Getting My Roof Repainted (again!) (1 Viewer)

[Darwood]

Well about 2 years ago I damaged the roof of my 80 (which coincidentally enough was the same time I lifted it... ok maybe not so coincidentally) and when I had it repaired I had them weld up the roof rack holes while they had the headliner pulled.

A year ago I noticed that the repair to the damage was a little ripply, so I had them redo the repair and everything was mostly fine.

This weekend I was washing my car and noticed that where some of the roof rack bolt holes used to be were now cracking the paint and it looked like it was rusting beneath. So I took it back today and they are going to fix that now. The guy I deal with at the body shop mentioned that it wasn't rust, which thinking back makes sense since there should be filler on top of the bolt holes so maybe it's filler showing through?

So does my body shop suck or am I just more extreme on my truck than others? Also if the boltholes were welded up should I be able to see the boltholes’ circle and should it be cracking along that hole?

 

[FirstToy]

Derek,
kind of sounds like they didn't weld the holes shut and just filled w/ bondo. After time, the bondo shrinks and cracks the paint.-this is common w/ you use a thick layer of filler. Maybe the rust you see is the edge of the holes?

Only other thing I can think of is if that part of the roof flexes alot but those holes are close to the radius and I can't see how it would flex that much...

did you see them weld the holes shut?

 

[Darwood]

Derek,
kind of sounds like they didn't weld the holes shut and just filled w/ bondo. After time, the bondo shrinks and cracks the paint.-this is common w/ you use a thick layer of filler. Maybe the rust you see is the edge of the holes?

Only other thing I can think of is if that part of the roof flexes alot but those holes are close to the radius and I can't see how it would flex that much...

did you see them weld the holes shut?

Those were some of my thoughts as well. I unfortunately didn't see them weld the holes shut. When I went to check out my truck when they first repaired it they had already put the headliner back in and fillered the roof. Right now it's only on 3 of the holes. The other gazillion holes look fine.

I've been tempted in the past to pull the headliner and check for myself... but um that's alot of work

 

[e9999]

it is possible to lower (very carefully) the rear of the headliner by a couple of inches or so, without doing any overall headliner removal, and you should be able to see the rear rack holes.

 

[Brentbba]

Gazzilion = 16 between the roof rack and center strips.

 

[Darwood]

it is possible to lower (very carefully) the rear of the headliner by a couple of inches or so, without doing any overall headliner removal, and you should be able to see the rear rack holes.

Thanks I was hoping you would chime in on this considering you're the headliner expert. So to lower the rear I would just need to remove the weather stripping, possibly the D pillar garnishes, and the plastic clips that go into the roof?

 

[Darwood]

Gazzilion = 16 between the roof rack and center strips.

After 10 I run out of fingers so it becomes a gazillion after that.

 

[cruiserdan]

Open the sun roof all the way and look back into the opening between the top of the glass and the underside of the roof skin with a strong flashlight. You should be able to see at least some of the holes, particularly the ones for the front of the rub-strips.

 

[Brentbba]

After 10 I run out of fingers so it becomes a gazillion after that.

They haven't taught you how to use your toes yet then right?

 

[Darwood]

They haven't taught you how to use your toes yet then right?

It's not that I don't know how to use my toes to count, it's just that I can't figure out how to get my shoes off.

 

[Darwood]

Open the sun roof all the way and look back into the opening between the top of the glass and the underside of the roof skin with a strong flashlight. You should be able to see at least some of the holes, particularly the ones for the front of the rub-strips.

Thanks Dan, I like this option even more.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

If the plan is for the body shop to do the paint repair, just try to push the hole thru. If its bondo they will push thru if they are welded they wont.

 

[Darwood]

If the plan is for the body shop to do the paint repair, just try to push the hole thru. If its bondo they will push thru if they are welded they wont.

While trying to look at the holes from through the sunroof crack as Dan suggested I though about doing this, but wasn't sure if a bad weld would push through. After thinking about it that doesn't make sense, so I think I'll try this.

Looking through the crack I was only able to see the area where the holes are for the roof rack feet. The holes for the ribs are hidden behind a lip. At the area for the holes for the feet I saw tape covering the area so I wasn't able to discern if anything was welded. Considereing it doesn't make sense to put tape on a weld this isn't looking good.

Looking at the receipt I just noticed there are a few things on there they didn't do that they claimed they did, like r&i the rear hatch glass. I also noticed that the receipt stated "weld roof holes".

 

[Darwood]

Well I just tried to push the holes through and now my finger hurts. I was able to crack one of the holes about .2 mm more, but that's it. I also tried to take some pictures, however all you can see in them is white. Not much help really.

 

[Rich]

Using a small diameter cylindrical magnet check the attraction to the repair compared to the adjacent area of the roof.

 

[Darwood]

Using a small diameter cylindrical magnet check the attraction to the repair compared to the adjacent area of the roof.

Great idea. Now this turned out to be an interesting experiment. I used my magnetic bolt reacher to test the attraction since it has a small diameter cylindrical magnet at the end. When I pass over the hole area the magnet jumps to the other side like it's being repelled by the same polarity (or it's being attracted by the opposite side of the hole). I tested this out across body panel cracks and it behaved the same. I could not keep the magnet in the center of where the bolt hole was. Also the area that the magnet clings to is the exact perimeter of the bolt hole.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, would a weld create a magnetically charged field across the area it was welded?

 

[FirstToy]

Derek,
I am pretty sure they patched w/ glass and bondo'd it or just taped the backside and bondo'd the top.

Thinking of how much extra effort actually welding it would be, I highly doubt they did. Maybe "weld" in the metaphorical sense but actual steel...

if they are going to repair it anyway, how about digging into one of the cracks and getting a core sample

 

[Darwood]

Derek,
I am pretty sure they patched w/ glass and bondo'd it or just taped the backside and bondo'd the top.

Thinking of how much extra effort actually welding it would be, I highly doubt they did. Maybe "weld" in the metaphorical sense but actual steel...

if they are going to repair it anyway, how about digging into one of the cracks and getting a core sample

That's what it's looking like, welded in the metaphorical sense. I did pay them $250 to "weld" it up on top of the other repair work they were doing. Does this sound like too little to actually weld up 16 holes with steel?

James, so how is it you know so much about body work?

Core sample hmm.... sounds like a lot of work ;p

 

[FirstToy]

Core sample hmm.... sounds like a lot of work ;p

just take a flathead screwdriver and start scraping. You'll either hit metal or headliner and be pissed or apologetic

my friend had his front bumper replaced and color matched. A year later, you saw the bondo shrinking and found out they simply repaired the old bumper (plastic) and pocketed the money.

how is it you know so much about body work?

I spent many long nights wetsanding,surfacing & int he spray booth until my fingers were prunes in school. I don't know much about welding &banging out panels but surfacing and finish- this I know.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

If the holes were welded you should see small pieces of metal taped to the underside. The tape should be burned from the welding if it is still there at all. Open my sunroof and that's what you see when you look in there.
From descriptions here, yours are not welded.