Hey guys,

I'm new to the autobody world but I'm really eager to learn. I've used the search feature and read up on a lot of rust issues especially with regards to ttops. I got my 91 ttop camaro a month ago for a grand, but the tops are really rusty.

For my senior year in high school, we have a "Senior Project" that all seniors must do in order to graduate, and the project is about learning a new skill. I have no experience in body work, but I talked to an autobody shop near home and they said they would mentor me in body repair and paint. They haven't seen the rust yet, but im hoping I can salvage it.

I want to know your guys opinions on the severity of my rust. Can i grind out all the rust and use body filler? Or do I have to weld on a new tbar? I really cant afford 250 bucks for a new part, and shipping to Hawaii is killer.

Along with rust my car has been leaking. After heavy rains i looked under the ttops and it was dry. But my car was leaking near the hatch and also down my sun visor. I suspect its coming through the roof somewhere, and its running along the headliner (which i may take out because the cardboard backing is warped)

Here are the pics




Theres rust under the rubber/weatherstripping in the middle. The black metal is whats rusted, but the bar below it isn't rusty.




This is the worst part. You can actually poke your finger through it, but the rust didn't rust on the white metal yet. As you can see, theres rust under the weatherstrip/rubber thing


Here's an under shot. There is some rust running along the white metal along the windshield area.

 

Theres a couple rough spots like this in the front and back area of the roof.


Another shot


And lastly (sorry for the bluriness) is this spot. Its in the back center area of the roof, and has rusted along the ttop. If you pull the rubber back, the rust formed a small pit. Im assuming this is the area where waters coming through, because it's seperate from the ttop, and its towards the rear.


Im sorry if i used the wrong terminology, im still learning Any help would be appreciated

 

Well the rust is bad but definitely not unfixable. I had rust on my t-tops but it was not as bad as yours. The first thing i did was use a screw driver to chip out all the loose rust. I then used a sander to take off all the surface rust and used a rust removal jelly to clean up what was left. I then filled all the divots with gasket sealer. You most likely will have to remove a lot more rust than i did. You should learn all you can about body filler and maybe a little about welding. Your gonna need to remove all the rust, fill the holes, and then most likely replace the weatherstripping You have some decent work ahead of you and it should be a good experience.

 

I'm in the same boat...worse than yours actually. Just don't be afraid to get into it...deep! You can always add metal/weld. If you don't take enough it will come back. I will be posting some pics of mine when I get started on the t-top area soon...before, during and after. I have to deal with some spots along my firewall first though. I may take some pics of that too...we'll see. anyway, just make sure you do a thorough job of removing the rust or it WILL come back. Anything worth doing once is worth doing right. You will kick yourself later if you have to tear into again years down the road after having already been in there once :-p

 

I cut out all my rust in my old camaros floorboards once. Rust sucks plain and simple. its good that you have the eagerness to learn, its going to suck *** at times trust me. but dont get discouraged and keep at it. It just matters how much YOU want to fix it. I tried to fix my camaro because I wanted to, and i wanted to learn, i no longer have the car on the road, and it still needs alot of work because i just patched up the holes instead of welding in new metal.

That said i think your going to need a new T Bar. There not that expensive, Try to source a used one. Or see if someone will cut theirs out of a parts car for you. Yours looks pretty much trashed and thats a pretty important part in T-Top cars to prevent flexing and such. So having a rusted patched up one might not be the best thing. With a car with leaks be sure to check the floorboards also for spots of rust. If you want PM me and ill send you a pic of my floorboards so you can check all the problem spots(mine had a problem at every spot so its a good visual). It doesnt look like yours has rusted to anyother parts yet so thats a big plus. But look around, i know there is a few members in Hawaii who have some parts cars. Check up in the local section and see if you can source some things from them. TGO is all about connecting with others, and most people are happy to help you out, just shoot them a PM.

Welcome to TGO btw and good luck!

Chris

 

Thanks for all the positive replies, and Im happy to know I can still save it. I live along the shore, with only a road seperating my home from the ocean, so rust has been a big issue for us (You can see part of our rusted out 1990 4runner). The good thing is that my senior project requires a minimum of 45 hours of work with my mentor, so I have a lot of time to work on this. The second half of my project is to paint my car black (I hate the white with blue hood. Its kind of like an import look), but rust is a priority.

To check to floor pans, can I remove the door kicks and pull the carpet up to take a peak? Is there anyways to see rust from under the car?

As far as the tbar goes, I'll start looking now. The thing is, there are parts in Hawaii, but there more in Oahu. I'm from Maui and the only scrap yard is on the other side of the island. I'll have to take a drive out this week and look, but hopefully something comes up.

Luckily, the guy who sold me the car is my girlfriend's uncle, who owns an autobody and rust removal shop (Over an hour drive from home). So if all else fails, I can ask him to help me out. But I'm definately willing to step up to the challenge. I'll update this thread from time to time with new pictures, but I might not be able to get going until a couple weeks. Thanks for the help!

 

If the rust is severe enough you will be able to see it from under the car. There will be holes everywhere. Most of the time though the rust comes from above, and eats through to the bottom. most of this rust isnt going to catch your eye from underneath. Only if the rust ate through all the metal will it show up. As far as checking, you just remove your interior, about a 6 hour job by yourself from start to finish(removing and reinstalling). You could get by just checking the drivers and pass sides by removing the seats, the rocker rails and the other little interior plastics that hold the carpet down. This would stop you from having to remove the center console. I always removed the interior completly from both my cars though.


Some spots for you to check for rust are

-Right where your left foot rests when driving. So basically the lower right corner of the floorboard, right where it meets the firewall. Both sides also, driver and pass

-the recessed basin the bottom of the rear seats sit on

-along the rocker near where the seats bolt down on both sides rust likes to pop up

-the inner fenders, you can check your firewall through the wheel well. Rust likes form right there

-along the whole rocker panel on both sides also

-In the hatch area, near where your keep your spare tire

-under your GFX if the car has them

-and your strut towers/shock mounting points


As far as sourcing a t-bar. A used one will work fine, i suggest getting in contact with someone, possibly a member on oahu and seeing if they can help you out, again the local forum on this board for you would be the pacific board. Try there and see if you get any luck, if not then hit the classifieds and message anyone who is parting a car and ask if they will cut it out for you. As a last resort one of these places will definatly find what you need

House of Camaro
Hawks Thirdgen
Camaro Heaven

 

Thanks for the help chris! Will definately start checking under the carptets today

 

throw that t top bar out and find a decent one on ebay or from a member on this board. good luck

 

So the tbar is beyond repair? Im gonna head out to a local junkyard and take a look around, but I dont have a couple hundred on me. Hopefully something will turn up.

Other then the tbar, how bad does the body rust look? Is it just a matter of removing all the rust and filling the holes with body filler?

 

IMO what you need to do is take off the black t-top bar and see what rust you have on the actual frame of the car. There is no doubt the black bar is gonna have to be replaced, but as I can tell from the pictures it doesnt look like to much body rust on it though.

 

I just picked up a parts car today, and I think the tbar is in great shape, if your interested, let me know.

 

Bradley I'm definitely interested. PM sent

 

I attached a few pics of how bad my t-top rust is...as you can see it is far worse than just the t-top bar and into the body. I should be starting the cutting and welding next week...once work slows down again a bit and I have some time to start on it.

 

ouch that sucks dudes. i hope your KARR'S cancers goes into remission

 

Hey CreepingDeath,

My car actually has some of the rust shown in your pics (There in a couple of my pics above). Thats the only rust damage on the body around the ttop. I think if I fix that rust and replace the tbar, I'll fix most of my problem

Be sure to keep us updated

 

I will tell you this...I thought the ssame and found some more in other areas. My car sat for quite some time under a tree though too, but have a look in a couple spots before getting too far so you know how much rust there really is. Look under your carpet, driver's side along the rocker panel area in the corner, behine the driver's seat on the rear pass. floor board area...same on the pass side behind that seat on the floor, along the rocker on the pass. side along the corner of the rocker area. Also, look over your firewall...behind the dash under the screen/cowling for your wipers and see if there is a bunch of trash/moisture holding debris in there...it can lead to some rust along the firewall area behind the dash and a/c heater box/venting stuff. Get a flashlight and maybe a mirror too and get in there and thoroughly look over areas that could potentially have held moisture from leaves and dirt behind the fenders in front of door...everywhere. I was surprised how much more was there than what i first saw. I will be fixing it all, but you need to know about it :-p

 

Thanks for the tips. Im still trying to take out the carpet (Its been scorching hot outside) to check the floorpans. I pulled out the trunk carpet and theres no rust there. I do know under the screen/wiper area, you can see some tiny specs of surface rust forming.

Im probably going to wait till tonight to start tearing up the carpet. Im crossing my fingers that theres no floor pan rust :P

Good news is I found a member who's selling a tbar for 20 bucks plus shipping

 

Yea, you can usually pick them up for around $50 give or take. It's good you found one so quick in good shape. I have a few shots of the firewall stuff I will be tackling first...I'll attach below. They look grim, but I can do it. it's just time right now. I have some scrap steel laying around the shop I can use so I probably don't have to actually buy any yet. :-D

It's just evidence of what happens when you leave a car neglected for years under a tree in Florida. It's sad because the rest of the car is not that bad...just these spots.

 

Whoops...that was a close up of the same pic...below is the other/last spot. Luckily I know that is it as I have the car about gutted right now...

 

Oh geez, I can't wait to see whats hiding behind the dash and under the carpet :O
In regards to the tbar, he said theres light surface rust and needs sanding and a quick paint. If the rust is minor (and im sure its in better condition then mine) I'm set on getting it.

I started toying around with my interior today. Gonna try and pull the seats out soon. I have to keep in mind that this is my daily driver, so I want to make sure I don't have to go anywhere with a gutted interior, haha. It's a little off topic, but I found some pioneer speakers in the sail panels Don't know if they're aftermarket, but I'm glad to know there are speakers in the car (Now I gotta find a head unit!)

-Evan