HOW TO: Get a Tight Seal with Seam Sealers

Ryan Marrinan, 3M Application Engineer, talks about how to get a good tight seal to the surface — and why it’s important. Why we want a tight seal (00:14) With some of the seam sealer tricks we’ve used, whether it’s brush strokes, ripple beads or caterpillar beads, you’ve heard us talk quite a bit about getting a nice tight seal to the surface. This helps us prevent air transfer amongst the vehicles, and more importantly it prevents water and corrosion from intruding into the repair prematurely. Demonstration of beads (00:36) As long as we follow the proper procedures, we shouldn't have any problems. As these beads are laid out, we’re showing the importance of not getting air pockets when you apply seam sealer — of not laying the material on the surface, but putting it into the substrate itself. This could be aluminum, steel, fiberglass, whatever you're working on. Demonstration of seal with paint flood (01:01) Now we’ve flooded the beads with paint and are showing you the seams from underneath — you can see how effective and tight they are. The seam sealers are currently wet, they haven’t fully cured. This is because once they're fully cured, we know we’ll have adhesion to the surface. We’re showing that even from the get-go we've got this taken care of. Important note: There are of course many factors and variables that can affect an individual repair, so the technician and repair facility need to evaluate each specific application and repair process, including relevant vehicle, part and OEM guidelines, and determine what is appropriate for that repair. Products used in this video: 3M™ Heavy-Bodied Seam Sealer, Part Number 05887 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u... 3M™ EZ Sand Multi Surface Repair Material, Part Number 05887 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u... 3M™ MSP Seam Sealer, Part Number 08370 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u... 3M™ Urethane Seam Sealer, Part Number 08364 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u... 3M™ Bare-Metal Seam Sealer, Part Number 08310 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-u... For more advanced tutorials, check out 3M Collision Repair Academy https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/collision... You’ll find courses that will expand your knowledge, deliver practical procedures that you can use right away, and, in many cases, earn you I-CAR credits. Website: 3MCollision.com Instagram: Instagram.com/3MCollision Facebook: facebook.com/3MCollision