Freelander 1 Tailgate Rubber Seal

I have a perfect condition tailgate seal on a scrap vehicle. I want to reuse it.

Has anyone worked out how to dissolve the adhesive mastic at the top in order to get it off the metalwork without ripping the seal?

Thanks.

No experience myself, but a friend was recently doing some work on some old machinery that had a LOT of old grime on it, including what looked like old glue and silicone. He used this stuff, along with a plastic scraper, and swore by it…

Exciting !! Thanks.

With new seals at around £300 got to be worth investing £11.

Cheers.

andyfreelandy said:

Exciting !! Thanks.

With new seals at around £300 got to be worth investing £11.

Cheers.

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Certainly worth a shot, see if it frees it up.

Meths works well on removing the stickiness of old school plain mastic (such as found round windows), but reckon you need more chemicals for the adhesive side.

Have you tried a heat gun?

I use this at work for removing old stuck on seals, softens the adhesive.

Might be worth trying it on 1 you don't want to keep first in case it damages the seal more than the adhesive!

I think warm is good, melted rubber is not so good ! The mastic is under the seal and holds it firm to the paintwork. Going to be difficult to get solvent in there. Maybe a hypodermic and inject into the sealant.

andyfreelandy said:

I think warm is good, melted rubber is not so good ! The mastic is under the seal and holds it firm to the paintwork. Going to be difficult to get solvent in there. Maybe a hypodermic and inject into the sealant.

Click to expand...

I don't get the heat gun to close, just enough to soften it, worth having a go on a scrap 1, the seal material might cope well with a bit of heat.

If using a heat gun, and the car is scrap, warm the surrounding metal rather than the rubber.