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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Sealing Trunk/Tail lights

Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 06:09 PM

I knew my rear trunk had leaks and I suspected the tail light assemblies since these are often the problem. The October 2005 edition of Excellence has a mention on page 172 of a product called "Dum-Dum" that is meant for sealing such things. I checked at my local Napa and at first they had no clue what this was. Then one of the "old guys" wandered by and knew that it was a generic name for a type of product. It turns out that the actual stuff is actually called "3M Strip-Calk". You get 60 feet of it for about $15. Here's a picture of it in the box.

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Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 06:10 PM

It's really sticky stuff. You can roll it between your palms if you need to make it thinner. It sticks to the body (and your fingers) with no problem.

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Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 06:11 PM

After I reassembled the stuff squeezed out a little. I haven't trimmmed it off, but I could and the excess cleans up with rubbing alcohol.

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Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 06:14 PM

So after I have it assembled, I test for leaks by putting paper towels under the tail lights and under the bracket where the trunk shocks mount. One tail light area was dry, but both areas under the shock mounts were wet!

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Posted by: olav Oct 15 2005, 06:16 PM

Excellent!

I was wondering what that "dum-dum" stuff was.

I nominate this thread for Classic status!!

Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 06:16 PM

When I took off the bracket, here's what I found. Not only was there no seal under the bracket, but there were extra holes. One of the holes was not even completely covered by the bracket backing piece. I find it amazing what the PO did on this car! At least a little bit of Strip-Calk under the bracket backing plate fixed it up just fine. No more wet trunk!

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Posted by: Dave_Darling Oct 15 2005, 06:51 PM

I just hope you never have to remove the taillight housings for any reason... Stupid bodyshop did the same kinda thing to my taillights. Then they super-glued the lenses onto the housings. Morons.

--DD

Posted by: smooth_eddy Oct 15 2005, 08:53 PM

I have leaks in my trunk too. I took off the tail light assemblys and used a small bead of clear silicone caulk to keep the water out. Well what I found after all that work was I still had leaks. What happens to my car is the water from the surface of the trunk lid wraps around the lid and works its way past the trunk gasket and drops into the trunk. So, maybe I elimated an entry point at the tail lights but water still gets in from the trunk lid. For some reason the trunk lid does not fit tight at the seal. Eddy

Posted by: RustyWa Oct 15 2005, 09:18 PM

QUOTE (Dave_Darling @ Oct 15 2005, 05:51 PM)
I just hope you never have to remove the taillight housings for any reason... Stupid bodyshop did the same kinda thing to my taillights. Then they super-glued the lenses onto the housings. Morons.

--DD

The "3M strip-caulk" stays soft and pliable. Does not harden.

Posted by: markb Oct 15 2005, 09:20 PM

I think I did it the easy way & called Dave at GPR.

I'm known for taking shortcuts like that.

Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 15 2005, 10:03 PM

QUOTE (RustyWa @ Oct 15 2005, 08:18 PM)
[The "3M strip-caulk" stays soft and pliable. Does not harden.

That's good to hear. The article in Excellence didn't mention it and there is nothing on the product that says anything about it either. DD had me worried!

Posted by: lagunero Oct 15 2005, 10:22 PM

Of the 60 ft. how much was used?

Posted by: SGB Oct 15 2005, 11:06 PM

QUOTE (smooth_eddy @ Oct 15 2005, 09:53 PM)
What happens to my car is the water from the surface of the trunk lid wraps around the lid and works its way past the trunk gasket and drops into the trunk. So, maybe I elimated an entry point at the tail lights but water still gets in from the trunk lid. For some reason the trunk lid does not fit tight at the seal.

that makes a kot of sense, The underside of the trunk is prolly a vacuum of sorts that pulls water up
the good news- its easy to tighten the plunger device on the trunk lid- loosen the locknut and flathead screwdriver to tighten just a little,

the bad new-mine is tight but it is STILL wet in there...
I think the side parts of the taillights are like scoops and the water comes right through the bulb sockets,

Posted by: redshift Oct 15 2005, 11:16 PM

I poured about 2 cups of ospho in my trunk, so it just reactivates when wet.

It's tweaked, AND I am sure the water comes in from the front edge.. and sides... and lights...

Kevin Costco could have saved money, by renting my trunk to produce Water World.

M

Posted by: bd1308 Oct 15 2005, 11:19 PM

Kevin Costco

the supermarket guy?

he'd probably use your trunk to hold the lobsters.....

b

Posted by: ThinAir914 Oct 16 2005, 12:44 AM

QUOTE (lagunero @ Oct 15 2005, 09:22 PM)
Of the 60 ft. how much was used?

Only 3 lengths - that's just under 3 feet.

Posted by: smooth_eddy Oct 16 2005, 01:50 AM

QUOTE
that makes a kot of sense, The underside of the trunk is prolly a vacuum of sorts that pulls water up
the good news- its easy to tighten the plunger device on the trunk lid- loosen the locknut and flathead screwdriver to tighten just a little,

Well with a perfect trunnk lid and perfect truck that would work. Unfortunatley, I either have a bent lid or the trunk is bent from an accident. It looks fine, but my guess is someone tried to pry the lid open at some time. They do not mate properly. E

Posted by: reverie Oct 16 2005, 03:34 AM

Eddy, I have a good rear trunk lid that you can have for free, if you wish. It's bare metal and in very good shape, ready for primer and paint (or just primer). I think it still has the seals and little rubber snubbers on it. Maybe you could try it and see if it solves the problem? I can deliver it to you next Friday or Sunday.