TR2/3/3A seam sealer front fender and cage muts, undercoat

[Bruce100]

I took my front fender off, am redoing the suspension. the po painted the inner fender with black spray paint without prepping well, and I removed that as well. Nice original white paint underneath, very little rust. They also brushed on seam sealer on every caged nut, which kept all but one from rusting. My plan is to get the needed stuff done to get it back on the road rather than a full frame off, but not make things harder should I decide to do so later. so I don't want to use anything that will be really hard to remove later. What do you all use for the nonhardening seam sealer between the inner and outer fenders, and for cage nuts? What would you suggest for fender well paint?

 

[TR3driver]

On the cage nuts, TRF sells replacements for both nut and cage. But the ones I got did not fit well (the nuts would not even go into the cages without modification), so I used the ones from MMC instead (which they call "Easy Align Weld nuts"
https://www.mcmaster.com/?m=true#90955a113/=zog7ga

 

[Bruce100]

On the cage nuts, TRF sells replacements for both nut and cage. But the ones I got did not fit well (the nuts would not even go into the cages without modification), so I used the ones from MMC instead (which they call "Easy Align Weld nuts"
https://www.mcmaster.com/?m=true#90955a113/=zog7ga

Thanks Randall. But in my case, all my cage nuts are in great shape, look like new, but one, and I will just make my own for that one. The seam sealer brushed and forced in all around them seemed to do a great job protecting them. I want to do the same. I figure any seam sealer would be fine. I am more curious about what you all do between the fenders. I don't want to "glue" them together.

 

[TR3driver]

Personally, I don't use any seam sealer, just anti-seize on the threads. Works well for me, but of course corrosion tends to be much less of a problem around here. But my previous front apron got crushed in an accident, and the used original I bought had the threads stripped in most of the nuts.

 

[Merlin63Tr4]

I have been using 3M strip caulk to seal the fenders and the cage nuts.
One thinned strip application on the body and one on the fender to sandwich the fender bead before bolting on.
Never hardens, some of the ones I applied are over 15 years old and are still soft.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company...891+8711017+8711413+8716717+3293194020&rt=rud

M.

 

[Don Elliott]

I restored my 1958 TR3A and since 1990 I have driven it over 113,000 miles. I rarely use it in the rain and never in the winter. I have no seam sealer (glue) between the fenders and the body. It was a total off the body frame-up restoration and the paint is still like new - in the seams and on the fenders.

How much will you be driving in rainy weather over the next 25 years ? If you figure it will be low mileage in the rain, don't use any sealer if the parts are all pre-painted off the car before reassembly.

I have no blisters of rusty edges after all this time.

 

[CJD]

Same here...I painted the fenders but did not seal them. That's actually better than my car came from the factory, with no paint or sealer!

 

[TomMull]

Seem sealer, strip caulk, dum dum or whatever you want to call it was an auto industry standard worldwide. It was used on all the bolt on panels of about ever car made at the time. Among other things, it minimized squeaks and rattles, and sealed out water and air. I don't think it was ever used primarily as a rust preventative and I would guess also that the sealer on the cage nuts was incidental.
However, from what I can tell on my TR3, the wings and other panels were bolted on before being painted. There was seem sealer on my front seams, painted body color apparently after assembly, but no evidence of paint nor even primer underneath. If one were to prime and paint all of the contacting surfaces, as is usually done with restorations, and with modern paints, and perfect panel fits, there would be little need for seam sealer. However, my panels don't always fit that well and the sealer is great for filling the gaps. Not that it matters, but I like trying the replicate the original construction too.

Tom