I went to go have my windshield seal replaced yesterday. It has leaked since I bought the car last summer but I never drove it in the rain so it didn't bother me. The guy got in the car pulled the headliner down and took a look and all he saw was rust! Apparently the previous owner was a dumbass and it had been leaking for years(except he let it sit in the rain). Anyway, the glass guy pushed on the windshield and it moved! So the support is pretty much shot. How much is this gonna cost to get fixed? What exactly needs to be done to fix it?

 

TTT...someone has to have done this before

 

you could probably get away with goin to the junk yard and cuttin out the same section on a car at the yard and have a shop weld it in for you , like a good body shop. Because i think the hole a piler runs down to the rocker panels but im not sure and i know that no one makes a reproduction piece yet.

 

That was one of my thoughts. Where should I cut it off from the junked car though?

 

is the rust on the roof or the a-pillar? if its on the a-pillar id just metal patch it and mud it. same on the roofif its just at the front metal patch, if its bad replace the roof, dont splice it most of the time it will come out looking like crap, youll see ripples in the mud but thats how id do it im a bodyman so i see things differently than you probably do if you have any pics i could give you some better advice

 

well if you do end up cuttin the parts u need fro a junk car, cut it in the same place you would on your car. like where the rust is go about 2inches from where the rust stops, go 2inches awayfrom that into the good metal and cut there. that way you'll know ur cuttin into good metal and not rusted metal.

 

There isn't two inches in the entire windshild bar

 

Sorry realized what you were talking about...it is a T-Tops car...I pulled the headliner off today and it doesnt seem like there is too much rust. But I won;t be able to tell until the windshield comes off. Would something like JB weld work to fill the metal after I sand all the rust out?

 

dont know, ive ever heard of someone using JB weld to fill holes on body panels.

 

A lot is going to depend on the extent of the damage and where the damage is. If your damage involves the 2 A-Pillars, you're talking big bucks to replace it. Those are structural welds and the majority of the front end of the car has to be removed to do it, probably the dash inside as well.

I don't know where you're taking it for repairs, either. A GM dealer is most likely going to want to find a parts car and re-weld the whole thing. This will cost you a ton of money. Also, a lot of GM certified places will tell you, that there's something like a 1/6 chance that your old windshield will break upon removal and they'll need to replace it.

If you go to a body shop, you can have them weld patches for you, that'll be just as strong. Make sure you have the thing Por-15'ed.

I had the same problem you had exactly... Windshield was so loose I could lift it off with my finger. No one would give me a price quote because they all had a policy where they would only release a finish'ed car, and without taking it apart, they couldn't properly access the damage. I took it to my uncles Pontiac dealership, and they told me the same thing as I quoted you above, but being that I know the body shop mgr, he helped me out. His salary guys wouldn't touch it, but he had an hourly guy, that he was able to use to just weld patches for me. These repairs cost me about $500.00, and that's with my uncle's discount on labor, etc.

Be on the lookout for twisting subframes. My car has been in an accident previously, and the subframes are slightly twisted. I can tell because the t-top holders didn't lineup, and I had to bend them when I replaced my weatherstripping and added new parts. It's quite possible that your subframes are twisted enough that it eventually forced the windshield out.

Some degree of twisting with these cars is not uncommon.

Hope this helps.

Mathius