<VV> Quality

[Smitty Smith]

Smitty Says:  Although I feel that the later Early models were fitted about as well as they were intended to be there is one area that was neglected often in all Early years and has contributed to the demise of many Earlies.  The seal in the bottom of the air plenum under the grill across the base of the windshield.  When you get a leak there, you get trunk rust, front bulkhead rust and water under the carpets.  I have seen plenty of those seams very poorly applied and in some cases the sealer was deliberately misapplied.  Kind of like the worker was saying, I show you, chicken s**t foreman.  You can't push me around.  The sealer was laid in a zigzag pattern fore and aft all the way across the plenum doing nothing more than providing little pockets to hold water that got in until it could seep through the spot weld seam.  I wouldn't even mention this but I have cut out yards of rusty metal and welded in new stuff in that area, so I am well familiar with it.