aks

Hi everyone, I am looking at purchasing an 85 trans am. I noticed that theres some rust pertruding under the ttops. I did not take off the black piece or anything else to look underneath, but I can tell at least some rust has started to work its way in there.

I was just wondering how hard it would be to fix the rust underneath there. I realize the center rail can be replaced but how difficult would it be to repair the rust on top of the windshield and along the rear roof line?

I have searched the forums and haven't seen much other then replacing the center rail.

I just want to make sure that it is a problem that can be fixed before I buy the car.
Thanks for any input.

Blitzkrieg91

man, im not sure on what to do. all i have to say is good luck. my center rail is starting to rust and i finally got a replacement. found a near perfect one in a junk yard for $15-20. idk if there's a way to save the weather stripping if you do some work on it. the one in the junk yard i had to rip the damn stuff out to get to the final screws...thats why i haven't installed it yet really...

but you're in the right to fix it before you can't. so good luck to ya

campin1983

iTrader: (4)

All depends on how bad the rust is. Anything that can be sanded off without exposing holes is repairable, as long as you have the time and energy.

If you think the metal needs replaced, be cautious. Anything can be replaced, but the more significant it is (and in this case especially) the more caution you wanna take. If you think your gonna have to cut off the A pillars as well as the center rail, you might wanna rethink the purchase.

aks

Thanks for the input guys. I have a Camaro hard top so I have no expierence with ttops but is there any way I can find out how bad it is by looking at in this guys drive way?

I would really like to pull back the headliner and take a look under that but also I want see the top. But I cant really start peeling off all of his weather stripping before buying the car haha

Thanks again.

FUNIROC

iTrader: (4)

Here is a good link on a T-Top Rust Repair.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...air-guide.html

campin1983

iTrader: (4)

Thats the horrible part about buying cars like ours. There's only so much you can do. When I bought this vert, I thought the PO was gonna slap me when I started peeling paint off the rocker where there was some rust!

If what you can see looks bad, what you can't see is worse. If your unsure, think of it this way: If you bought the car and it was the worst case scenerio, would it still be worth what you paid in parts?

aks

I have him talked down to 2 grand.

I want to buy this car as a project car. I love fixing cars and always want something in my garage to tinker with. So I dont mind fixing big things.

So I'm not worried about the amount of time I have to put into it.

But I just want to make sure that this is something that can be fixed.

I guess I will go back and take a very close look.

Thanks for the link.

aks

That is a great link thanks again FUNIROC