Roof rust

[pepsifantacola]

Hi all! I have been lurking the forums for a while now and appreciate all the posts you guys have made, it really saved my behind countless times. Now I'm at a point where I'm stumped. My 60 has major cancer on the roof and I don't have the several 1000's of $$ needed for a proper repair as Im a broke college student working minimum. I've come up with a plan however and wanted advice from you guys if its wise to go forward with it, so here it is. Please keep in mind this vehicle has been in Southern California all its life.

I want to fiberglass (or bondo, or suggestions?) All the rusted out areas. Then a couple years down the line, maybe 3-4 years(or when I get a real job), I will have a professionally done roof repair job on it. Is this plan alright for the time being or do you guys have any other recommendations?

I do not plan on getting rid of this truck as it means the world to me personally and plan on keeping it for the rest of my life. Its been mechanically babied and I only take it out on weekend drives on road or soft trails.

My plan is not to necessarily stop the rusting, just to delay it and keep itbaway from the rest of the body for the next 3-4 years.

Thank you guys so much for the support!

Sincerely,
CP

 

[86aggie]

As you have seen, there are a number of rust/cancer experts on here. My experience between my '62 and my Grand Wagonneer, along with what I have gleaned off here and the Full Size Jeep forum, is that if you don't get to bare metal, the rust will continue and if you cover any of it up with bondo or fibreglass, you will trap the rust and it will continue to grow, sight unseen.

In my opinion, I'd wire wheel the rust to something solid/bare metal. Treat the bare metal with a rust converter/por 15(I've seen a couple posts where guys swear by boiled linseed oil) - you are sure to get dozens of opinions in the posts that follow mine. Prime it and rattle can it with a spray can from automotivetouchup.com in your color. Like the advice given about waxing - do one spot at a time. Yes, the labor will add up faster, stopping and starting over, but that way each spot is done in a timely manner and does not regress, waiting for the next step. Secondly, start with the lighter spots first. They will be easier and give you a chance to practice.

It does look like you have a couple of thru and thru spots. I'd do the same wire wheel back to solid metal. Once you see the actual size and depth, you can be ready to do some light sheet metal work to seal up those holes. In the meantime, use some Gorilla tape to cover the holes and keep water from doing interior damage.

 

[pepsifantacola]

Thank you for the reply 86aggie!

Right, so my original plan was to actually do just that. I was going to clear up the rust to bare metal then por15 everything inside and around to the best of my ability. I was thinking about welding sheet metal on it earlier but I do not carry the knowledge, confidence, nor tools to to so... That's why I wanted to know if filler like fiberglass/bondo could fulfill that role for a couple years for now as I will be replacing the whole roof in the future anyway.

Thanks,
CP

 

[SteveH]

You might start by completely removing the headliner - carefully, and storing it, along with any roof sound insulation above the headliner and along the gutters. The last thing you need is dampness held against the rusty metal.

Your roof needs a ton of repair work, inside and outside. Not sure there's any really good way to fix it. If left outdoors, that roof will continue to dissolve. I suspect all your rain gutter sealant is shot, so every time it rains, the water wicks up inside and is held against the roof by the sound insulation material.

You didn't provide a location - what climate do you live in?

86aggie is right - you cannot just put fiberglass or bondo over this situation. You need to do all-metal repairs, then rust-treat (maybe with cold-galv.) on the inside, and then STORE THE TRUCK INDOORS. I would work your way around the roof, fixing as you can afford to. Maybe take a welding or auto body class at a community college and see if you can use their shop to weld.

 

[pepsifantacola]

Hi thanks for the reply.

I live in Los Angeles California. The way my driveway is inclined makes it so the roof of the truck will hit the roof of my garage halfway if I attempt to bring it in. I do have a canopy that is more than big enough to cover the truck outside however.

The way my schedule is setup for school and work, I would only have the weekends for welding class so I'll try to make that work.

Is it absolutely necessary to do welding on it now, even if I plan to have a professional do a complete restore of the roof and associated areas in the future (3-4 years)? My plan isn't necessarly to stop the rusting, more to delay it for another 3-4 years and to protect the rest of the body because its in great shape.

 

[pepsifantacola]

So apparently I made an earlier post 6 years ago haha. The rust really has not spread much from 6 years and all I have done was remove the paint covering it. The images are from 2012.

Body rust question

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Personally fix very soon,don't cover it up, or it will require very expensive ,time consuming work. If your not already at that point. Mike

 

[leucadiacruiser]

From experience I agree 100% with @Michael Hanson I kept putting mine off and putting it off until it was well beyond where you're at. In the end, because I plan to be buried in this thing, I ended up having a local shop cut out the rust, path with fiberglass, and then had a local Line X shop cover the entire roof. All total $2K-ish. I'm three years in and with our So Cal climate, it has been perfect and given the 62 a new lease on life. I'm not planning to touch it again, so I'm not sure how that would figure into your plan of doing the real job 3-4 years down the road. I will say, I said 'I'll get to it in a few years' for way more than a few years and 'suddenly' I could see daylight through the headliner. My 62 is white, so the Line X match was pretty easy. Not sure how that would work with your Freeborn Red patina (best color of them all IMO). Good luck!

 

[86aggie]

While some will disagree, you can rivet some sheet metal in place and use some 3m seam sealer, knowing it’s a temp fix. It doesn’t have to be the same gauge as the vehicle, just needs to protect and seal.

 

[pepsifantacola]

From experience I agree 100% with @Michael Hanson I kept putting mine off and putting it off until it was well beyond where you're at. In the end, because I plan to be buried in this thing, I ended up having a local shop cut out the rust, path with fiberglass, and then had a local Line X shop cover the entire roof. All total $2K-ish. I'm three years in and with our So Cal climate, it has been perfect and given the 62 a new lease on life. I'm not planning to touch it again, so I'm not sure how that would figure into your plan of doing the real job 3-4 years down the road. I will say, I said 'I'll get to it in a few years' for way more than a few years and 'suddenly' I could see daylight through the headliner. My 62 is white, so the Line X match was pretty easy. Not sure how that would work with your Freeborn Red patina (best color of them all IMO). Good luck!

That's exactly my plan except I can do the majority of that work myself. I don't really care about looks as long as it slows the rusting enough. Im more inland so it's pretty dry except for the first 2 months of the year. My budget is $500-$1000 and with my potential income after college I can most likely afford professional metal work in the future. I know fiberglass is a no no but considering our dry climate, moisture should not be a big issue I am assuming. I'll be covering it over a large car canopy that has 3 sides covered so that should take care of the elements come rainy season.

I have a friend who welds and I think if I beg enough he'll help me weld the bad areas like the A-Pillars.

 

[pepsifantacola]

While some will disagree, you can rivet some sheet metal in place and use some 3m seam sealer, knowing it’s a temp fix. It doesn’t have to be the same gauge as the vehicle, just needs to protect and seal.

I have seen that advice about riveting off another thread here before (can't remeber where) and might actually consider that. Definately a more durable repair than filler.

Edit:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/1723584-post8.html

 

[boerboel313]

Try to get to bare metal and use the POR 15 system. They even make a POR 15 two part epoxy putty. It’s sandable and paintable.

 

[pepsifantacola]

So I started removing the rust and paint...Found an unpleasant surprise...

Will continue to remove rust and bondo till bare metal and will prime afterwards. Im going to cover it up with tarp after for now till the weather gets better. Im going to be gone for a week or more so I probably won't get back into this till November.

 

[8B2 Fiend]

That is pretty bad right there.
Good luck.
My ‘81 NJ parts truck in the woods doesn’t have roof cancer that bad.

 

[89BIGBLUE]

From experience I agree 100% with @Michael Hanson I kept putting mine off and putting it off until it was well beyond where you're at. In the end, because I plan to be buried in this thing, I ended up having a local shop cut out the rust, path with fiberglass, and then had a local Line X shop cover the entire roof. All total $2K-ish. I'm three years in and with our So Cal climate, it has been perfect and given the 62 a new lease on life. I'm not planning to touch it again, so I'm not sure how that would figure into your plan of doing the real job 3-4 years down the road. I will say, I said 'I'll get to it in a few years' for way more than a few years and 'suddenly' I could see daylight through the headliner. My 62 is white, so the Line X match was pretty easy. Not sure how that would work with your Freeborn Red patina (best color of them all IMO). Good luck!

Sharp idea with the LineX!
Could you please post a picture, when you have a chance?
Thank you!

 

[Spike Strip]

My guess is this thing spent a lot of time near the beach.

You're doing this much work, now is the time to learn how to weld... Buy a used welder or even a Harbor Freight one -- Or even the 'Coffin' style stick welder where you won't have to buy gas.

Use 14 or 16 gauge sheet stainless and even if it looks like hell, it'll be a much better fix than fiberglass or Bondo.

Good suggestion to remove the headliner and do it right.

Spray a lot of Rust Converter and Cold Galvanize on the unseen portion of the roof. Good luck.

We're supposed to have a rainy season, this year, in L.A. btw ---

 

[FJACS]

I’ll try to be the optimist: the rot seems to be limited to above the gutter. This is better than above and below into the cargo window frame.

Find someone to bend you up some steel to the approximate contour of the roof and gutter. Dig the factory sealant out of the gutters, cut the rusted outter roof skin away. Metal prep and paint the inner. Butt weld the one end of the repair metal to the roof skin and spot weld the other end into the gutter. Reseal the gutter and paint the roof white.

What’s with the Avro?

 

[leucadiacruiser]

@89BIGBLUE About the third post down in this thread

 

[pepsifantacola]

Hello all! An update after a very long time... I have removed most of the rust and it is indeed very very bad... The good news is that I now have all the necessary resources(friends who can weld and paint haha) and tools. We are planning on welding 16ga steel by next weekend.

The driver side rear has the most extensive damage since much of the inner roof has also been rusted out. It's going to be tricky getting the metal into perfect shape without a brake but we'll figure it out.



And yes the passenger side outer roof has been cut all the way through...

 

[SteveH]

Big job - good on you, for tackling it.