I obviously can't see what the seams look like on your car. I know that
when I rebuilt and painted my car (all new body panels excepts for the
front left fender), I did not seal the seams that were visible, especially
the rear fender/deck seams
I agonized over this decision - not to use seam sealer - but I had seen
too many Tr6s that had cracked paint where the seams were, due to the flex
of the body. When I first when to the paint shop to see my car, I
immediately felt that I had made a mistake. The seams were the area of
the car I fixed on, and they looked horrible to me.
Now, that I have driven my car for three summers, I prefer the look of the
natural seams, and continue to see TR6s with cracked paint on the rear
fender/deck seams.
I was able to get a very tight fit between the fenders and the deck
pieces, and what I did prior to assembly was apply a thin coat of sealer
to the flanges of the fender and deck pieces where they bolt together.
Thus, my seams are 'sealed', so to speak, but still have a natural gap on
the surface, and no cracked paint, except for one very small area where
the painted applied too much paint and it puddled, cracking later.
My car was painted with the body assembled.
The overall look is very clean.
Perhaps what needs to be clarifed is what is meant by 'seaming' the
fenders. What you do not want is a seamer that allows the paint to dry on
top of it, and then crack later.
As your car is already painted, I would think in your case, you could
apply some seamer to the flanges of the fender/deck, and then bolt them
together, being sure the seam does not ooze out the top.
My .02 cents worth (well, maybe .05 cents worth).
Robert Carley
Ontario, Canada
+++++++++++++++++++++++
On Sun, 17 Oct 1999 Harrymague@aol.com wrote:
>
> For those of you who gave me your thoughts on how to paint my new body shell,
> thanks. I painted each panel, the shell disassembled, then as I put the panel
> on. Now that I have had it painted, I don't like they way it turned out. The
> paint itself was outstanding but as I began to put it back together the seams
> along the rear fender didn't look right. With paint on all the edges, I am
> fairly sure that the rust question is gone. But with no seam sealer/filler,
> the gaps in the seam on the rear fenders is unacceptable. I believe that I
> should seam seal these areas, then repaint as the car was done originally.
> Any thoughts out there?????
> Thanks again for everybody's help.
> Harry Mague
> Rome, NY
> 74 TR6
>
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