C3 inside wheel well seal - why is it there?

[77TexVette]

Hi there, I am in the middle of wrapping up all the fiberglass work and have the following question: Inside the wheel well, there are two soft rubber seals stapled between the actual whell well and the top hood surround/fender. What is their purpose (besides the obvious of keeping dirt within the wheel well) ? What I really want to know is why can't I tear out those seals and just completetly fiberglass that gap between the wheel well and the hood surround? Thanks! Michael

[wombvette]

Originally Posted by 77TexVette

Hi there,
I am in the middle of wrapping up all the fiberglass work and have the following question:

Inside the wheel well, there are two soft rubber seals stapled between the actual whell well and the top hood surround/fender.

What is their purpose (besides the obvious of keeping dirt within the wheel well) ?

What I really want to know is why can't I tear out those seals and just completetly fiberglass that gap between the wheel well and the hood surround?



Thanks!
Michael

They are there to keep water and dirt out of the engine compartment. The reason not to glass them in, is that on that flat upper surface, bonds will shrink and warp the upper fiberglass. This shows up in the paint. You will see it on the sides where the bonding strips are bonded. The early `63s had bonding strips in that location and were bonded. They quickly stopped bonding them and just sealed the upper surface with non hardening putty. In 64 the rubber fillers replaced the bonding strips.

[77TexVette]

Excellent. Thanks for the quick reply !