I'm not sure how many years (or assembly plants) this topic might cover but might cover MORE than just 67-68 SJ examples.
Since San Jose specific firewall pads were not available in reproduction and another thread (I began last year) seemed to indicate the best way was to either A: find an original and use it, or B: repair your own (if possible). I ended up choosing option "B", repairing my own. Another member provided me with a partial/remnant SJ pad as "donor material" and I embarked into a project of pepairing my pad.
Using techniques others had tried and proved somewhat successful, and trying a few ideas of my own I feel I ended up with a fairly good job (maybe I ended up better than "fairly good" since extracting a "very good" original is basically impossible without causing or finding some damage to it...IF you can even find one)
I do not wish to get lengthy on the introduction to this thread but the Real Help came after my initial repairs were finished. I needed a product that was a low-luster and black that could be used as filler and a bonding agent. I needed to find the right stuff for the job. Hardware stores proved to be no help, everything they had that was BLACK was "too shiny" or too "Tar-Like"...I didn't like the tar or petroleum based items since they remained tacky after days waiting for them to dry. I needed something that would cure faster, preferably overnight...
Enter the "Right Stuff"...made by Permatex (item # 85224)
I could use other recommendations if anyone has ideas on improvements...My take is there are ALWAYS better ways to do things like this.
Richard
