What is this stuff???

Rustedjunk

Senior Member
I was picking at the 47 earlier today and noticed this 69 year old dried up caulking material in the crevices. What is it called and what is a good replacement?





 
Not exactly sure what they used in the 40's, but I use a new product to replace it with called Tiger seal. Avail from most automotive paint stores.
 
Thats a form of tar, can't remember the name 'not roofing tar'. Open up a Model T
coil box and that's what you will find.
 
Thanks for the info. My floors are actually not that bad. Maybe two small holes but it's still pretty strong. I'm going to sand them down, apply Rust Bullet and Then Rust Bullet Black She'll and that should protect it until Jesus returns. Lol
 
What you are seeing is "car cancer" usually due to the padding under the floor mat becoming wet. Coatings may reduce wetting, but if your car is valuable, the badly rusted floor pan should be replaced. Most good suppliers sell the pans. You can replace the whole one, or cut patches and that fit the contours of the section. Never buy an old vehicle without pulling up the floor and trunk mats to check for heavy rust.
 
FoMoCo used a coating that is basically just like undercoating in the cars of the 50s to keep the noise and temperature levels in the cab more stable. I don't know if they did this in the late 40s or not. There are much better products that can be used in this day and age that will perform better and cause less corrosion problems. The old under coat stuff would crack open and allow moisture in between it and the metal effectively holding it there to aid in cancer growth. The old jute floor pads didn't help the matter much either since they were like a sponge.
 
Asphaltic products usually had a fiber of some sort in them to increase their strength. Possible asbestos content is but one of the many hazards associated with old autos. Other hazards that I can think of are lead, busted knuckles and wife finding out what you actually spent on the car.

It is well known that brakes also had asbestos in them. Use a respirator for the brakes, this stuff your talking about probably isn't much of an airborne hazard.
 
What you are seeing is "car cancer" usually due to the padding under the floor mat becoming wet. Coatings may reduce wetting, but if your car is valuable, the badly rusted floor pan should be replaced. Most good suppliers sell the pans. You can replace the whole one, or cut patches and that fit the contours of the section. Never buy an old vehicle without pulling up the floor and trunk mats to check for heavy rust.

I bought this car from a kid knowing that this car had a little rust. This was all I could afford because the older guys I met wanted a arm, leg, and a eyeball for a ford in the same condition, and non running. I'm not doing a full restoration on the car, it's just going to be a slightly pampered driver that I plan on taking to the Salt Flats. Other than that, I just plan to have fun with it and make it last.
 
There is a wonderful product made for what you are trying to do. POR-15
It is applied with a brush. Buy it, you'll be glad you did.
 
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