Forum Discussion

Andonso's avatar
Andonso
Explorer
Jun 18, 2018

Sealant to use on painted metal van body

I have an older camper van E-150 and want to reseal some of the metal vents and covers on the side of the van. The vents and covers are screwed down to the body using what appear to be sheet metal type screws with hex heads.

I want to replace all the screws and reseal the metal vents and covers for various items such as the stove hood vent, refrigerator, AC pwr. cord cover, rv furnace, etc.

I'm also thinking of re-doing the windows that slide open and use some sort of sealant between the window frame and van's body.

I have some white Dicor lap sealant that I've used on a Class-C with fiberglass shell and epdm roof. Dicor shows shows it's lap sealant offers adhesion to aluminum, mortar, wood, vinyl, galvanized metal and concrete.

However there's nothing about using on painted metal vehicle bodies such as found with B-Vans.

I'm wondering if I should be looking for a different type of sealant to use between metal vent and covers and a vehicles body?

The current sealant I'm uncertain what type it is. It's black in color, old and doesn't appear to be all that similar to a lap sealant such as Dicor.
Class B
  • theoldwizard1's avatar
    theoldwizard1
    Explorer II
    Jun 18, 2018
    Andonso wrote:

    I'm uncertain how wide the areas are around the vents, windows and roof are. I thought 3/4" should be ok but am thinking perhaps should get 1 inch width for around the roof seam where it connects to the van's body?

    Get the 1". Peel of the excess off when you have things screwed down and save it !!
  • Andonso's avatar
    Andonso
    Explorer
    Jun 18, 2018
    I found two brands of grey butyl tape that's 1/8" x 3/4" x 30' roll.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/111648111133 Schnee-Moorehead 52272431

    Appears may be the same as http://tacky-tape.com/products/butyl-sealants/sm5227/

    and https://www.ebay.com/itm/253043583551 https://www.ebay.com/itm/253043583551 DEHCO COLORIMETRICS 5800G

    both are around ~$10.00 for a 30' roll.

    This seller has multiple colors, widths, lengths and thicknesses.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/DEHCO-COLORIMETRICS-BUTYL-TAPE-PUTTY-TAPE-BLACK-GRAY-WHITE-MANY-SIZES/231095305882?hash=item35ce5a869a:m:mGXXl9FXv0ZLny2h1-BLZkw

    I'm uncertain how wide the areas are around the vents, windows and roof are. I thought 3/4" should be ok but am thinking perhaps should get 1 inch width for around the roof seam where it connects to the van's body?

    The van approx. 17' in length however the roof is shorter but should only require 30 feet for the roof seam? I'm uncertain if the roof seam needs to be done or not.

    So perhaps I should purchase two 1/8 x 1 inch x 30 foot rolls to do the entire van?
  • theoldwizard1's avatar
    theoldwizard1
    Explorer II
    Jun 18, 2018
    classic 31 wrote:
    Where you buy the vents at. They also sell a roll of caulking. It is about 1 in wide it is used on RV windows It used to be called Butal tape.you just put a strip down and set the vent or window on it and screw it down you will see the tape start to squeeze out the edge.

    Butyl tape is BY FAR the best way to seal a vent/window, but you have to remove it ! Clean all of the old goop off, place buytl tape around the edge and screw it in. It you are really paranoid, take a tiny piece of tape and wrap it under the screw head and around the threads. Take any left over pieces of the butyl that squeeze out, wad them up and put it in a zip lock bag. The stuff lasts FOREVER !

    If you are going this far, use stainless steel screws. Cheap on eBay.
  • Andonso's avatar
    Andonso
    Explorer
    Jun 18, 2018
    classic 31 wrote:
    Where you buy the vents at. They also sell a roll of caulking. It is about 1 in wide it is used on RV windows It used to be called Butal tape.you just put a strip down and set the vent or window on it and screw it down you will see the tape start to squeeze out the edge.


    Ok, that what I couldn't remember was butal tape which I've also used years ago on a Class-C.

    What ever was previously used to seal the vents appears to be more rubbery and solid than butal tape. however this may be due from it's age.

    I don't plan on buying vents. I'm going to use the current metal ones that are still in good shape. The quality and thickness of the metal appears to be better than what can be found on the market today.

    Most of the RV parts is mass produced overseas in countries such as China, don't really last as are made from very thin metal or plastic.

    e.g. I recently purchased a new Progressive Dynamics distribution panel to upgrade the number of AC breakers, great panel however made from plastic is difficult to compare to my older Parallax dist panel made from metal.

    I think Parallax, at higher prices, make better quality equipment.
  • classic_31's avatar
    classic_31
    Explorer
    Jun 18, 2018
    Where you buy the vents at. They also sell a roll of caulking. It is about 1 in wide it is used on RV windows It used to be called Butal tape.you just put a strip down and set the vent or window on it and screw it down you will see the tape start to squeeze out the edge.

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