The AMD Chevelle project is getting closer and closer to being finished. Craig Hopkins and his crew (Aaron Hopkins, Caesar Brecino, and Chris Dyer) at C. Hopkins Rod & Custom in Commerce, Georgia, have been doing an excellent job bringing the original 1967 SS396 Chevelle back from the scrap pile. In this installment, Craig is going to show the proper places to apply seam sealer for a factory-original appearance. 1 Since the crew was knee-deep building the AMD Chevelle, no photos were taken of actually applying the seam sealer so we snapped the next five to show you how to apply the stuff. After these images, you will see where Craig and his crew actually applied the product. Here we are starting with a freshly primed area of a deck lid.1 Since the crew was knee-deep building the AMD Chevelle, no photos were taken of actuall 2 Seam sealer comes in a few different styles and Craig prefers to use Maxim Control Flow Seam Sealer from Evercoat. Because of its limited flow characteristics, it is ideal for matching OEM sealant. We had a tube of cheaper stuff at our shop and it's not as good as Craig's stuff, but the application is the same. Step one is to lay a bead along the seam to be sealed.2 Seam sealer comes in a few different styles and Craig prefers to use Maxim Control Flow 3 Then, with your finger come back and smooth out. This will also take off any excess sealer, so have some rags ready to wipe your finger off. For a more custom look you would just stop at this step and let the stuff dry.3 Then, with your finger come back and smooth out. This will also take off any excess sea Seam sealing is a necessary step to prevent premature rusting of body panels. Most of the areas that get seam-sealed are where two body panels come together and get welded. Even though they are welded areas, it's just a bunch of spot welds instead of a fully welded joint. That means if left unsealed, water can penetrate the overlapping pieces of steel and sit there, turning into iron oxide—what's commonly known as rust. We despise rust and would prefer it not to show up on the Auto Metal Direct Chevelle. Craig will be seam-sealing all the areas just like the factory did back in 1966. 4 For a factory look, it needs to have brush marks in it so Craig uses a cheap paint brush that he trimmed the bristles down. Then he lightly drags the brush over the sealer putting in the brush marks.4 For a factory look, it needs to have brush marks in it so Craig uses a cheap paint brus 5 The air temperature during this process will dictate how fast this stuff dries, but we would recommend doing about 12- to 18-inch length at a time. If the stuff starts to ball up when you drag your finger across it, then it's already starting to dry. Also, if you get sealer some place you don't want it just clean it off with some thinner or wait till it dries and sand it off.5 The air temperature during this process will dictate how fast this stuff dries, but we 6 Now it's time for the professionals to step in and show us where to put this stuff. One of the best tips we can offer for doing a factory seam-sealer job is to take pictures of your car before you tear it down. This will give you something to replicate when it comes time to reseal the new sheetmetal. The door skin was the first area addressed. The entire perimeter where the door skin is folded over the inner frame is sealed. This area and a few others are sealed with sealer in a squeeze tube. This allows for a super small bead that will be left alone, i.e. no finger wiping or brush marks. The rest of the areas are done with the Maxim Control Flow (MCF) Seam Sealer from Evercoat, which is used with a caulking gun.6 Now it's time for the professionals to step in and show us where to put this stuff. One If you've missed the previous stories, let us catch you up. The first installment showed how to properly strip the car down to a bare skeleton in preparation for all the new AMD sheetmetal. The second story showed new floor, quarters, roof, and other panels from AMD being welded in place. The third installment showed the proper procedure to re-skin a door with AMD's GM-licensed door skin. The fourth talked about blocking out the newly installed AMD sheetmetal to get it nice and straight. 7 Inside you can see exactly where Craig applied the MCF, but basically you want to put it down anywhere two pieces of sheetmetal were joined.7 Inside you can see exactly where Craig applied the MCF, but basically you want to put i 8 Here is a view of the back end of the interior. 9 And it continues on into the trunk. Like we have mentioned in the other stories, the idea of this project is to show you how to take a worn-out muscle car and transform it into an assembly-line-fresh piece. The work on this car was pretty extensive, so think of this as a worst-case-scenario build. 10 Here is an area where we have a raw bead and a brush marked line. The quarter to taillight panel gets a raw bead and the taillight panel to trunk floor gets brushed to be factory correct.10 Here is an area where we have a raw bead and a brush marked line. The quarter to taill 11 This area of the car had pretty wide seam-sealer application so Craig replicates that. If you were doing a resto-mod, the sealer could be applied just on the seam for a cleaner look.11 This area of the car had pretty wide seam-sealer application so Craig replicates that. 12 The last area and the one where we probably all notice the factory seam sealer on is the firewall. This also gets a wide coating with brush marks for a factory look. Now all the seams are sealed and should not allow water to sneak in between. Once all of the sealer has dried, the car can be slipped in the booth for color.12 The last area and the one where we probably all notice the factory seam sealer on is t SOURCES Auto Metal Direct 940 Sherwin Parkway Suite 180 Buford GA 30518 866-684-5942 www.autometaldirect.com C. Hopkins Rod & Custom 7314 Hwy 115 E. Cleveland GA 30528 706-348-6653 www.theinstallationcenter.com DuPont 1007 Market Street Wilmington DE 19898 800-441-7515 www.dupont.com Evercoat 513-489-7600 ww.evercoat.com By Calin Head Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
