57 356 A mild resto

[JTR70]

There you are Mark, Welcome back! Yes, that has happened with me bofore when using products that are not compatible. I really liked that tar sprayer you posted a link to. How much does that unit run? Justin

[merbesfield]

Sorry guys for failing down on the job. I forgot the brand name and then forgot to look, duh. Anyhow, I have used several with mixed results. The latest one I am using, which also happens to be reasonably priced, has been great. I had really bad experience once w the Wurth sealer where it reacted to my undercoating and caused cracking after shooting. I am sure it was not necessarily the seam sealers fault, just incompatible products. He would have thought that, you hear it all the time, don't mix products, but seam sealer! Here is what I am using now and I love it. Flows great, brushes great, does not dry too fast, has good control for when you want to do small areas. And not too expensive. I was told that it is a sub line of 3M? I have used 3M, not what Justin has above and did not like it at all. I have also included a link to an Auto body forum that has been very helpful. The guys that run it don't seem to push Their products and are always quick to answer help questions. Good luck and post your work pics. Thanks

http://www.tptools.com/Product.aspx?display_id=1812

http://autobodystore.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?2-General-Discussion

[JTR70]

Hey Gordon,

Mark is M.I.A. at the moment. Here is what I use: 3m heavy drip check. It applies easily, shrinks down into the seam, stays flexible and is paintable. I love this stuff!
Justin

[gkw]

Mark
What type of seam sealer did you use and what did you think of it?
Thank you, Gordon

[merbesfield]

Still debating the look, but thinking rat will be the tone. Will prob leave a lone for a while, then E prime in black. Then someday nice black. I like the idea that the car project has an evolution of style and things to keep me busy

[JTR70]

Congratulations on finding this car! Cherry accident free body with minimal rust; a super rare Bird nowadays for sure. My restoration buddy here in town said he could find cars like yours all day long in the LA times back in the 80's No More, those resto-candidates have all but dried up now. Just cancer buckets today as you well know. Anyway nice find! I see you masked off the body while you sprayed the underside; are you leaving the body as is for a rat-rod look? J.

[merbesfield]

I would like to introduce my 57 356A. I was lucky enough to buy this car from Don Connor who owned it for over 20 years. He kept is safe and dry in his garage the entire time. Prior to that it lived in a barn in GA for 10 years. I am very lucky that it is almost rust free. I am not claiming there is no rust, that would be a joke. But for as old as these cars are and from the many I have seen over the years, this thing is just about rust free to me. The minimal amount of rust repair that will be required is very good news to me. I have just finished major rust repairs on a 68 912 and a 66 Toyota Land Cruiser, so I am very happy to not have to do any serious repairs to this car. This is a cross post of sorts as I have been keeping a record on the 356 registry. link below. My car has a 69 912 engine so it is already an Outlaw. This was done over 30 years ago, so it was an Outlaw way before the name became cool. This is exactly what I wanted bc I am not into the concours Qtip thing. I have sand blasted the front inner fenders, shoot them with epoxy and will be painting them black soon. Then the entire front will go back together. I will be notching the beam to allow for lowering of the front end. Pics soon. Thanks for looking.

How it looked when I first saw it.




After sand blasting front end.






After epoxy primer






After seam sealer.