brush on yellow weatherstrip glue

[Steven B.]

Steven, Thanks for posting that.
My pal the late Michael Hanson and I use to tell people that, but the yellow/brown myth would never die. Hopefully your post comes up in future searches for weatherstrip glue
Bob Jorjorian

Thanks Bob! Steve

[Danny P.]

Thanks Bob! Steve

What i did , i got m3 yellow weather striping yellow glue put in a cup add a little brown paint not much mix it to the abit to colour you want it to but you have to be quick before getting dry looks like aged glue .

[Ian G.]

Folks used to think the messy mufflers were painted with mits as well, until enough evidence was gathered to the contrary. That said, this question is really interesting to me so I dug deeper using chatgpt. Asking it various questions, it gave me two very interesting websites for Pontiac Fisher Body Service news from 1953 and 1956 Buick maintenance guide digitization (I know not Corvette) where "3M Super WeatherStrip Adhesive" was called out by name on the Buick site and "3M WeatherStrip Adhesive" on the Pontiac one. So 3M weatherstrip adhesive has been around since the early 50s at least. Of course the yellow 3M adhesive is called "Super WeatherStrip Adhesive" and the yellow has got what appears an earlier part number than the black stuff - 08001 (yellow) vs 08008 (black).

https://pontiacsafari.com/L1Garage/BodyByFisherServiceNews53Pontiac.pdf

https://www.hometownbuick.com/1956-buick-body-maintenance/

It's not proof, but interesting circumstantial evidence. When I look at that c2 vette photo, it looks to me that the weatherstrip was overpainted blue? I see no black weatherstrip there...

[Ian G.]

I found some additional evidence. A 1975 3M auto catalog which I pulled the index page on eBay showing the 08001 3M part number for adhesive coatings and a C3 Corvette Service bulletin from 1977 specifying yellow 08001 3M Super Weatherstrip adhesive (bullet no.5). Granted this info doesn't go back to C1 and C2, but provides some continuity between the adhesive name, part number and color...

https://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/knowledgebase/article/1975-1977-corvette-service-bulletin-cemented-weatherstrip-removal-716.html

I'm not an expect on C3's, but I think judges also call for yellow weatherstrip adhesive on those as well. I wonder if anyone has any even older 3M automotive catalogs?
Another piece of evidence I found, again on eBay is an old can of 3M weatherstrip adhesive. No date or part number on it, but based on a logo comparison, it looks like it may be circa 1958-1960. It looks like it was opened at one point and some yellow gunk is spilled in the recess of the lid and we know the old adhesive was brushed on...


3M Weatherstrip Adhesive 3.png 3M weatherstrip Adhesive 1.png 1975 3M Catalog Index.png 3M logos.jpg

[Mark F.]

I also found Ian's can of 3M adhesive on eBay.

The 1st patent listed on the can was dated September 16, 1952 (first patent action was in 1947)
it is described as a Neoprene-phenolic adhesive cement
Of note is the milled polymer that is later cut into pieces and then dissolved in solvents contains anti-oxidants, so they were concerned about oxidation degradation.

Do our AIMs specify what the adhesive is in terms of a part number ?
Is that part number traceable to a manufacturer ?
DuPont probably made the same stuff and I believe they were GM's largest share holder in the '60s (?)

More info on the patent search below
+ I uploaded a pdf of the patent here: 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive Patent US2610910.pdf

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[Ian G.]

My 1959 AIM lists 3695016 as the part number. A search of GMPartswiki and chatgpt didn't turn up any direct 3M link. However, I did find reference that the earliest this part number for "cement assembly" was in use was 11/23/1949 which lines up with the patent very nicely. https://www.ncrsfoundation.org/archives/drawings.html

Also Chevrolet Service news on the oldcarmanualproject has a VERY interesting reference dated May 1950 to "3-M weatherstrip cement" changed to "3-M weatherstrip adhesive" being black and a "3-M special weatherstrip adhesive" being "tan" and specifically for door flanges. I cannot find this page on their site except via chatgpt. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm pretty convinced it was yellow or tan, and not clear.

https://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/bulletins/images/50csn0504.jpg

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