After my dads 53 truck cab was media blasted I have noticed that the 3 main braces that are in the back of the cab behind the gas tank used to be tarred to the back of the cab sheet metal and have now seperated. How should I reattach them to the sheet steel?

The Stuff, your talking about was A; a sound deadner and anti vibration and panel stiffener. Not sure what they called it.. but it cam in a gallon can ? and you trowled it intothe void or spread it on the inner panel.
Today when I have a hood or door re inforcement panel ( after re- skining a door ) or repairing a hood,, We use a stiff Urathane calk.. I assume you could use a salastic type silicone ? as a home remedy ..

IMO do not use Bondo type filler to fill the void and marry the panel to the re-inforcement rib..

I've used the tubes of standard silicon caulking from Lowes, Home Depot, etc. It works great and retains a bit of flexibility.

Just squirt it between the brace and panel as best you can with a caulk gun. When it dries, you can trim it a bit with a razor blade if you got a little wild squirting it in.

Don't let the word "silicon" scare you either. Primer sticks to it just fine and there is no fisheye involved.

Guys,what he is talking about was actual "tar paper". It was a strip of tar paper stuck to the brace and then welded in from what I remember it even had paint on it because it was installed with the brace before painting was done.

I don't like anything that "glues" the brace to a panel like silicon. If the panel flexes or just from expansion or contraction the panel will show a low or high spot from the outside.

I put tar paper back in my truck ('48, same as your pops '53).

But you could also use an expandble foam. DO NOT use "insulation foam" from your hardware store, it is much too stiff. Do not use "structual" foam for autobody, again, MUCH to stiff. You want something like 3M "Flexable foam" #8463. But honestly, just sliding in some tar paper like 3m's "Silencer strips" #8585 is the way to go.

I think You will need to use a thin sharp putty knife to work some of the material out of areas where it has seperated. You may need to heat the putty knife with a propane torch some and it should cut through the stuff with ease. Scrape as much as you can off of both surfaces and follow up with laquer thinner or wax and grease remover. I'm thinking the tar must have dried up in some areas and that is why it has seperated? The only way to put the original style tar paper back in or the self adhesive sound deadening material would be to seperate the bracing from the sheetmetal which may be impossible. Another alternative would be to clean the areas, prime, and then use 3M Ultrapro urethane seam sealer. The Ultrapro will stay flexable and offer good adhesion. It can be pumped in the void and the excess can be wiped off with wax and grease remover before it dries.

Thanks Everyone.

Brian, How did I know a stovebolter would know what I was talking about? Do I need to remove the braces? I was just thinking of slipping the tar strips in till it was snug. I assume I need to do this before starting body work?

Bob, thanks for the tip my good old torch sure comes in handy!

I would not remove the bracing.
You will have more then enough room to slip those strips in on trucks. Hell you could throw a cat throu the gap on those things. I would prime them first then use a adhesive or tar strips.
If you cant find the tar strips, I believe Jim Carters sells them or Golden State, its one of them atleast

Thanks God I am getting sick of welding/ fab I am ready to get to the filler stage!

I removed mine, but I was sectioning the body and had to shorten them anyway. smile.gif