Hi Everyone!
Has anyone tried putting a thin layer of the permatex form-a-gasket on an air bag before the install?
Richard
what for?
Well Kyle,
The plates that they mount on have some pit holes in them and I didn't want to have to weld and grind and all that stuff.
Richard
From the first question, it sounded like you were talking about coating the whole bag & that didn't make any sense to me.
So, you're just wanting to put it on the bead where it seats on the mounting plate.
I wouldn't think it would hurt anything, but, you are still gonna need to have the mounting surface clean & free of scale.
May not last as long as welding & grinding, but we probably ain't gonna be the ones changing that airbag 20 years from now. ;D
Richard,
In my experience epoxy has incredible strength in compression. I would first grind and brush off the surface. Spread some epoxy on it to fill the deep pits then run a straight edge across it to get it level. I think there is a rubber gasket that goes betwen the bag and the plate. If not, the epoxy will give you a superb surface and seal with any of the standard gasket dressings. Pits are the pits and a PITA.
John
Richard,
First make sure the corrosion is actually at the air bag sealing area which is inside the bolt holes. I have 9 old plates given to me that are corroded where they contact the air beam and at the bolt holes, but none at the inside sealing circle because that is a rubber to metal contact and not subject to much corrosion, if any.
Carefully clean the sealing surface of the plate. It is anodized so make sure not to use a heavy abrasive that will remove the anodizing.
Clean up the corrosion as best you can and give it a light coat of zinc chromate paint, no need for a thick coat, thin coating actually gives better protection.