Gutter Putty

[BKE]

Somewhat related to LarkingAround's "People do strange things" thread.
This is the "Putty" that is in the rain gutter of my '61 Lark. From some of the responses, I'm wondering if this is factory applied material. If so, I can understand someone trying to smooth it out and fill in the gaps with more filler to prevent water from being trapped in the cracks and gaps. It is very hard and cracked, as shown, with some material missing. Should this material be entirely removed, then replaced, or what? I don't think there is any rust under it, as there is really no rust anywhere on the vehicle.





Brian

[(S)]

Thats the type of lacquer base stuff I was referring to on cars up to about 1962 or 63. It shrinks and dries out. It needs attention with modern, semi flexible stuff. That looks factory. If you look close, the actual seam is vertical and it does not require such a large bead. It will need metal etch primer, new sealer and careful masking and it will repair just fine. Best done at a body shop. Working seam sealer is an art.

[2R5]

One big problem with original stuff is that they put it on before priming the car , it needs to come out then prime the area then put in the new sealer putty that stays flexible .

[BKE]

I'm not sure why anything needs to be in the gutter, only impedes the water flow. Seems like just a nicely painted gutter would be fine.
I would like to do something about it, because as is, it just holds water in those voids.

[wdills]

When painting a car, it should all be stripped out. The bare metal primed with epoxy primer and them apply a 2 part self leveling seam sealer prior to painting.

[StudeRich]

There are THREE sheets or sections of Metal welded together at that Drip Rail Join, without Sealer you will have rot holes THROUGH the roof in short order and bubbles in the Paint above.

Most of us have seen them rotted through.

[BKE]

Thanks for the inputs, now I know I will need to replace the material with another sealer, rather than just removing and painting.

[Warren Webb]

I prefer to use a material such as POR15 after removing all the old sealer material. The negative of POR15 is it does not hold up when exposed to uv rays & needs to be topcoated with either an epoxy primer or color coat. Eastwood has a similar product that claims to be uv resistant but I haven't used it yet. The 3M seam sealer I've used for the gutter/drip rail area has also disappointed me in it's proformance but it's been a few years since I did this & there may be newer material since they had their "drip check" product that I used.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Totally agree. You need to chip all the old stuff out and clean out the gutter with a small wire brush on a drill. I like POR15 . Care fully apply a couple coats. Then I use the best paintable caulk I can find. I use 3M products, but I cannot remember the last time I was happy with their performance.