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Waterproof sealant for rear light clusters?

My Rover SD1 Vitesse has some white/clear rubbery sealant smeared around the holes for the rear light clusters on the rear panel. The lights also come with a shaped foam-rubber gasket which is compressed somewhat when you tightened up the fitting studs going through the rear panel.

I'm not entirely sure if the rubbery sealant is an original feature or if it's necessary to protect the rear panel from water seeping around the gasket.

The light fittings are prone to leaks if they're not sealed properly or if the drain holes are blocked. Some people also add some windscreen-type sealant around the edge of the lens, but that's not an original specification, I think.

Having just got some new old stock light clusters I would like to renew the white/clear rubbery sealant and tidy up the rear panel. Any ideas what sort of thing I ought to use?

thanks,

Michael

Reply to
Michael Kilpatrick
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The silicone mastic used for baths.

Reply to
Conor

Thanks, but are you sure? That sort of stuff would surely used for sealing around the edge of the lens (or the bath), whereas I am talking about one of two mating surfaces (a flat metal surface and a foam gasket). The original material is not that much like mastic.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Kilpatrick

No but Mastic will do for the white rubbery stuff that's there and you=20 can use that foam draftproofing stuff that you use for doorframes as=20 sold at your local B&Q to replace the foam.

Had several SD1's myself back in the early 90's. In fact a MK1 3500S=20 was my very first car. =A3170 TPF&T at 17yrs old on a Learner licence.

--=20 Conor

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright=20 until you hear them speak.........

Reply to
Conor

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

GOD, NO! NOT BATHROOM SILICONE!

If you MUST use mastic of some kind, use one designed for use on steel - the bathroom stuff eats steel, by giving off an acid on curing. I made that mistake once.

The seals on new lights should do the job perfectly well, though - perhaps together with a bit of the liquid seek'n'seal windscreen sealer stuff if the seals are a bit aged.

Reply to
Adrian

I'd use the type of sealant for plumbers. It comes in a 4" tube for about £4-5 from any DIY outfits; I got mine from B&Q. That is primarily for preventing/stopping weeping around pipe joints or connections to the hot water (copper) storage tank. It can be used in place of the traditional thin white PTFE tape around any threaded connections (but I use both!). It is colourless, odourless, malleable, doesn't shrink with age and can be pealed off easily even after a complete cure (takes 24 hr; moisture actually hastens the curing process), much like the stuff sticking those free CDs on magazine covers (same stuff?). Tried to locate it to find out the name but as usual not in my toolbox...!

Reply to
Lin Chung

It's a SD1 Adrian...there'll be no steel left.

:-p

Reply to
Conor

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

A good point, well made.

Reply to
Adrian

But the steel should be painted...

And baths can be steel.

Trouble is there's a fairly deep seam between two panels which the light fitting goes over and the foam gasket isn't really up to sealing this.

I masked up the paint about 3mm away from the light on the bodywork, and then the light itself about 3mm away from the body, and ran a fillet of black silicone round it. Stopped the leaks.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk:

The old Volvo method was to drill holes in the bottom of the lense and let the water out. Much easier than stopping it getting in :-)

Reply to
Tunku

But on the SD1 it also gets behind the light.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

replying to Michael Kilpatrick, Beefeater wrote: The stuff is sold on Amazon they use it to seal windows and caravans. It is a common problem on Nissan Almera rear light clusters (which I have) and perplexes many owners who end up with water in the cluster and soggy boots. Here is the URL

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All the best

Ed

Reply to
Beefeater

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