I am in the process of removing all the bad seam sealer from the inside. Most is the typical black stuff that flakes right off. I found some that is tougher and a yellow like color. Is this the stuff that was used to eliminate sqeaks and make the body stiffer? It's mostly along the outer seams between door still and floor plan and in the floor of the trunk area.

I wasn't able to upload a picture on mobile but will try when I'm on my laptop. The pic was near the rear shock mount. Anyone know what this is and if normal seam sealer will work? I am currently using some 2 part 3m seam sealer. I found another post that confirms what this stuff was for. Just need to know if regular seam sealer is ok or if there is something that will be just as stiff as the original stuff
Thank you

 

never noticed it before, will be on the look out for it. what do you use to replicate the factory black sealer?

 

I am using 3M 08308 Heavy Bodies Seam Sealer. I wasn't sure if there was something more suited to replace the yellow hardened stuff. I attached a picture of the rear shock mount area where some of this yellow stuff was

 

i ran across something that was different than the normal black tar stuff - it was on the outside of passenger compartment, inside the fender close to where the antenna is mounted. it wasn't yellow tho, more reddish, could have turned colors over the years. will look back by the shock next time its up in the air. it appeared to be used to keep the elements out of the metal seams in that area, but that is only a guess. didn't look that close because was just busy with other stuff.

 

There's a removeable foam pad that covers the shock mount area. It looks like it stuck to the car and came apart at some point. Could that be what you're seeing?

 

That's exactly what he's seeing because when I replaced my rear shocks the foam pad was still present , the very same color as that , and a bit of them stuck to the metal when I pulled them off to replace the shocks . I figured they were for sound deadening and I put them back with a small bit of RTV silicone after I finished the shocks .

 

There are definitely multiple colors of seam sealer used. I found lots of the black stuff, the stiff yellow stuff in a few spots and the pink/red stuff.

I used 3M urethane seam sealer pretty much everywhere and also used some Eastwood brush on seam sealer for a few spots (front outer rocker corners, cowl drains)

As long as you use a good quality seam sealer, it should be fine. The seam sealers available today are so much better than they were 30 years ago.

 

There are various formulations of sealers that GM used for different purposes. There's the black mess, the more durable yellow that almost acts like body filler, then there's gray stuff occasionally between panels, and the pink dum-dum stuff around the outer edges of the cowl panel, or in the corners to plug BIG holes. The 3M catalog has a diagram of a car showing what products should be used where. I'm sure I saved a copy somewhere, but I seem to remember that it showed several products that aren't offered anymore. I'd expect that anything modern would work just fine.

 

Thanks Drew for the explanation on the different colors it explains a lot. I am pretty much using the 3M epoxy stuff but have a few tubes of some self leveling Eastwood sealer that I was going to try and use for the cowl drain area. I feel better knowing i don't need a variety of different types to cover everything.
Thanks Again

Sean