TeamEvil
TeamEvil Reader
5/17/14 4:48 p.m.

Been just now reading up a bit on Right Stuff and pretty much think that it's the new solution to ALL of my problems. Has anyone used it here? Like to know for what applications and how it worked out for you?

Any real world info at all would really be appreciated.

Thanks—

Ditchdigger
Ditchdigger UltraDork
5/17/14 5:05 p.m.

We always have a caulk gun loaded up with "right stuff" I didn't know it was anything special. It seems like just a thick black silicone RTV.

Just used some today to seal up an auto trans sump that had been overtorqued and warped in the past.

If you use it on a gasket surface like say a on thermostat housing, expect to spend a long time scraping the bits of stuck on goo and gasket next time you have it apart. Pretty tenacious stuff.

irish44j
irish44j PowerDork
5/17/14 5:14 p.m.

I have it on the oilpan of my rallycross car. Never had a leak :)

Cotton
Cotton UltraDork
5/17/14 5:18 p.m.

I love it! Have used it on oil pans, timing covers, thermostat housing, valve covers, diff covers, etc. it's the only sealant I use anymore.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
5/17/14 5:40 p.m.

A lot of local shops don't use it because then the parts don't come apart again.

My theory is, it shouldn't HAVE to come apart unless it leaks, in which case you should keep it from leaking, yeah?

Right Stuff is my Red Hot. I put that E36 M3 on everything. Besides sealing oil pans, front covers, transmission cases, and diff housings, I use it as exhaust flange sealant (manifold as well as pipe flanges) and housing sealant on rotaries. (They say it can't stand up to combustion heat but they's lyin') I've stuck broken plastic shift knobs back together with it. I've used it to seal wiring harness pass-throughs. Hell, I even made raised hood bumpers with it so I could run with the rear of my hood an inch or two up for cooling purposes.

The only thing I DON'T use it for is seam sealer, because you can get real seam sealer for like 1/5th the cost and it works just as well. The only exception is when you're slapping a patch of metal over a hole quick-like. Then out comes the Right Stuff. That way you don't need to weld it on.

Trans_Maro
Trans_Maro UltraDork
5/17/14 5:44 p.m.

As the other guys have said, we don't use it on anything we want to come apart easily.

It is terrific for old, pitted flanges and making the intake manifold front and rear seal on a SBC.

Shawn

rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller New Reader
5/17/14 9:10 p.m.

Will it seal the f150 rear window leaks that occur on 97-03s?

novaderrik
novaderrik PowerDork
5/17/14 9:19 p.m.

It is some magical stuff.. the oems have been using it for 30 years or so in place of rubber gaskets in pretty uch every part of the drivetrain.. I've been using it for intake manifold end seals and differential cover gaskets for 15 years or so..

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/17/14 9:34 p.m.

We use it in the shop when building engines. Not in place of gaskets, though, only when RTV is called for.

Boost_Crazy
Boost_Crazy Reader
5/18/14 1:41 a.m.

Right Stuff works great, I've used it for years and never had a leak. No so great is the new cans they started using. It used to come in cans just like Cheese Whiz. Then they changed them to add an unnecessary trigger contrapion. The last three cans I've bought had the nozzle break off flush with the can, making it unusable. I won't buy it again until they fix the can.

RexSeven
RexSeven UberDork
5/18/14 2:39 a.m.

Here's a question:What's the difference between the black and the gray Right Stuff? I know Permatex says one is for domestics and the other for imports but does it matter?

I have used Right Stuff in the past but I forgot which color (it was on my RX-7's oil pan).

ebonyandivory
ebonyandivory Dork
5/18/14 5:20 a.m.

In reply to RexSeven:

The product actually says one is for imports vs domestic vehicles?

What if it's a Toyota made in Alabama?

Does the product know what country the metal surfaces came from?

What do you use when mating a Chinese oil pan to a SBC?

novaderrik
novaderrik PowerDork
5/18/14 5:42 a.m.
Boost_Crazy wrote: Right Stuff works great, I've used it for years and never had a leak. No so great is the new cans they started using. It used to come in cans just like Cheese Whiz. Then they changed them to add an unnecessary trigger contrapion. The last three cans I've bought had the nozzle break off flush with the can, making it unusable. I won't buy it again until they fix the can.

i just used a small can of it.. other than the nozzle being cheaper and wanting to keep allowing more goop to come out after i wanted it to stop, it seemed the same as it's always been.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
5/18/14 8:35 a.m.

The shops that don't use Right Stuff use gray Right Stuff. Supposedly it comes apart more easily. I would not doubt that it's the same stuff as Yamabond or Hondabond or the other factory sealants. (I remember reading somewhere that the "factory gray sealants" ARE all the same as gray Right Stuff, in that they are made in the same factory and just put in different tubes)

Personally, I take that to mean that the grey stuff is Inferior. I don't WANT it to come apart easily. I want Permanent Seal. It's okay if the oil pan needs to be air chiseled off. It's okay if I need to fabricate a puller to disassemble a 13B. I want that E36 M3 SEALED.

tl;dr: Once you go black you never go back.

ross2004
ross2004 New Reader
5/18/14 9:37 a.m.

The last can of grey I got said best for "close tolerance" applications, or something like that. The stuff's awesome, best part is no waiting for it to skin over, and parts can go back into service immediately.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker MegaDork
5/18/14 10:11 a.m.

I think I used that to seal my sunroof hole when the cage went in. It's tenacious.

TeamEvil
TeamEvil HalfDork
5/18/14 12:42 p.m.

"Besides sealing oil pans, front covers, transmission cases, and diff housings . . ."

I'm going to grab a tube this week then. I have to swap out a pumpkin and don't have a new gasket for it, sounds like Right Stuff will be perfect for the job.

Can it be thinned out a bit and brushed on? I ask because my windshield gasket is somewhat sun baked/deteriorated and I would have to search Ebay UK to find another. Maybe a light, thinned down coat of Right Stuff would bring it back to life and help seal the windshield as well?

Any one know?

Thanks—

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 Dork
5/18/14 5:41 p.m.

Is it fuel safe? I want to do something stupid with an old fuel tank and really don't trust my welding where liquids, let alone highly flammable liquids, are concerned. Id be using pop rivits for the mechanical bond.

Junkyard_Dog
Junkyard_Dog SuperDork
5/18/14 5:51 p.m.
Dusterbd13 wrote: Is it fuel safe? I want to do something stupid with an old fuel tank and really don't trust my welding where liquids, let alone highly flammable liquids, are concerned. Id be using pop rivits for the mechanical bond.

I seem to remember it not liking gas so much, but this is from back in my dealership days a few years ago and my memory is fuzzy about what I had for breakfast. As with most sealers I think the key is a nice long DRY cure before use. So if you let it sit before you fill the tank you might be OK.

TeamEvil
TeamEvil HalfDork
5/18/14 5:56 p.m.

I've had real good luck using JB Weld on fuel tank patches, seam breaks, sender repairs, outlet flanges and such. I mostly use aluminum sheet for the patches as it forms around the curves and corners easily to begin with, using JB Quick as a glue for the patch and JB Weld on the outside surface.

Once cured I paint over the repairs using the aluminum paste that always settles in the bottom of the cans of MasterSeries, then give the entire tank a coat of the Master Series paint.

Totally nuke-proof repairs, and not really as ghetto as it sounds. Does a nice job and when top-coated in gloss black looks terrific.

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 Dork
5/18/14 6:07 p.m.

Thanks. I'll do that. Installing a cavalier fuel pump module and themounting ring in an ooriginal 64 el Camino gas tank.

93gsxturbo
93gsxturbo UltraDork
11/3/23 12:13 p.m.

Don't use Right Stuff with modern synthetic, friction modified gear oils.  My old standby of Ultra Black didn't seal at all.  Right Stuff didn't seal at all.  Did some quick searching and found you want to use Permatex Green 81182 for any of that stuff.  Sealed it up proper after months of frustration and oil leaks.  

wae
wae UltimaDork
3/29/24 7:35 a.m.

Giving this a little bumpity-bump....  I have a vacuum advance uh thingee in which the diaphragm has developed a few cracks.  Would the black Right Stuff stay flexible enough to smear over the diaphragm and seal it up?

Also, think in terms of a $2000 Challenge fix, not a "I need this to last for 50k miles" fix.

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
3/29/24 1:39 p.m.

Probably.

I made bump stops out of the stuff at least ten years ago, and they are still pretty pliable.

wae
wae UltimaDork
3/29/24 8:08 p.m.

I slathered some on and let it cure for 90 minutes and it seems like it just might work!  Or at least, it'll work for an autocross pass and a trip down the drag strip.

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