Hi all, I'm beginning to dive into some bodywork on my 59 El Camino. I really have many questions on this but I'll try to keep the scope limited here. Both the driver and passenger side lower cowl has rusted through, what seems to be standard for a sheet metal car. I've cut away all rust on the driver side, unfortunately the metal surrounding the lower door hinge has rotted, and surgery is required to restore it. My question is with this area below the lower door hinge. Once the rot was cut out this rubber(?) block became apparent. It's extremely dry and just rattles around in the cavity below the hinge mount. I found a note in the 1959 welding manual about sealant around the door hinges, but this seems like something different. Anyone know what purpose this piece serves?
There was a block of rubber on the end of a door open limit bar (not sure of the correct name) on the earlier Chevy's, they may have used something similar on the '59. When the door was fully opened, it was stopped by the rubber block inside the door (the bar ran through the middle of the block).
The Jalopy Journal
