My truck arrived with a pretty hammered roof. The factory rack was removed for the Prinsu, and three of the four oval contact areas had both failing paint and bondo, with some light rust. As the original intent for the truck was a full Raptor job (which I aborted when I saw how nice it actually was), I kept the plan to Raptor the roof. Splitting the job seemed like a good way to perfect the method where it's not so noticeable, should I c*ck it up.
A couple months ago, while waxing the paint, I discovered four little rust bubbles forming at the top edge of the windshield gasket. When I peeled that back, it looked bad, so windshield rust repair and roof paint became one project, and next on the docket. This is, by leaps and bounds, the biggest bodywork project I've ever undertaken, so if anybody sees mistakes, please feel free to offer your suggestions for improvement.
I began by having the windshield removed at a local shop. They had it done in eight minutes and stored the windshield for me. This is what I found - thankfully, not terrible. There's not a lick of sealant on the pinch weld (thanks, major windshield company with the big ad budget).
I then drove it - sans windshield - 40 minutes to my friend's shop (he has 12' doors; mine are just 8'). It was unpleasant. I had another friend follow me in my pickup with basically all of my tools.
WEEKEND ONE
I started with the roof, removing the
Stupid Factory Roof Rack Rails (SFR^3), and immediately found my first unexpected challenge, with about half of the nutserts spinning on rusted screws. I drilled the heads off, but the plastic ends still wouldn't come out, and I hadn't brought adequate cutting tools, so I was only able to remove three of the four SFR^3 on Day 1.
I removed the Wonder Tape under the SFR^3s in many stages of scraping and soaking with 3M adhesive remover, finishing up with a
3M adhesive eraser wheel. At some point, I realized the headliner needed to be dropped, so that got added to the docket, and it was at that point that I discovered that the PO had added insulation to the entire underside of the roof. I also found more rust under the mounts for the rear wing-thing, so I removed all the nutserts and will replace them to remount the wing-thing.
I was concerned that the holes from the factory roof rack were just Bondoed shut, so I was relieved to find that they were indeed welded. These still need some more sanding, and then I'll finish with a glaze before priming.
I hauled another load of tools out on Day 2. I hacksawed off the plastic ends on the fourth SFR^3 to free it, and then moved on to the nutserts. All but two ended up trapped in the body, either in a support rail or the insulation.
With those gone, it was time to weld the holes shut. I'm grateful that my new welder has a 120V adapter. It took me a bit to get my settings and technique right, but they're shut. I'll finish these with a glaze before priming.
Next weekend, I'll finish all the roof prep, tape off and address the rust around the windshield, and with any luck, have both areas ready for prime and paint.