Steamin' Heat Relief Medicine are Seal Kits that help prevent OVERHEATING. They include original design rubber seals for the radiator support, fan shroud and radiator support to the hood. Often these seals are missing or damaged when the radiator has been removed and replaced. They are essential for the efficient cooling of the radiator fluid, by preventing airflow from escaping around the radiator. They fill the gaps between the radiator and the radiator support, the fan shroud and the space above the radiator and the bottom of the hood. Filling these gaps forces the airflow to pass thru the radiator and cool the fluid.
These seal are absolutely essential in your Corvette. The low nose of the Corvette provides a small grill area opening for air intake. The 68-82 radiator is not perpendicular to the airflow. To lower the hood and nose, it is tilted rearward. This impedes the airflow.

We have Steamin' Heat Relief Medicine for every 68-82 ...

1968 - 327 & 427	1969-1972 - 350	1969-1972 - 427 & 454
1970-1972 - LT-1	1973-1975 - 350 & 345	1976-1978 - 350
1979-1982 - 350	What is PSA ?	What are PIF ?

We have manufactured these part for almost 20 years. In the beginning we only produced the 68 and then the 69-72 seals, and subcontracted them to an outside manufacturer. Then about 17 years we purchased our own press and began to produce them in our own warehouse. Since then we have produced every one of these seal in house with the exception of one piece.

Very early on, a customer placed an order and in conversation mentioned that he was the head of warehousing and distribution for GM. He stated that I could have a copy of any blueprint for any obsolete GM part - not any current parts. Frankly, I did not believe him. However, after a few weeks, I wrote him a letter requesting several blueprints for some of the seals that we troublesome. To my astonishment, a large manila envelope arrived. It was preprinted with GM's Warehousing & Distribution address and quite thick. Inside were more blueprints than I had requested and a letter from my customer on his official GM stationary. I became a believer.

This letter was gracious and explained the extra blueprints were to help fill in the blanks. Most parts have variations: Early & Late Design, and sometime several variations. The extra blueprints were invaluable for determining these changes as well as the correct specifications for the parts.

If we had to rely on original samples to make these pieces, they would never have been accurate. Although we could determine they type and specs for the rubber, the original sizes, shapes and configurations could not have been accurately measured from original samples. The reason has to do with several factors.

Look at any original sample and you can readily see that it has been crushed and flattened after it has been installed. After all, the seals purpose is to fill the gaps. And it fills the gaps by being flattened after installation. You could never accurately determine the thickness of a used rubber seal, especially a radiator to hood seal.

Another factor has to do with the nature of the rubber. All of these seals are synthetic rubber. Real latex rubber was never used these part. Synthetic rubber is produced from liquid chemicals that cure into sort of a solid with many small internal air cells that we call sponge rubber. This type of rubber shrinks, the most shrinkage right after it is made. Over its life, the shrinkage continues at a slowing pace as the volatiles escape from the solids. In a matter of months, a 24" long piece can shrink a 1/4".

If you take an old original seal that has 2 mounting holes, like an upper radiator support seal and measure the distance between the 2 holes - it does not match the distance between the 2 holes punched in the radiator support. The reason is because the rubber seal has shrunken in size.

This shrinking factor causes another problem when this rubber is covered with pressure sensitive adhesive, abbreviated as PSA. If freshly produced rubber is covered with PSA, the rubber shrinks but the PSA does not. The result is characterized by numerous wrinkles in the surface of the PSA. This causes the PSA to come loose from the rubber and the adhesive to dry out. For this reason we changed our purchasing of sheets. Initially we purchased rubber sheets with the PSA already applied. After we realized this problem, we began purchasing the rubber sheets and the PSA separately. We now let the sheets cure for months, when the shrinkage is the greatest and apply the PSA ourselves just prior to use. This allow for the best results and a superior product. Our product is always fresh with new parts produced weekly.

I have purchased some of these parts from another supplier who began to produce them, because we cut off wholesale to them. Their seals exhibited all the problems associated with a novice attempting to copy parts without any direct knowledge or blueprints. They even claim to manufacture their parts in house. I sincerely doubt it, because their parts all exhibit the severely wrinkled PSA. This happens when you must purchase a large quantity of parts from an outside supplier and they they sit on your shelf and shrink while you wait to sell them. I know: it happened to me 20 years ago. Blem Products really does have a Blem Product.

if you purchase these elsewhere "Only the Name is the Same".