55-57 front fender and door post cavity sealing

[55birdman]

I recently had my 55 “wet” blasted while on a rotisserie. Actually much of the car was dry blasted save for the external sheetmetal. Prior to this I spent hours scraping off the undercoating softened with a product called “Been-e-do”, a solvent derived from soybeans which worked exceptionally well.
Now that I’ve gotten all the gunk out of all the nooks and crannies and have epoxy primed everything, I’m wondering how best to protect/seal that poorly designed cavity created where the front fenders overlaps the door posts? This unprotected void collects road grime and moisture which has caused the deterioration of the fenders and doorposts. I’m sure is a common problem on these cars.
It seems that some form of inner fender might have been helpful avoiding this problem in the original design.
Beyond undercoating, I’m wondering if anyone has some creative solutions for blocking or filling this void; weatherstripping, blow foam or some form of deflector?
Like many “restored “ cars, mine will lead a charmed life and likely not be exposed to the corrosive elements, but I would like to know that I’ll not have to worry about rust creeping into this area again.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks

 

[JDJ]

I recently had my 55 “wet” blasted while on a rotisserie. Actually much of the car was dry blasted save for the external sheetmetal. Prior to this I spent hours scraping off the undercoating softened with a product called “Been-e-do”, a solvent derived from soybeans which worked exceptionally well.
Now that I’ve gotten all the gunk out of all the nooks and crannies and have epoxy primed everything, I’m wondering how best to protect/seal that poorly designed cavity created where the front fenders overlaps the door posts? This unprotected void collects road grime and moisture which has caused the deterioration of the fenders and doorposts. I’m sure is a common problem on these cars.
It seems that some form of inner fender might have been helpful avoiding this problem in the original design.
Beyond undercoating, I’m wondering if anyone has some creative solutions for blocking or filling this void; weatherstripping, blow foam or some form of deflector?
Like many “restored “ cars, mine will lead a charmed life and likely not be exposed to the corrosive elements, but I would like to know that I’ll not have to worry about rust creeping into this area again.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks

I recently had my 55 “wet” blasted while on a rotisserie. Actually much of the car was dry blasted save for the external sheetmetal. Prior to this I spent hours scraping off the undercoating softened with a product called “Been-e-do”, a solvent derived from soybeans which worked exceptionally well.
Now that I’ve gotten all the gunk out of all the nooks and crannies and have epoxy primed everything, I’m wondering how best to protect/seal that poorly designed cavity created where the front fenders overlaps the door posts? This unprotected void collects road grime and moisture which has caused the deterioration of the fenders and doorposts. I’m sure is a common problem on these cars.
It seems that some form of inner fender might have been helpful avoiding this problem in the original design.
Beyond undercoating, I’m wondering if anyone has some creative solutions for blocking or filling this void; weatherstripping, blow foam or some form of deflector?
Like many “restored “ cars, mine will lead a charmed life and likely not be exposed to the corrosive elements, but I would like to know that I’ll not have to worry about rust creeping into this area again.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks

 

[JDJ]

Hi Birdman,
I’m at the same stage of my 55 bird restoration. I will be at my body shop tomorrow and will get back to you. My car is a California car and only has one spot of rust in the rear quarter in front of the wheel down low. I will send you any information I will have tomorrow.

 

[55birdman]

Hi Birdman,
I’m at the same stage of my 55 bird restoration. I will be at my body shop tomorrow and will get back to you. My car is a California car and only has one spot of rust in the rear quarter in front of the wheel down low. I will send you any information I will have tomorrow.

Thanks I'll be waiting to hear. I repaired my doorpost and will be tackling the fenders soon. I've cut away the outer rockers and those areas in front of the rear wheels. Mine is an VA car but pretty solid all in all.

 

[henro]

I bought a rust bucket from Chicago a few months ago. I too replaced most of the door post and all the floors and rockers. I took a piece of cardboard and made a template of the area in front of the door post, inside the fender. I made it and welded it to the inner fender and will probably silicone the small gap where it meets the inside of the fender. I think the 56 bird had these from the factory, and they are available now from on of the aftermarker auppliers. good luck, glad I am not the only fool around that loves the early birds.Henry Iowa

 

[55birdman]

I bought a rust bucket from Chicago a few months ago. I too replaced most of the door post and all the floors and rockers. I took a piece of cardboard and made a template of the area in front of the door post, inside the fender. I made it and welded it to the inner fender and will probably silicone the small gap where it meets the inside of the fender. I think the 56 bird had these from the factory, and they are available now from on of the aftermarker auppliers. good luck, glad I am not the only fool around that loves the early birds.Henry Iowa

Thanks for your input. It seems that there might be a (partial?) rubber seal available as well.

 

[rtg]

I bought a rust bucket from Chicago a few months ago. I too replaced most of the door post and all the floors and rockers. I took a piece of cardboard and made a template of the area in front of the door post, inside the fender. I made it and welded it to the inner fender and will probably silicone the small gap where it meets the inside of the fender. I think the 56 bird had these from the factory, and they are available now from on of the aftermarker auppliers. good luck, glad I am not the only fool around that loves the early birds.Henry Iowa

i need to replace the door post both sides, bought the repair panels and don't want tear up the fender. how is the door post attached to the inner fender? weld? etc.. thinking i could cut it out then replace.

 

[rtg]

i have a 55 thunderbird, door post panels shot. i dont't know how they are attached to the inner fender. it looks like i could cut them out without destroying the outer fender which is painted already. bought this as a partial completed project. there was a little lying going on. my fault had a buddy look at the car for me and he missed this.

 

[JDJ]

Bird man, sorry I didn’t get back to you last fall. I blew it.
As far as the door posts I didn’t have any rust at all (Los Angeles car all it’s driven life).
I did go over the paint/rustproofing with my body guy and my concerns about rustproofing for the future. I was strongly advised not to use any “rustproofing” products. He said after a while they crack and separate from the metal body (same for chassis) and then moisture gets trapped between the rustproofing and metal and actually makes the rusting process speed up.
I don’t have the two products name that he sprayed in and out of the door posts (and several other areas) but I will ask him again when I talk to him this Tuesday . One was a primer and second coat a special paint after. I guess post that on this thread to let you know. I do remember he used a wand with a rotating spray attachment all throughout the inside of the posts and other areas that he couldn’t get to with a typical spray gun. They work pretty well!

As far as the metal door posts parts. I’m no where’s near a body guy but I’m quite sure the formed pieces were spot welded. I know CASC, has some post parts. They also have a tech info. Phone and email department that is very helpful.

 

[55birdman]

Well it may be too late to not rustproof. After sandblasting I epoxy painted all accessible bare metal. I will say that my blaster did his best to attack this area and I followed up poking and scraping and then epoxy paint. This I followed with a tar-like undercoating that I sprayed on. I’m very happy as to how this turned out. Will it crack?
I’ve since come to understand that the ‘56 had some rubber “seal” in this area.
At the rate I’m going it may be a while before any of this is a concern!
Thanks for getting back to me. Good luck with your project.

 

[JDJ]

Well it may be too late to not rustproof. After sandblasting I epoxy painted all accessible bare metal. I will say that my blaster did his best to attack this area and I followed up poking and scraping and then epoxy paint. This I followed with a tar-like undercoating that I sprayed on. I’m very happy as to how this turned out. Will it crack?
I’ve since come to understand that the ‘56 had some rubber “seal” in this area.
At the rate View attachment 4060 View attachment 4061 I’m going it may be a while before any of this is a concern!
Thanks for getting back to me. Good luck with your project.

Bird man, You are good! You epoxy painted it first. Unless you come here to Maine in the 8 months of winter where they treat are icy roads with liquid calcium chloride it’ll never rust! It looks great! Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to post photos and I’ll show you my car. Enjoy the project

 

[55birdman]

I recently had my 55 “wet” blasted while on a rotisserie. Actually much of the car was dry blasted save for the external sheetmetal. Prior to this I spent hours scraping off the undercoating softened with a product called “Been-e-do”, a solvent derived from soybeans which worked exceptionally well.
Now that I’ve gotten all the gunk out of all the nooks and crannies and have epoxy primed everything, I’m wondering how best to protect/seal that poorly designed cavity created where the front fenders overlaps the door posts? This unprotected void collects road grime and moisture which has caused the deterioration of the fenders and doorposts. I’m sure is a common problem on these cars.
It seems that some form of inner fender might have been helpful avoiding this problem in the original design.
Beyond undercoating, I’m wondering if anyone has some creative solutions for blocking or filling this void; weatherstripping, blow foam or some form of deflector?
Like many “restored “ cars, mine will lead a charmed life and likely not be exposed to the corrosive elements, but I would like to know that I’ll not have to worry about rust creeping into this area again.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks

 

[55birdman]

I'm making progress albeit slowly on my '55. I've had the body on and off again for a trial fit for clearance of the T5 shifter.
But the purpose of this post is in response to my earlier inquiry regarding the "sealing" of the door post/fender cavity.
I did recieve a couple of responses (thank you) but I'm now surprised that no one mentioned the obvious; apparently in '56 a set of "inner fender shields" was available. So once my my air ducts were re-installed I installed these metal & rubber assemblies. I had to drill 4 mounting hole per side and wrestle with the rubber upper parts but now I'll sleep better at night now knowing that I've protected this rust prone area!