One thing I began to notice as I completely stripped my 1965 130 is that there are a surprising number of seams and seals that have a hardened goop like material where I would expect to fine welding beads.

As I've looked into the structural innards of the car where I cut the roof, and along the interior seams. It looks like MOST of this car is epoxied together at the seams...

Obviously it is nothing that is coming apart. I broke at least a dozen sawzall blades taking apart my 71 1800E. It was very solid. Still, there are beads of original goop everywhere I look on the on the car.

What I'm thinking (and maybe you all know this already) is that these cars are spot welded together and sealed with some sort of epoxy or caulking compound.

This could have positive implications for part salvage and replacement - if I knew how to find and drill out the spot welds and dissolve that sealing material.

I once read a VCOA "Rolling" article about someone drilling out spot welds to install an 1800 brake box into a 122.

I've been listing out the work needed for my 220 and dwelling on the difficulty of getting salvaged floor pans. The price of new ones appears to have jumped significantly. If pans can be removed without a cutting torch, it might up my chances of finding reasonable prices on replacement parts.

Any thoughts on this?