Battery compartment lid seal glue

w30bob · Post by **w30bob** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:44 pm

Hi guys,

I have the rubber seal for my battery compartment lid (came with some parts when I bought the jeep last year). What type of adhesive do you recommend? I've got 3M super weatherstrip adhesive and contact cements......but just wondering if there's something newer and better that you use.

Thanks,
Bob

kenperkins · Post by **kenperkins** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:45 pm

3M makes a spray glue called SUPER 77...works great. will stick anything including your fingers...just did my tool box seal, glove box and windshield cover with it...

Post by **wesk** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 6:05 pm

The spray can be a wee bit messy. 3M is top shelf. I have used 3M 1300L for over 40 years to apply rubber de-ice boots to airplane wings. never had one get loose. I like it because you coat both surfaces sparingly then re-activate the adhesive with a rag soaked with MEK and as you slide the rag between the seal and the metal the glue instantly becomes very tacky and the seal lays right in place. Cleanup is MEK. runs $40 /Qt.
http://www.hillas.com/Categories/Rubber ... g4QAvD_BwE

Then there's 3M 1357 at $37 / qt. https://www.grainger.com/product/2RUF3? ... 30235755:s

wilfreeman · Post by **wilfreeman** » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:45 pm

I just did all of my seals this morning (battery box, glove box and toolbox). I used the 3M Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive in a 1oz tube for $3.32. I had about a 1/3rd of a tube leftover. You apply to the lid and the weatherstrip, let it dry, then stick them together. I sticks almost immediately. I did a writeup about it on my blog:
https://m38a1usmc.wordpress.com/2018/03 ... installed/

w30bob · Post by **w30bob** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:40 pm

Thanks for the info guys. After I posted my question I went to Walmart and they had a small 1oz tube of the 3M Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive, so I picked one up. After our big Easter meal when all the old folks fell asleep in front of the TV I snuck out and installed my battery lid weatherstriping. It went well, but here's a couple of bits of info some might find useful if you decide to use the 3M BSWA and you haven't worked with it before.

First, it's not like contact cement or silicone caulk. It forms a "skin" of rubber as soon as it hits what your putting it on, and if you make contact with that "skin" you'll pull most of it off. The directions say to spread a thin layer of the stuff on both surfaces to be bonded. That's a bit easier said than done. I used an acid brush to spread it out, but you have to spread it immediately......or it sticks to the brush and you end up pulling big chunks of the "skin" off whatever you put it on.

Second, before I applied the adhesive to anything I used blue painter's tape to mark where the edge of the weatherstriping will be on the battery box lid. This is to keep the adhesive off any of the paint on your lid bottom that you don't want it on if you spread it too wide. Had I not done this I would have had a real mess after trying to spread it with the acid brush.

Third, it says to let both surfaces you put the adhesive on get "tacky". That's a bad choice of words. It comes out of the tube "tacky". What they mean is "just about dry". Testing to see where it's at is complicated by what I said above about touching it. Not waiting long enough isn't a problem on the long straight runs.........but the corners where you need to bend the weatherstriping a bit while keeping tension on it is a different matter. Attempt to bond the weatherstrip too early and you're going to be standing there for a good 5 minutes pressing on the rubber in the corner. Make that mistake on more than 2 corners and you're going to run out of hands to hold the rubber corners down.

Fourth, don't try to install the whole length of weatherstriping in one shot. Bad mistake. Work in lengths of a foot or so and you'll be fine. Applying the adhesive to the whole length of weatherstriping and the corresponding areas on the lid will make for one heck of a mess when you try to lay the weatherstriping in, as the rest of it starts twisting and sticking to everything but the lid. No, I didn't actually make that mistake, but I was real close to being really stupid.

I'm not trying to make this out to be a difficult job........it was easy-peasy. But the adhesive is a different animal if you haven't used it before. Nothing like the Super 77 spray adhesive. The 1oz tube was plenty for the 62" long battery box lid.......I still have a little less than half a tube left. Oh.....don't forget to clean the threads for the cap when you're done. I got a feeling it bonds pretty good when all is said and done.

I should have it all peeled off from my hands and under my fingernails in another hour or so.

Enjoy!

bob