Captainkirk's Duster project

Well, kids.....it's been quite a week all in all. First, discovering the rust in the trunk. Then discovering the rust under the caulk. Then wrestling with the decision on whether to try to only remove the bad sections of caulk and replace to avoid removing ALL the caulk. But I listened first to the voice of reason, then to the Voice of The Duke who told me in no uncertain terms that he didn't give a rat's *** if I liked it or not.......there's only one way to do things, and that's The Right Way. He posed this question of me; "Cappy, do you want a Fast Car, or a Half-Fast car?"
Ouch. Touche.....
And so, like it or not, every inch of caulk came out....that is, with the exception of the two 'Everlasting Gobstoppers' in each far corner of the rear valance panel....big as a freakin' golf ball and no rust any where near them. I might've been born at night, but it wasn't last night.
I was hyped tonight. I had two brand-new tubes of polyurethane caulk; enough to do all the seams, and then some! I began by using up what was left of the first tube I had bought for the interior and underside. Then I slapped a new cartridge in the caulk gun, snipped the end off and poked the foil barrier at the end and started 'shooting'.
For some reason, I was doing a hell of a lot of trigger action, but nothing was happening.
Finally, a bit of caulk oozed it's way out of the nozzle. I dabbed a bit on my finger, and......NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Tacky. Semi-hard. And Not Happening.
I think, right then and there, I said enough curse words to make a stevedore blush.
Well, screw this. I've got another tube. I drop it in like Rambo slamming a magazine home, snip and poke, and the caulk is flowing. I get about halfway through, laying some decent lines that I flatten out with the plastic putty knife I bought just for this purpose, and then watch in amazement as the side of the tube unzips itself like freakin' Poppin' Fresh dough......ARE YOU EFFIN' KIDDING ME?
It wasn't.
What to do...what to do? I watch in disbelief as the dough comes curling out the side of the cartridge with every squeeze of the trigger. I have the receipt, but the store is closed now. And then The Duke pipes in....
Well, Cappy, ya gonna let a little bad luck ruin your card game?
"Don't call me Cappy. And just what would you do, Duke?" This last with almost a bit of a sneer......
Cappy, if I was a jackass I'd do just what you're doing...nothing. If it was me, I'd squeeze that stuff right out the side and spread it like peanut butter with that knife. But that's just me.
I hadn't thought of that.
I squeezed...Poppin' Fresh giggled.."Woo Hoo!"......and dough squirted out the split side. I scooped up a big dollop and spread it out on the seams. Well, it won't win any awards for beauty, but by golly, it was working. Besides, it would be painted over and then undercoated before seeing paint.
"I'll be damned....you know Duke, this might just work!"
I was answered by Foreigner belting out "Blue Morning". There was nobody else in the garage.
"Thanks Duke. Once again, you saved my bacon, Big Guy."
In the end, I was short. I left the rear valance for tomorrow, after I run back to Ace with my set-up tube of caulk and receipt and tell them where, exactly, they can put it. Valance....that's a funny word.
YOU Valance....YOU pick it up.:D