Had a hood nose cancer repair job on the Bird list.
Upon removing the hood, one could really see the lost adhesion of the seam sealer disposed between the inner ribbed hood support stamping and the outer hood stamping. (After 60 years, you would lose some of your grip too.)
However, the sealant had hardened to the point that in many, many spots it was only sticking to one side of the metal sandwich or the other. Worse, surface corrosion was starting to appear on the loose seam side. Then, there is the issue as to how much the lack of fully sealed frontal seams contributed to the nose cancer.
So, out came the putty knife. Every old seam sealant was loosened, creating handfuls of hard sealant in all shapes and sizes, all conveniently stuck between the two stampings.
So, out came the compressed air blaster. Much air, much turning, much grabbing, much fun?
Now, time for the replacement seam sealant, an elastomeric urethane having a hard rubber functionality upon cure.
So, out came the caulking gun. Tubes of sealant, circumferentially placed about all of the seam openings on the underside of the hood, using a solvent seam smoothing action:
dataurl734613.jpg
Luckily, the hood repair already put a repaint on the list. A few coats of color and a few coats of clearcoat:
dataurl734612.jpg
(Of course, the topside cancer was fixed, and it was repainted too.)
Time to re-marry the hood and hinges. No more torsional movement between the stampings.
dataurl734611.jpg
Listen to that solid sound when the hood is closed!
Who knew that shootin’ in the hood could be so rewarding?
(No bystanders were injured in the restoration of this hood.)
Upon removing the hood, one could really see the lost adhesion of the seam sealer disposed between the inner ribbed hood support stamping and the outer hood stamping. (After 60 years, you would lose some of your grip too.)
However, the sealant had hardened to the point that in many, many spots it was only sticking to one side of the metal sandwich or the other. Worse, surface corrosion was starting to appear on the loose seam side. Then, there is the issue as to how much the lack of fully sealed frontal seams contributed to the nose cancer.
So, out came the putty knife. Every old seam sealant was loosened, creating handfuls of hard sealant in all shapes and sizes, all conveniently stuck between the two stampings.
So, out came the compressed air blaster. Much air, much turning, much grabbing, much fun?
Now, time for the replacement seam sealant, an elastomeric urethane having a hard rubber functionality upon cure.
So, out came the caulking gun. Tubes of sealant, circumferentially placed about all of the seam openings on the underside of the hood, using a solvent seam smoothing action:
dataurl734613.jpg
Luckily, the hood repair already put a repaint on the list. A few coats of color and a few coats of clearcoat:
dataurl734612.jpg
(Of course, the topside cancer was fixed, and it was repainted too.)
Time to re-marry the hood and hinges. No more torsional movement between the stampings.
dataurl734611.jpg
Listen to that solid sound when the hood is closed!
Who knew that shootin’ in the hood could be so rewarding?
(No bystanders were injured in the restoration of this hood.)
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