What is this gooey stuff and what to do about it?

[kristan]

A few years back I had some rust repair done in the front trunk.
The guy from the body shop applied some black gooey stuff over the welding seams.
After more than 5 years or so that stuff is still sticky. Did he forget to paint over it?
What should I do with this, remove it or paint primer over it?

Thanks.

[stormcrow]

Clean it up with paint thinner and if it needs to be painted go ahead and do it.

[jkuntze]

its seam sealer leave it alone

[kristan]

Is it okay to paint over this stuff so that not everything sticks to it?

[stormcrow]

Unless you have a big hole there it isn't needed. If there is a seam there you can get some polybutal calk and paint over it. I don't have any of that gooey in that spot on my car. Somebody may be hiding something and the only way to find out is to remove it.

[timmy2]

A few old time somewhat shady body men would use roofing tar as a sealer on rusted areas when I lived in salted road country....