The Virtues of Strip Caulk
Good Ole 3M Thank god for 3M. They have made lots of neat stuffs: the post-it note, kydex, tape...and STRIP CAULK I only heard of strip caulk last year. I think I was talking to a "Porsche guy" at one of the local Porsche shops and I asked him how I could stop leaks in my 914 without having to buy new seals. He then proceeded to rant about the virtues of strip caulk. What suprised me is that everything he said was correct, and then some.
Uses of Strip Caulk Now some skeptics would have you believe that there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do things. When we (my father and I) were installing new seals (which didn't damn fit btw, more on that later in another section, not this one) and before we had removed the old ones we had a fairly big argument about how they should be affixed to the car. My father's idea was to get a whole bunch of silicon caulk/goup and "fill 'er up." This, in my opinion, was crap. Who the hell would bond silicon caulk to their car...to the paint. Certainly not I. I countered my father's ass comment with: "Why don't we just stuff if full of strip caulk. That shit is so sticky and plastic it will hold the rubber in place and retain water-tightness." To which he replied: "Don't be an ass. No one uses strip caulk on cars. This stuff is just for people who don't want to do it right." And then I said: "Why don't we just remove the old seals and see what Porsche did?" ...who do you think was right.... A quick five minutes later and guess what...STRIP CAULK. Or something damn close to it. Apparently Porsche or whoever put new seals on my car seemed to think that strip caulk was the right thing to use. We ended up using the strip caulk to bond the seals to the car (strip caulk can be removed (with difficulty) using Ethenol). We also used the silicon caulk...just not to bond the rubber to the car. I don't feel like delving into the whole: "The seals don't fit despite the fact I just paid a crap-load for them and they're a bitch to get on and they rip and they don't seal all that well..." Which leaves us with one more thing: Strip caulk can be polished. Yes, polished. All you do is to put a liberal amount of water on the caulk and rub it till it shines. (You think I'm making some obscene comment, but I'm not. Well, maybe I am. But you only thought of it becuase of you obscene thoughts. Good for you!)
Final Caulk Thoughts Strip caulk is great stuff. It sticks to almost everything. Including your fingers. It comes off, with some work, using alcohol. Rubbing alcohol doesn't work as well as ethanol(sp?). It is really good at filling gaps when water/air tightness at lower pressures is required. It is shiny (after polishing) AND It's damn cheap. I keep a box in my car at all times. Comes in handy during winter when those leaks magically appear and drip right on your arm when driving on the freeway...

The Virtues of Strip Caulk

Good Ole 3M

Thank god for 3M. They have made lots of neat stuffs: the post-it note, kydex, tape...and STRIP CAULK

I only heard of strip caulk last year. I think I was talking to a "Porsche guy" at one of the local Porsche shops and I asked him how I could stop leaks in my 914 without having to buy new seals. He then proceeded to rant about the virtues of strip caulk.

What suprised me is that everything he said was correct, and then some.

Uses of Strip Caulk

Now some skeptics would have you believe that there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do things. When we (my father and I) were installing new seals (which didn't damn fit btw, more on that later in another section, not this one) and before we had removed the old ones we had a fairly big argument about how they should be affixed to the car.

My father's idea was to get a whole bunch of silicon caulk/goup and "fill 'er up." This, in my opinion, was crap. Who the hell would bond silicon caulk to their car...to the paint. Certainly not I.

I countered my father's ass comment with: "Why don't we just stuff if full of strip caulk. That shit is so sticky and plastic it will hold the rubber in place and retain water-tightness."

To which he replied: "Don't be an ass. No one uses strip caulk on cars. This stuff is just for people who don't want to do it right."

And then I said: "Why don't we just remove the old seals and see what Porsche did?"

...who do you think was right....

A quick five minutes later and guess what...STRIP CAULK. Or something damn close to it. Apparently Porsche or whoever put new seals on my car seemed to think that strip caulk was the right thing to use.

We ended up using the strip caulk to bond the seals to the car (strip caulk can be removed (with difficulty) using Ethenol).

We also used the silicon caulk...just not to bond the rubber to the car. I don't feel like delving into the whole: "The seals don't fit despite the fact I just paid a crap-load for them and they're a bitch to get on and they rip and they don't seal all that well..."

Which leaves us with one more thing: Strip caulk can be polished. Yes, polished. All you do is to put a liberal amount of water on the caulk and rub it till it shines. (You think I'm making some obscene comment, but I'm not. Well, maybe I am. But you only thought of it becuase of you obscene thoughts. Good for you!)

Final Caulk Thoughts

Strip caulk is great stuff. It sticks to almost everything. Including your fingers. It comes off, with some work, using alcohol. Rubbing alcohol doesn't work as well as ethanol(sp?). It is really good at filling gaps when water/air tightness at lower pressures is required. It is shiny (after polishing) AND It's damn cheap. I keep a box in my car at all times. Comes in handy during winter when those leaks magically appear and drip right on your arm when driving on the freeway...