Seam sealer

[69gladiator]

I want to repaint the chipped wheel well flares. The paint is chipped and starting to form surface rust. My plan is to sand, coat with rust encapsulator, epoxy prime and top coat. I read and been told to use seem sealer between the flare and body and others say not to seal the seems The argument against using seem sealer is that it traps water behind which in turn hastens rot. What does the forum think?

[tgreese]

I recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005R ... =UTF8&th=1

Won't be any gap if you use sufficient sealer. You also paint over the seam on both sides; even if there's a pocket left by poor application, it's sealed with waterproof top coat.

[candymancan]

Factory i think did it.. mine has it all over those areas

[Srdayflyer]

i would use the seam sealer, make sure u use and excessive amount of sealant and you get good squeeze out and clean off the excess, make sure you coat both pieces prior to install so no air is trapped between the parts and you should be fine, i ised and aircraft sealant on a restoration and its not going to have an encapsulation rust issue

[Herk]

Also you want to clean the old sealer out of the seam completely and remove or acid treat any rust between the two pieces of metal.

[Laredo Matt]

.
I used seam sealer on my build.

Anywhere the factory originally had it I removed and re-applied, including between the flares and body. I think I even have some pictures in my thread of the factory seam sealer I removed from between fender flares/body. Looks really good when painted and factory lasted 40 years with no rust so I'm guess I'll get at least that

I used a 3M product. Don't know which exactly but could dig it up if needed.