Topic: Sealer Between Roofrail Weatherstrip Channel and Roof?

[drummingrocks]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of sealer went between the roofrail weatherstrip channels (stainless), and the actual metal roof on my '69 Mach.  The car had already been taken apart when I got it, but the weatherstrip channels had been poorly cleaned.  From what I can tell, the original sealer was a very sticky/tacky black goop that remained pliable.

I thought it might be butyl sealer, but one of my friends in the auto body business said butyl won't compress enough to allow the stainless channels to fit tightly against the roof.  He recommended using 3M strip caulking.  The only reason I'm hesitant to go that route is that I'd need to buy a ton of it to make a wide enough bead to seal the whole backside of the stainless channels (it appears that the original sealer covered nearly the entire backside of the stainless).

I've used the roofrail foam in the past, but I thought that was more of a '65-66 thing; I had some foam leftover from my '66 fastback restoration, and it looked nothing like what was on the Mach 1 stainless.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to use?  This is a Metuchen Mach 1, built on June 5th, 1969.  Thanks!

[Aussiemach]

Also same for a 1969 Mach 1 351w FMX Built in San Jose, February 26 1969 if i may please ?

[J_Speegle]

At San Jose in  69 it was still the thin black foam double sided stuff  it does break down in some situations and become gummy.



You can see the remains on the lower A pillar below where the weatherstrip track has been removed

As for NJ I'm going to have to check more pictures

[Dave Stribling]

It's not a perfect match but I found something about the same thickness that works. 3M outdoor permanent mounting tape is about the same thickness as the original tape.  The original sealer was sticky on one side and 3/4 inches wide and black - this stuff is grey, an inch wide and sticky on both sides.  But I trim it down (you really don't have to - nobody sees it), and it has about the same give as the original.




Here's a piece of the original for comparison



Like I said it isn't perfect but it is better than trying to compress a piece of foam tape.  You need 2-3 rolls to do a car.

Dave