Well how bout it, pretty sure its rusted under the molding, whats it gonna take to fix this worst case, and what do you think it would take??

Thanks guys

 

if its just rusting on the top surface it could be sanded off and then repainted.. if its rusting through the bottom it will have to be removed and patched.... take of the headliner and see I would think that would just be surface rust on the outside tho I dont know how there would be excess water under your roof to start that.. but I guess anything is possible.

 

How tough to uninstall and reinstall headliner?

I really dont want to have to cut out my roof, and another cars and try to make it all fit. Thats how leaks happen....

 

from the pic what i can tell that is very minor and shouldnt require too much to fix unless it has started rusting under the trim its self and the only way to tell is to pull the trim and see ...

 

What if it has rusted under there?

 

that doesn't look serious at all.

definatly hasn't gone through the whole roof,so you don't have to worry about ripping apart your roof.

you're gonna have to get that down to bare metal and paint it.

 

just as a follow up I went back to the body shop where I used to work and they said pulling the windshield most likely means breaking it.

She said to fix that spot and whatever they may find under there and not paint it 750-800.00

 

what type of body shop did you work at that you can't id surface rust? just curious, and if you worked there, they should be giving you somewhat of a break, and ummm,i don't think they are. There's no way reparing rust such as that, not painitng it is worth 800 bux, sorry, but not gonna happen. i could get my 1/4 panel rust repaired around here for less than that w/o them painitng it, so, i think someone's on the cocai-ena or something cause that price is a tad high.

I can tell ya that from the pic, its not rusted all the way through, it's surface rust and can be sanded down to metal, prepped and re-painted w/o trouble. I can't see well in the pic, but it doesn't look like it goes all the way to the glass on weatherstripping, but like i said, it doesn't look like it does. And i also don't know about breakin the window, my window was cracked, had to get it replaced, watched the guy do it, and he did it w/o any problems, came off as one solid piece, and he threw it in the van. Im under the impression that if the person knows what they're doing that it's not going to be much of a problem.

 

thanks I really appreciate it.

The plan, of course, was for me to do the work myself the windshield aside, and I went to them for a worst case. I'm fairly sure there is at least SOME of the rust under there, but as long as theres no gaping hole or a ton of pits I am somewhat half-way confident I could pull it off. Problem is I can't until spring, so hopefully it doesn't get much or any worse in 4 months....

any other statements would be appreciated.

 

It looks like it is starting to bubble there and if so then that area maybe/will have to be cut out so the cancer doesn't spread any further.Then they would have to either weld in a patch or maybe use a filler to repair that,and removing the headliner would be part of the diagnosing/repair and possibly taking out the windsheild .

 

Looks like you wont be able to fully cure it unless u take the window out it is just inderneath the paint started from the window and will come back eventually unless u get it out under the window.

 

The people telling you that you can just sand it off and be done with it are wrong.

If that rust goes under the trim then to do the job right the window must be removed. If the rust is significant.... then the metal must be cut-out and new metal must be formed and welded in.

On my car about 50% of the windshield frame had to be replaced because of rust.... we had no idea it was in there until we popped the window out to get it ready for paint. That job was a nightmare... but do-able. Usually with a case like this you are just looking at the tip of the iceburg because once water starts getting under that trim the entire windshield frame rots out. Get that window out and cross your fingers.

 

i had the same problem just grind it down to bare metal and use some bondo or plastic body filler apply it and block sand it down till it sits flush with body. trust me.

 

Take off the windshield. There's probably more to this problem than you can see in the picture.

 

how would you repair a frame the was rusted 50%?

When people say cut and weld does that always or just usually mean from a donor, or can you butt weld just plain sheet?

Thanks again!

 

Yes you can weld in sheetmetal. Preferably sheet metal of the same thickness, cant remember what the tickness is off the top of my head. Or you could get donor sections. Depending on what your replacing and how intricate the area is in detail then it may be better to use a donor section.

When I fix my roof on my 82z28, i'll be welding in sheetmetal instead of using donor sections of another T'top roof. Now for my floorboards i'm going to get a donor for that or buy new pans.

 

It doesnt look too bad...mine is pretty rough too. right now the cars in pieces

As has been said youre probably better off pulling the winshield inspecting the spot. sandblasting the spot . and gettin all of the rust out of there. if not it'll just spread again.

Like i said im having the same issue right now. i really dont wanna pull the winshield, but i think i may have to

 

I have the same problem with my car and am worried as he!! that its is worse under the window. Funny isnt it mine is the same color to.

Kevin

 

oh but mines sexier ;-)

I looked around and found a reputable guy that will get me a replacement windsheild installed for about 130 if he can't get mine out in one piece.

I'm already saving all my money as is, but I'm still at least a month out from my goal.

I figure 1250 for a lincoln 175, tank, auto darkening mask

1450 for compressor and plumbing plus sander and grinder.

I'm at about 1900 by next pay day... Looks like the car won't get goodies till I get the tools, and trust me it needs goodies.

Thanks guys

 

be sure to get it all, it'll come back and bite you in the *** if you don't

 

When you have rust like that close to a moulding, chances are the rust originates under the molding. In this case its probably under the windshield and the water sits in a small spot. If you want to save yourself work, I would definately have someone pull the windshield to make sure to get all the rust. Re-paint it, and then have the windshield re-installed.

Unfortunately about 75% of the time when removing a windshield they break. But from the looks of your windshield in that pic it is the original. A new one would probably not be a bad idea anyway.

John

 

If it's 50% gone like mine was I wouldn't recommend trying to fix it yourself unless you have exceptional metal working skills. To do mine we cut out all of the rust areas (50% of the frame) and started with flat sheet stock. Working in about 12" sections we hand beat patch pieces to match the shape of the windshield frame. Fabricating that windshield frame was probably the hardest thing we've done on the car so far.

 

Kragen(checkers)or any auto parts probably.Sell "RUST CONVERTER"in either spray or bottle.You simply sand/wire brush,essentially clean away the "loose rust" as much as possible.Then just apply the rust converter to the problem spot.It will turn the remaining rust black.letting you know its working.This stuff works by converting rust back to(metal)basically.

 

hmm how would that work?

 

Really well.Ive used before.The spray is more thorough than the bottle & easier to apply.

 

That stuff is garbage... there is a reason why real body shops don't use it. If you want to know more about rust removal... what works and what doesn't, take a trip over to http://www.hottroders.com and do a search....