Removing Fiberglass Top from Rain Gutter

[crib78]

I'm beginning the process of refinishing the fiberglass top to my '78 FJ40. I have the top removed from the sides but am trying to figure out how to separate the rain gutter from the fiberglass top without destroying it. It appears that one of the previous owners completely filled the gutter with some type of sealant. Any thoughts on how to do this without totally messing up the fiberglass???

Crib

 

[Trevor]

Cut through the sealant with a razor?

There are also a bunch of rivets that hold the metal gutter to the fiberglass. These will need to be drilled out, also.

 

[crib78]

A razor ! Ya, the sealant is just covering everything and I couldn't see what was undedrneath. Not wanting to mess up the top completely, I thought I'd ask. So basically, I just drill out the rivets and start anew eh?

 

[67azcruizr]

Not quite that easy, but best of luck it has been done.

It would be very helpfull having a pro grade pnumatic rivot gun

 

[okie]

dude, i would never drill out those rivets unless the raingutter is completely eaten by rust. just get a good sealant on there and seal that rust up. Oh and that sealant is really hard to get off isn't it. I think its stock because i had it on mine also (78 top as well)

what i did was sand it with 320 and spray it with por15 boat coating ( forgot the actual name of it) its white and it really looks good. I removed the loose parts of the rain gutter sealant as much as i could with a razor lik eyou said and sealed them up with seam sealer let it dry overnight and paid a guy to shoot the top with the por 15 stuff. looks damn good.


good luck!

 

[AATLAS1X]

The sealant is factory, even around the the ones across the windshield mount.

Good luck removing it all. Have it gel coated or painted then level it on saw horses and fill the gutter with a flexible self leveling sealer.

Shane

 

[FineWynsFJ40]

I drilled mine out, and threw it away because it was pretty much gone. If yours is in good shape, and you want to completely get rid of the rust, drill out the rivets, and then wire wheel the entire rain gutter assembly. Then, POR or Permatex Anti-Rust (amazing stuff) coat it, paint it, then re pop-rivet it back on. Coat the rivets with POR or Permatex, and then final coat to the color of your liking. That's what we did, worked out great!

Brian

 

[ducktapeguy]

I used a grinder with a flap disk on mine. Flip the top upside down, sand down the head of the rivits, then use a punch to punch them out. The rivets are aluminum, so they come off real quick. On some particularly stubborn rivets I had to still drill them out, but most of them came out no problem. For the sealant, you could use a wire wheel to remove most of it, but you gotta be careful around the fiberglass.

If your gutter is in decent shape, I would recommend not removing it from the hard top, just patch it up and repaint it. It's a lot more work than it's worth. And if your gutter is already shot, don't bother with refinishing the top, it's cheaper and easier to just go buy a new one.

 

[crib78]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll take a closer look at the gutter before going any further but am pretty sure it is shot. Sounds like maybe a new top is the better route but I appreciate the info.

FineWynsFJ40 where in West Michigan are you located? I'm in Portage and would love to check out your rig. Always cool to see other FJ's and what folks have done to 'em.

Crib

 

[BJ42Brumby]

Roof and Gutter

Hi hi,

Read with interest this thread..
Thanks for the tip on the POR15 Boat stuff. Will look into that. Now my question is.. I'm going to have to separate the gutter from the roof due to rust in the gutter that has really eaten the metal away. It seems to be just over the driver's and passenger's doors. I noticed CCOT sell the guttering, (had heart palpitations at the price, but..), so can anyone tell me whether the kit is worth buying? I don't have the skills to fabricate my own but would consider giving it a go. And also.. has any other Aussie had dealings with CCOT? If so, what was the experience like? Positive or not?
Cheers
Craig

 

[bosscat800]

I ordered one from them. It took 9 weeks to get it, when they said 5 weeks! Finally have the rain gutter and rivits, the gutter looks awsome. Have not put it together yet but should not be a problem, I am very impressed with the metal work, just not the timeline in shipping.

 

[crustyman]

top removal

Some guys told me to drill them out, thats a lot of drilling. So used a 4 1/2" grinder and ever so gently grind the cap of the rivets then punched them out with a small punch. be carefull !

 

[BJ42Brumby]

CCOT Dealings

Thanks bosscat,

And excuse me for quickly hijacking the thread but I was curious if any Aussies had dealt with them. I've sent a couple of enquiry emails and am still waiting.. several months later. Thought maybe they didn't like dealing with OS...

Cheers for the feedback though. Braced for long weight, (isn't that what apprentices are sent to the hardware store for??)

 

[mcwinery]

I will be posting a hard top restore soon if anyone is interested. I will also come back and edit a link from here.

 

[AndyM]

I am using a fiberglass raingutter and I just posted some information about it that may or may not be useful over on a similar thread.

Here is the link:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/174037-what-rain-gutter-should-i-buy.html

It is post #13 and 14.

 

[dgangle]

I'd do everthing in my power to find another top in better condition if I were ever to consider this again. To those of you that have installed the CCoT rivets, how did you do it? Ihad to take mine to a bodyshop for class 8 trucks. These rivits are nothing like most people have ever seen before.