What sealer here

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volaredon

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Sorry not an a body but a Dodge none the less...
I've asked on "dodge truck" threads elsewhere and get crickets so I thought I'd try here.
85 D150
When I bought it, I left it on a trailer in the driveway for about a month before I unloaded it into the garage. Every time it rained I had a wet floorboard on the driver side. I traced the source as best I could at the time, water was coming in and following the corner between the firewall and cowl. I don't think it could have been leaking all that long/ as this thing is rock solid, usually you find something that had a water leak the floorboards are swiss cheese if they exist at all. I now have the dash out, the cowl panel, windshield, and the heater box out. There is a vertical seam just immediately under the fender/cowl seam that has a ~1/4" wide gap showing. When I pulled the heater box all the seam sealer that was adhered to the firewall/cowl seam behind the heater box just fell out. And inside the cowl on the passenger side it appears that someone on the assembly line was looking for someplace to "finish off a tube" of seam sealer in a spot not readily seen. I discovered this after the cowl screen was pulled. All was Rock hard and falling away just by touch.
I'm talking about the vertical gap at the bottom of the windshield channel. I don't remember anything being near there, as I dismantled it.
Do I just deal with regular seam sealer there? It definitely don't look rotted out there.

IMG_20230401_213622930.jpg
 
@Marcus V. You're a body guy. This truck is a twin to the one that you had up front, back when I bought those bedsides from ya..... Except for a /6 instead of yours being a V8.... Any ideas?
Or anybody else?
 
I would weld that gap shut and finish it off with some Duroglas waterproof filler. Then prime and paint so the windshield rubber will seal to it.

20230126_174210.jpg


☆☆☆☆☆
 
Owned a few of those and they all leaked right there in the corner of the gasket.
Piss poor quality but they did not care about quality then. I would seam seal it back up re install the gasket and windshield with the black stuff windshield installers use and water test with a spray hose at the top of the windshield a little stronger than rain. Let it run for at least a 1/2 hour and check. I bet it is all set after that.
Syleng1
 
A local buddy recommended welding that seam but I thought it was there purposely so cab "could"flex a bit.... I know that in later years of D/W trucks that were prone to cracking on the sides of the cowl. Wouldn't welding it shut increase those chances?
In the 90s Mopar offered. "reinforcement kit" that went on the cowl just beow that that was sto be bonded in and reinforced with a handful of basically pop rivets that came with the repair/reinforcement package which is NLA.
I've heard of guys making their own reinforcement plates, either by hand and hammer out of sheet metal or by going to a junkyard and cutting that section out of a cab there and doubling it up on the one they are fixing up....
Or would welding up that gap, / stiffening that area actually be better/stronger???? I don't want to strengthen/stiffen one area and cause an issue down the line....
 
I'm gonna have to check out that "duroglas".
As all projects go im about to the point of no return on the bodywork portion of this truck and am to the point I think I'm gonna pull the cab and strip it bare, sure wasn't wanting to go that far....
 
I've got an 88 D100 that leaks in that corner, and I'll bet you a chocolate covered donut that it's the same deal. I don't like to do stuff over, so I will weld it up, smooth it up, epoxy prime it, paint it and never worry about it again. I'm 65, so that repair will last long enough for me to forget I've even got a D100!

:thumbsup: :realcrazy: :lol:
 
Hopefully can get a solid weld without pinholes.... Hafta be careful being it's only sheet metal.
 
Need a different spool.anyway. I have 0.035 in my mig right now.
Seems most of what I weld I wind up having to do with "short zaps" anyway.
I'm gonna have to pull the fenders, not sure how much further down that gap goes ... Definitely looks factory though.
 
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