What to use to caulk bed side seam?

[farmtruckman]

I have a '72 SWB 4x4 with surface rust and flaking along bed side seam. What can I use to caulk that after it is cleaned out to prepare for primer?

[fordman]

some people have welded thiers shut. i don't remember what the others recommed but that stuff reminds me of window glazing.

[jzjames]

POR 15 is a great product to treat rust and I would go that route:

-Pick out all the loose rust, remnants of paint, dirt, etc. Clean it out as deeply as you can. (blow out the dust).

-Get a roll of masking tape and mask off a line above and below the side seam line.

-Get a small can of POR15. (I just bought a 4 oz. can for $7.25). Apply the POR 15 - scrubbing it in there as well as you can. When it has dried for a few days sand out your line to roughen the surface and re apply another application ot the POR15. Hell, do it three times!

-At this point go ahead and apply a line of primer. Dont spray in a thick layer of primer. Just a light coat.

-Prep and paint your truck bed. You may find the rust will not readily come back. If you later start to notice hair-line cracks that show traces of rust, that will be the time for a final POR15 treatment and another coat of topcoat paint! jz

[jor]

How about Seam Sealer after the Por-15. That's the way they came from the factory.
jor

[jzjames]

I wouldnt think you'd get much added benefit from coating the treated seam with seamsealer. The POR15 is really going to infill that seam quite well, and moisture is not going to touch it from the outside. The seams are two seperate metal panels welded together, and the failure would come if there is even any flex between the panels which might cause tiny hairline cracks along the painted seam. Hopefully the paint ontop would have enough flexion not to crack, thus keeping it dry. The moisture at this point could only come from the inside part of the seam, and if you can get to that, you might seal that with some petroleum based sealerpushed in with the fingers!

[farmtruckman]

What do you guys mean by "seamsealer"? Is this a commercial product or just a generic caulk like Lowe's or Home Depot would sell that you can paint over later. I like the idea of cleaning it out and then coating with POR-15. The problem with that stuff is that you don't want to get it on you, or you live with it for a while. In fact, maybe I am on to something, less wear and tear on me if I coat myself with that stuff!!!


Thanks for the suggestions, though.

[mrgreed]

I am a firm believer in POR-15. However, more often than not these seams are very pitted. If you are dealing with a pitted surface You will probably want to hid it. If that is the case than I would suggest using 3M-fast N firm seam seller #08505. The trick to this is that it has to be 100% dry before you paint over it or it WILL SHRINK and CRACK. The cool thing is that after you apply it you can smooth it out with a lacquer thinner soaked rag. This will give you a nice clean look.

A lot of guys like the idea of welding that seam. I must say that does look cool. But, the thing I always wonder about--What if you ever had to replace that lower box side? that would suck...


Mr Greed

[FORDification]

Here's a link to Eastwood's seam sealer. This is what I recently purchased for my project, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/prod ... uctID=1595

[mrgreed]

Coming from Eastwood it is probably good stuff. They seem to have a good inventory of Quality products.



MrGreed...