i'd like to know what other people have done as far as prepping the roof gutters.
i was thinking of stripping it back to bare metal and applying a coat of por15 before primer....

does this sound like a good idea?

what ways have other people done it?

the last thing i want is for the paint to start bubbling in the roof gutters a year down the line, as i so often see on other vehicles.

cheers

kai

Strip to bare metal using a 'clean & strip' wheel and then seal with a two pack epoxy primer. What I do is just before the vehicle is painted, after it is rubbed down, I use 3M 'sprayable' sealer, which can be bought in a sausage or cartidge. This does not have to be sprayed on, but if put on really carefully it is the best sealer to use as it is really smooth. It has to painted over within a couple of hours though as paint is not guaranteed to stick properly if you let the sealer dry. It is an OEM (like factory) car sealer.

I used the 2pac epoxy primer and its great.

Cheers
Dave

the seam sealer helbus is talking about is the shiznit really good stuff in the gutters what you can do is run a bead of it along the length of the gutrter, and pull it into where the 2 panels join using a rag soaked in prepsol, so you can't see the bead, and then paint over it it's what im planning on doing when i do my bug

does the 3m stuff seal hard?

sounds like i'll have to go buy some!

kai

it hardens like rubber, keeps all the moisture out, we use it where ever two panels have been welded together, as moisture sitting inbetween panels = big problems

it's very easy to use.. you can spray it (need a special gun) or use the squeezy gun - silicone tube gun..

cool.

well, i reckon i'll just go buy some of this stuff tomorrow after work.

thanks guys

kai

Remember, you can only put it on just before painting. Also ask for "sprayable sealer" even though you wont be spraying it on.

Why is it called "sprayable sealer"?

That is because it is used in a very expensive gun to make the spattered seal lines like in the boot of a Commodore or varoius other makes of vehicle. It can then be brushed over to make it look factory like as in Toyota Camry bootfloor. It is just like the original stuff.

uummmm this is an interesting read, i only wish that i knew about the forums when i did this part on the t3...
in mine, i didnt exactly do what u shoulda done. i cut all the paint and crap out of the rain gutter...as well as underneath where the roof oins to the main body of the car. once it was bare metal, i pushed in heaps of rust converter, cleaned it then using that soft grey putty underneath, i spent hours sparging and sanding:repuke
on the rain gutter, using my trusty finger i sparged normal filler bog all the way around and then sanded it smooth...
now dont get me wrong...my crude methods paid off..and it does look good. my only problem is now, that grey putty is only meant for nicks and scratches on panels...unlike that pink filler the thicker the grey stuff is, the less strength there is, so i lost a small portion of the underside..u cant see it anyway...as well as this, because of body twist, the bog in the channels has cracked ever so slightly...so far, no orange haze...so i think i am right.
my opinion, learn from my mistake, and use that engine sealer stuff...i was told it wasnt too pretty...but that prepsol idea is hot also if anyones game, there is a paint additive thats designed to make the paint harder to chip, makes the paint softer than normal...meant for the bottom sills for gravel and that...its clear and when applied to paint, i think it hardens, but leaves some "give" in the finish. down side is i dont think its buffable, and i dont think it lasts as long as that sealer.

sorry to harp on:P

jonno

sounds kind of like flexible additive.. plasticises the paint, primarily used for good quality jobs on late model cars - for the plastic bumper bars, so if you have a small impact, the paint dosent "shatter" as the bar flexes