out the shape and use it as a template . They ask silly prices ( $20 ) for a 5 cent bit of rubber , and I'd like to make my own. eg, the Land Rover Solex carby has 2 of them

Mike

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

Gordon,
you have described the only correct use for the stuff..
Rich

Rich, as a Champ and Humber enthusiast, you will be familiar with Rolls-Royce's use of Hylomar, RR's catchphrase being that their engines were so finely made that most gaskets were redundant (note that Hylomar's proper use is the coating of gaskets, not the replacement of them).

As Alex has mentioned, trying to find good quality gasket material is difficult. Although living in a mining and industrial area well blessed with industrial and bearing suppliers, asking for gasket paper is met with a blank look and a sweep of the hand towards the Loctite or Permatex stand in the shop. Shops that do carry it tend to be Super Cheap Auto, and the stuff is so tightly rolled it seems to be made from Shirley Temple's hair clippings.