Sealing material / glue used for E.-Type bonnets

[Peter B.]

Hello,
as I frequently have water in my covered headlights, I tried a lot to sort things out. Changed all seals, fine-tuned the fit of the chrome bezels etc. now I?m down to the gaps in my bonnet. The sealing material/glue has to be very old, it shows lots of gaps and traps. I want to remove it and build it up again from scratch.
What stuff do I have to use for it? Given the temparature level in the engine bay I do not consider silicone from my bathroom, or should I?
So, what is it that had been used in the past?
Where can I get it nowadays?
Is there anything I have to keep in mind when doing this?
Does paint stick to it afterwards?
Many questions and a fool in need for help!
Many thanks
Peter

[Heuer]

Peter

Water in the headlights is standard equipment on covered light cars :? I have yet to find a way of stopping it. Water enters behind the chrome bezel and under very high pressure when the car is moving. The flimsy nature of the bezel and different curvature of the wing/bonnet and join mean the rubber seal is not very effective. I resign myself to removing the bezel and glass every so often and cleaning the bowls and to this end I make sure I use Copperease grease on the screw threads to make removal easier. Only takes 15 minutes to do both headlights but let us know if you find a solution. Standard car mastic can be used to fill any body panel gaps and can be painted over.

[Moeregaard]

I don't think there's a solution to this problem. The bonnet has so many places for water to enter that this is just one of those things we learn to tolerate as E-Type owners.

[1954Etype]

Hello,
as I frequently have water in my covered headlights, I tried a lot to sort things out. Changed all seals, fine-tuned the fit of the chrome bezels etc. now I?m down to the gaps in my bonnet. The sealing material/glue has to be very old, it shows lots of gaps and traps. I want to remove it and build it up again from scratch.
What stuff do I have to use for it? Given the temparature level in the engine bay I do not consider silicone from my bathroom, or should I?
So, what is it that had been used in the past?
Where can I get it nowadays?
Is there anything I have to keep in mind when doing this?
Does paint stick to it afterwards?
Many questions and a fool in need for help!
Many thanks
Peter

One way to help seal the headlight rims is to use dum dum. It is a black paste that only sets with a skin on the top. I used it around my door handles and headlight chromes as it is easily removeable.

[Peter B.]

Hello,
thank you all for the lettin?me know that this is not only a problem for me. Taken the headlights apart is not too bad, why should I own an old car, if not for working on it. But even a light shower fills my lights with so much water and road-dirt, it?s a bit annoying. I understand that there will never be something like a water-proof covered headlight, but to keep out a little bit more than at the moment, would be a great progress....
So I think I go for something called Sikaflex, stuff used to glue and seal body parts, at least for the biggest gaps.
Thanks for yout input!
Peter

[44DHR]

Hi Peter,

Just joining the thread. Sikaflex comes in a variety of fomulas. I am a boat person and use Sikaflex in the marine environment on my yacht. Just be careful as it is the best marine bonding/adhesive and once applied can be very hard to remove. I was just worried in case you wanted to remove it later.

regards,

Dave

[44DHR]

Sorry Peter,

I forgot to say check out one of my previous threads under "Welcome" which was back in June 2008 under "Hello from the Isle of Wight". I have sorted the headlight problem and part of it is changing the original cr*p metal captive nuts to new M5 drilled decent metal mounted captive nuts and using stainless steel screws. Another part is ensuring the under wing area is sealed and this includes the top of the wing where it joins the centre bonnet section.

With the easily removable stainless screws and access to the wing area this can all be sealed well. The glass area needs a good new rubber seal and silicon grease applied to fill the gaps and a black silicon seal applied once tightened down.

You can have a watertight Series 1 headlight !!

regards

Dave

For no good reason I attach a photo of my car at Cowes as the sun is setting !!! The sun points to a special car we all love.

[Peter B.]

Hello Dave,

thank you for your information regarding Sikaflex. I intend to use it for sealing the areas you mentioned, where the wing meets the bonnet, top of the bowls that held the lamps. There I do have some serious gaps.
And I think of applying some silicone below the new rubber gasket at the cover-glass, that should be easy to be removed/replaced later-on, therefore I?ll better stay away with the Sikaflex stuff.

I love the photo, hopefully we?ll see some of these sun-downs next week when visiting cornwall and devon. Plan to go to Beaulieu as well, is it worth visiting or should I go to goodwood instead? I?m not bringing the jag over, it?s a trip with another family, so rental car.......

Kind regards

Peter

[44DHR]

Hi Peter,

Hope you have a good trip to the UK.

That photo was taken at the top of the Isle of Wight and where the sun is setting is over Beaulieu !! I don't think much is happening at Goodwood in the next couple of weeks as the main events are in July, (Festival of Speed) and the best one - the Revival meeting in September. If you ever get the chance to get over then I highly recommend the Goodwood events.

I have not been to Beaulieu Motor Museum for a few years, but they always try to improve it with different themes and attractions, so yes give it a try - also it is a beautiful part of the UK so well worth a drive through the New Forest. Enjoy your visit to the UK.

regards,

Dave

[Dave K]

Hello,
thank you all for the lettin?me know that this is not only a problem for me. Taken the headlights apart is not too bad, why should I own an old car, if not for working on it. But even a light shower fills my lights with so much water and road-dirt, it?s a bit annoying. I understand that there will never be something like a water-proof covered headlight, but to keep out a little bit more than at the moment, would be a great progress....
So I think I go for something called Sikaflex, stuff used to glue and seal body parts, at least for the biggest gaps.
Thanks for yout input!
Peter

Pete,

I hope I haven't got to this too late but whatever you do do NOT use Sikaflex for sealing the headlights if you do you will get get them off again. Sikaflex is a very powerful industrial adhesive used for bonding body panels permanently.
Use some sort of mastic if you must. Look under the headlights there are small holes in the scoops which are there to allow water to escape eventually. The scoops are also tilted back very slightly you will notice.

Dave

[christopher storey]

I agree absolutely that Sikkaflex is not to be used for the headlight surrounds, or they will be permanently bonded

For information, the Sikkaflex used on the bonnet is 221

[Peter B.]

Hello,
thank you all for the valuable input. As already said I intent to use it only where I do not have to remove stuff later on, not on the bowls itself or the bezels.
So far we had a very dry season here, and I?ll keep that for the winter-time to come.
Thanks for the information about the right type of Sikaflex, they have so many different, I was already wondering which one to take.
Kind regrads
Peter