Cavity wax drying time ???

[DAVEN1256]

After having new door skins put on my car, I need to put cavity wax in the bottom of the door at the door skin, inner structure joint.

I bought some SEM Rust Preventer in an aerosol can (#39573). I've never used cavity wax before and was not familiar with any of it's properties. So before putting it in the car, I sprayed some into the bottom of an open jar just to get a feel for it, see what it looked like, and see how long it took to dry.

After a week, it had thickened up but never really dried. It went from being liquid when I sprayed it to the consistency of wheel bearing grease. That was about three weeks ago and it is still the same. It hasn't dried out any further.

My concern is that if it doesn't dry out any more than this, any debris falling inside the door is just going to get stuck in this stuff...and that if you ever wanted to clean out the bottom of the door, it would be a sticky mess down there.

So my question is.....is this normal Do all cavity waxes only dry this much or is there something wrong here?

Thanks.....Dave

[69 Zee]

Not familiar with the aerosol can method nor spraying it on glass..If I was gonna test it I'd shoot/spray it on metal since that's the intended property that it will be used on.

There are several cavity waxes out there..3m rust fighter, Waxoyl and Wurth to name a few.  Also suggest using a Schutz gun and a flexible lance to get those hard to reach areas such as inside your doors and specially the rockers.  With an aerosol can you'll never get a good position or angle for spraying.  With a flexible wand used on your rockers, you simply insert completely inside and as your removing the wand you spray.

Cavity wax does not harden or you'd be back to square one with it cracking and chipping off creating passages for moisture to get into.

hope that helps some.

[77thor]

I think that is normal.
It will still harden a bit more with time/age.

[69 Zee]

It will still harden a bit more with time/age.

Agree...takes days or even weeks to cure per say.  As 77thor stated over time it will harden a bit.  It never sets/dries totally and always stays waxy/slightly sticky.  I know some areas are getting into some cold days now.  Best done in warm climate or inside a warm area where the material will flow easier also.

Dave..does it still have the "wheel bearing" consistency after 3-4 weeks ?

[DAVEN1256]

After six weeks, the wax that I sprayed in the jar is still has the texture of grease. It has not solidified any further.  I scooped some out of the jar with a stick and smeared it on some paper. You can see it in the picture below.

I did take a 12 inch by 4 inch piece of sheet metal and bent it 90 degrees the long ways trying to simulate the joint in the bottom of the door. I sprayed the SEM in that. That was 2 1/2 weeks ago and that is still wet and sticky also.

If this is normal, that's fine and I'll use it. It just seems it should be dryer than that. But having never used cavity wax before, I would have no way of knowing what's normal and what isn't.

Dave