Hello, I resealed my gutters this weekend- it's not a technically hard job but certainly an artistic one- I sucked at it and during the process thought it a good idea to share some pointers so others don't make my mistakes. At the very least another thread to keep in mind for mods under $50.
Story- some if the body filler on the front L and R door gutters was cracked, very minimal rust was staring to show in the underside of the gutter. My truck doesn't have very much rust at all so any bit I find I move it up on priority for mitigation...I'd rather spend the money on mechanical and add ons than major rust mitigation.
The tools; (yes, that's a picture of my fingers)
The only other item missing here are latex gloves and denaturated alcohol for clean up-
What I did:
*** Remove any amount of rust you may find, not doing so will result in large headaches down the road (I'm told)
1. Cleaned gutters with brush and then wiped them with the alcohol and a rag. (I fully removed the old seam sealer only in the areas where cracks were evident)
2. Punctured the tip (only the tip, do not cut) of the body filler.
3. Applied sealer, attempted to tool/spread with various tools..this was a total disaster! I found the best way of tooling/spreading the super sticky sealer is with your finger tips.
No fingers- the photo does no justice, this looked terrible and was super messy
Fingers
4. Attempted to clean up before the stuff had cured; BAD IDEA! Allow the stuff to cure for about an hour; attempting to clean up prior will result in having to redo the areas you already filled.
5. Clean up AFTER sealer has cured for at least 1 hour.
6. Congrats you sealed your gutter, if you did it well you'll have a long lasting seal.
Story- some if the body filler on the front L and R door gutters was cracked, very minimal rust was staring to show in the underside of the gutter. My truck doesn't have very much rust at all so any bit I find I move it up on priority for mitigation...I'd rather spend the money on mechanical and add ons than major rust mitigation.
The tools; (yes, that's a picture of my fingers)
The only other item missing here are latex gloves and denaturated alcohol for clean up-
What I did:
*** Remove any amount of rust you may find, not doing so will result in large headaches down the road (I'm told)
1. Cleaned gutters with brush and then wiped them with the alcohol and a rag. (I fully removed the old seam sealer only in the areas where cracks were evident)
2. Punctured the tip (only the tip, do not cut) of the body filler.
3. Applied sealer, attempted to tool/spread with various tools..this was a total disaster! I found the best way of tooling/spreading the super sticky sealer is with your finger tips.
No fingers- the photo does no justice, this looked terrible and was super messy
Fingers
4. Attempted to clean up before the stuff had cured; BAD IDEA! Allow the stuff to cure for about an hour; attempting to clean up prior will result in having to redo the areas you already filled.
5. Clean up AFTER sealer has cured for at least 1 hour.
6. Congrats you sealed your gutter, if you did it well you'll have a long lasting seal.
