Body / Glass: Need advice on Mysterious Floor Blobs

[stude-54]

Greetings,
I'm in the process of getting rid of the factory Spray-on floor covering on my 54 K (to derust, repair the floorboards) and ran into these 2 blobs of hardened putty(?) in the corners of the cabin, where the rear inner fenders, floorboard and inner rear quarters meet. Looks kind of like crusty hardened play-dough, but the did the kids in '54 have access to such hi-tech stuff and would they have stuck it in this remote location? The car IS a Champion, so it was probably owned by a woman with kids.
Hoping some of you experts may help me out of my ignorance hole....
1. What is the purpose, and
2. Should I leave them there or chip them out when I do my floor repairs/rust treatment/repaint.

PS I've belonged to the Forum for a while, (not much to say, but always interested in reading) just got tired of seeing my old bucket sitting in the garage collecting dirt and my wifes spare junk and decided to get it in shape to get back on the road...

Thanks for your help in advance,
Larry B.

[rockne10]

I excised mine. Based on the rest of the floor, you can be certain there is some rust in that corner. Best to find clean steel and use modern seam sealants. I also found golf ball sized globs inside the lower front corners of the interior rear quarters.

[64V-K7]

Appears to be what's commonly called "dum dum', a king of elastic, ever pliable putty that's used to seal seams, holes and odd spots. Not to say it couldn't have been placed in the last 10 - 30? years to hide a hole, but the two identically place gobs would say to me that it's original..... You can still buy the stuff, so if you're looking to spruce the car up, you can restore the goop to it's original glory...

[9echo]

Yes, dum-dum. We used it in the late 40s early 50s to stop water leaks and air whistles in new Fords. It came in 1/4" strips on a roll with 6 strips per roll. I still have a box of it in the work shop. Good stuff and it still is usable today.

[Shane]

Yeah, I found the same thing in my cruiser and removed the stuff.

[rockne10]

Still good stuff and available at your local FLAPS; goes by the name of 3M ribbon caulk.
Hundreds of uses; probably went through a whole box restoring my '53. Just be sure to use it on clean, unrusty surfaces.

[stude-54]

Thanks for the information, I won't be afraid to chip the stuff out and see what's back there.....
This is a little off the subject, but are there any preferable methods of removing the factory sprayed-on rubberized coating all over the floor and trunk? I go between a flat scraper/hammer and heat gun to melt the stuff. (The most preferable method would probably be to hire someone else to do it, but that's out of the financial question right now...) Any tricks or hints?
Thanks

[Welcome]

MORTITE THUMBABLE SEALERMORTITE

[Guest]

The guys in the shop named it for what it "resembled"…but we can't use their description on a G-rated Forum, so let’s go with its official name: "MORTITE THUMBABLE SEALER” from the Mortel Co., their # XKY-34 (Ref.: Studebaker Engineering’s Sound Proofing & Sealing drawing 1314975)

The thumbable MORTITE came in 2” dia. rolls about 2 feet long. The assembler cut it to size, worked it around in the hand a bit then applied it with pressure from fingers, thumbs and/or palm of hand.

Unlikely you will find that exact same product available today as many materials used back then would not meet the "flammability requirements" of FMVSS # 302. Do NOT try it …but if one of those "blobs" got to burning, it would burn & burn & burn while giving off some very nasty smelling black smoke.

Ok, now you've got me wondering, what exactly DID the guys in the shop call it?? Can you give a cryptic hint?

[Welcome]

Ok, now you've got me wondering, what exactly DID the guys in the shop call it?? Can you give a cryptic hint?

Could it be the unmentional part of a horse's anatomy

[Nelsen Motorsports]

My car had it, the undercoating and those globs. Was a pain to remove the undercoating. I used hardcore paint stripper. I removed all of it and used only 2 part epoxy on my floors.