Seam Seal - between caul and fender, Before I paint Options

[ruby914]

It looks like both front fenders were replaced at some time in my cars life.
I can't say they did a bad job but they never replaced the seam seal.
Originally was there a bead of seam seal at the bottom of this gap between the caul and fender? The 3 mm gap narrows to about 1 mm at the bottom. I am thinking I should fill that 1 mm gap. The way it is now water can drip thru in areas. I am not sure if that is a good thing or bad. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[ruby914]

I found this old thread.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=110572
The question was never fully answered, not even by Porsche.
I have a feeling Porsche wanted excess water to drip down between the red and blue lines rather than be trapped under the fender to cowl seal. Problem is they seam sealed this weep hole shut from the bottom side, I think. This may have been a fix for more water than expected going down this path. I saw a photo of maybe a 911 that had a gutter to help channel the water under this seam. I am not sure yet how this will turn out but I an leaning toward Strawman Geoff's thinking. Strategic use of seam seal to fill the smaller gap. Not sure if I will keep a weep hole.

[SirAndy]

Problem is they seam sealed this weep hole shut from the bottom side

I don't think this is a weep hole. On my car that part is brazed shut with what i assume is factory brazing. No hole there ...
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[ruby914]

Problem is they seam sealed this weep hole shut from the bottom side

I don't think this is a weep hole. On my car that part is brazed shut with what i assume is factory brazing. No hole there ...
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Interesting. I just got back to my car and with out the ton of seam seal the joint really looks to function so water will not puddle under the rubber seal. My car is a 73. My car was not brazed but welded on the Aft end. Assuming my car is in no way factory work. Drivers side is very clean and and open up to the weld. So clean on the underside it looks like they didn't finish spot or tack welding it. The metal is set back so a weal weld is not possible. The passenger side, I put the epoxy primer in years ago, looks like it had one more tack weld. But still a clear path for water.
With this I was steering back away from sealing water tight.
It the words of Strawman "If memory serves, it was a factory goober/snot weld that tied those two pieces together... not a traditional pinch/spot weld."

I came back to ask the world about the factory seam seal on the underside.
If the seal is only below the horizontal pinch weld, water will pass thru.
If seal is on top it, fills that passage.
I looked at a 914 6 the other day. I think, it had seal top and bottom. But again, not factory work. SirAndy, yours is brazed front to back without the "ton" of seam seal on top of that?

[SirAndy]

SirAndy, yours is brazed front to back without the "ton" of seam seal on top of that?

No, only the corner of the larger channel is brazed, where the soft rubber seal for the front hood would sit. The part that has a hole in your picture.

The small channel between the fender and the cowl area looks just like yours, with no seam sealer on top.

Without the hard rubber seal in the small channel, water can freely run either forward into the front trunk hood channel or backward and drip into the space between the fender and the door.
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