Hi,

I'm in the process of repairing some rust in my windshield channel as well as a rust hole near the top of the drivers side windshield. Quite a bit of the windshield channel is pitted with rust.

Assuming I sand, treat or wire wheel out the rust, do I also need to restore the channel to a smooth surface or will the windshield glue (urethane I think?) conform to the pitted sections?

I can post pics later if needed.

Thanks!

 

It should still seal and stay in place just fine, but I can't say for sure, esp. without pics.

 

A lot depends on how badly the metal is rusted. If it's surface rust with a few pits, you should be OK, as long as you properly treat the affected areas. Clean up as much as you can with a wire wheel or abrasives, and then treat the area, no matter how rust-free it looks. I recommend Rust Bullet, which chemically bonds to the rusted metal and actually will fill small pitted areas.

It's amazingly strong -- I got some on a screwdriver by accident, and I haven't found a non-destructive way to get it off.

 

Here's some pics of what I'm actually dealing with. I know I have to fix the holes at least. The big square section that I've cut out is where the rust hole in the roof was (it's a bigger hole till I put in a patch).

 

Here's the other two pictures to complete the rusty windshield channel tour

 

Ouch... that's way worse than I thought... definitely needs to be repaired. As is, the windshield would stay in place fine, but I would expect it to leak.

 

What's even worse is that the rust is so pervasive that you run a high risk of it coming back and destroying what little is left. I would try to find a donor car and a really good sheet metal guy.

 

I've got MIG welder and a friend (that has done this before) who can help me if need be. I was planning on replacing at least the holes in that are on either side of the windshield towards the top. Should I try to replace even the pitted spots?

Would weld-through primer/coating be a good choice to protect the backside of any replacement panels?

 

I'd replace anything that wasn't solid. Slightly pitted is OK if properly treated.

 

I would replace the deeply pitted spots, better safe and you don't want to pull the windshield again. The other thing to think about is if the water got in the holes, and started rusting the inside of the A-pillar as well. I am in the process of a similar repair on a T-top car, and I found some surface rust inside there. I was able to get in there blast it clean, and put Rust bullet on it.

 

Here's another question, I've finished patching the big hole in the a-pillar so now I'm wondering what I can use to put rust proofing on the back side of the patch panel? I had weld-thru primer on the panel before I put it in, but I'm wondering if there's a way I can use holes nearby (for a-pillar cover clips) to spray in more rust proofing?

I've read that there are spray wands (that must attach to some type of spray gun) that spray 360 degrees. Anyone know where I would get such a setup?