Wheel well sealer

[cob428]

Does anyone have any pictures of how far the outer rear wheel well sealer/ coating went out to the wheel well lip? I researched the "Dearborn undercarriage article" and it shows a very small patch at the top center.
Build date June 11, 69

Pete

[Coralsnake]

The sealer was there to cover the two halves of the wheel well. It varied from a thin strip to full coverage depending on who sprayed it

[Bob Gaines]

The sealer was there to cover the two halves of the wheel well. It varied from a thin strip to full coverage depending on who sprayed it

+1 .Typically on the heavy.

[J_Speegle]

First consider how the sound deadener was applied and other considerations that the workers/managers would have had concerns with. It was applied by a worker in a pit so the car/wheel wells were above and fully accessible. They would not have wanted to have any of the sound deadener escape from inside the cars. Just made a mess on other things that meant clean up so typically we find that at the top outer edge you can find a gap from the out most edge of the wheel lip and a lighter (compared to the center and back of the wheel well) application along the edge - likely a single pass of the wand.  These edges got heavier (likely because the wand was closer to the surface) nearer and at the bottom of the passing of the wand at the front and rear sections along the lip.
At the top of the outer edge the gap between the lip and the soft edge of the sound deadener could be 4 inches or so


You will typically find a greater amount of overspray outside of the wheel well surface at the rear, suggesting to me that this is where the worker ended his pass with the wand. Along the top, sides and back of the wheel well the application of the sound deadener was heavy as mentioned to the point of the build up from multiple and easier access the product surface would sag and droop.  Remember that they did not mask off the area so at the end of every pass along the inner or back of the wheel well up and on to surfaces such as the floor and frame rails. Remember that the pinch weld would block the application of the spray in certain areas so the finished product would reflect this.

It should also be mentioned for those that have not read the article that this step/application on the rear wheel wells was done before exterior paint was applied so much of these surfaces would be coated nicely in some areas with exterior paint


Some pictures to illustrate just a few examples from late production at Dearborn in 69


Picture showing the gap mentioned I've often found at the top outer edge




Group of pictures from a single late built car. In this example the sprayer stopped just short of the lower edge at the rear but didn't at the lower rear and leading lower edge of the wheel well






If you notice in this picture there is a gap between the outer edge of the inner wheel well and the start/edge of the sound deadener  on this particular example



Couple of examples of some of the overspray outside of the wheel well itself during the application process






Close up of a fairly light application of sound deadener




Sorry for being so wordy   

[cob428]

Thanks for the pictures Jeff.

Pete

[cob428]

1) Trunk sealer around rear bumper brackets in trunk is it smoother or rough texture?
2) Also around inner wheel wells and gas tank area?

Phil Quinn sent me pictures of his vehicle (built one week prior to mine) rougher in both areas

Also have pictures of one built 2 weeks after and are different? Don't know how original that car was?
June built 1969

Pete

[J_Speegle]

1) Trunk sealer around rear bumper brackets in trunk is it smoother or rough texture?

Around the rear bumper brackets to the trunk floors the material was sprayed and left a "texture" or look with ripples and "waves" from the thick product and high air pressure. Spray pattern was normally fairly tight. Now at the same time the taillight panel to rear trunk panel was filled with caulking and smoothed with a wet rag.

2) Also around inner wheel wells and gas tank area?

The inner wheel house to trunk floors and the forward application to both trunk floor to the floor panel over the rearend, including the upper side trap door surrounds on the side if the car is a sportroof, were also sealed at the same time (prior to body color application over it)  with the same applicator, product and and method as discussed above. Pattern could be very tight, maybe four inches or so, to eight to ten inches. Guess it depended on how much the worker bent over, reached in or held the tip away from the surface.

Will try and post some supporting pictures from some June built Dearborn examples

As a reminder to others reading this post now or later. Don't forget the sound deadener applied to the inside surface of the quarter panels. This was applied before the quarter panels were welded to the body and the spray pattern connects a fairly small visible patch in the trunk area and connects  to a smaller application to a small patch visible from inside the interior on the sides behind the support brackets.

[J_Speegle]

So that I can provide the best support what bodystyle?

[cob428]

Sorry GT500 FB

Pete

[J_Speegle]

Sorry GT500 FB

Thanks

As mentioned the sealant and sound deadener was applied before body color. the produce remained flexible for a long time so the top surface, exterior paint, often wore away or chipped off over time. In addition owners thinking it was applied over or just wanting to repair the look and surface texture often over coated these areas with rattle can undercoating. If you look closely in about every one of the following pictures where it appears black you can also find smaller areas where the body paint over the product is visible supporting what I shared above.

All from late built cars at Dearborn. Have many more but hopefully this will do the job.



So taillight panel to rear cross member






Bumper brackets to trunk floor. The seam between the trunk floor and the rear cross member seam was also sprayed with the sealant.




Wheel wells and rear interior bulk head, trap door surrounds, to trunk floor and trunk floor to floor panel over rear end seam examples. As mentioned before the pattern and width of the spray can vary a faair amount.









Finally, while we are in the area sealant applied around the spare tire hold down bracket. In the picture you can see the pattern (surface rust) where the sealant was sprayed but was chipped or fell off over the years.





Closing for now with a picture of the quarter panel sound deadener application. Did not reach to the ends of edges of the panel which would have gotten in the way when it came time to attach the panel to the body. Looks like a single or a down and up pass of the application wand

[cob428]

So in the above pictures the sealer goes up the inside wheel well.

In Phil's pic it does not, so  am I to "assume" there really is no set pattern?

Sorry to be so inquisitive I just want to make sure.

Pete

[Coralsnake]

Absolutely every car was different, you can only look at generalities

Certain areas were supposed to be covered

Different people sprayed the sealers

[J_Speegle]

Absolutely every car was different, you can only look at generalities

Certain areas were supposed to be covered

Different people sprayed the sealers

+1 Plus sometimes workers just made a mistake or screwed up and missed an area. If not a mistake often we will find patterns that look to fall into a small set of groups likely produced by one of the three or so workers typically assigned to that task.

If the inspector assigned to watch over the process didn't catch it then it passed through possibly to be caught or ignored if found later depending on how important an inspector determined it was.  cob428 the picture you posted IMO is not typical. Just asking but was that picture from a car built around the same month of so of your car.

If you don't have any pictures of how your car was done originally then you are left to make the best choice based on examples from the same time period and plant so that you reflect the typical practices of that time and plant IMO

Good luck with your choices since you and the car have to live with them 

[cob428]

Phil Quinns Gt 500 built 9 days (June 2nd) prior to mine.

Pete

[J_Speegle]

Phil Quinns Gt 500 built 9 days (June 2nd) prior to mine.

Pete

Thanks. Guess that might be an option depends on your choice between typical practices and what could have taken place. Did you happen to have a picture of the other side to compare and see if the DS was just an opps! or if the worker just was doing that on his shift that day.

Just discussing and exploring if you choose to travel down the path