Windshield Area Body Rust Advice Needed

[styran]

I had to pull the glass because water was leaking into the car at several places around the windshield. The windshield was replaced 10-20 years ago, I am not sure who did it, but they did not follow precedures. They used no dams, no stoppers, no rivets. they painted a couple areas, knicked more than they cleaned, and urethaned the moldings to the glass.

Now I have pulled the glass, wire wheeled off most of the rust, and this is what I have:

Pitting all over the sealing area:

Now, here is the bad stuff. There are several areas where the rust rotted through the body:

I am 100% convinced all of this came from a lousy glass installation.

After repairing the damaged areas, I plan on painting with POR-15 + top coat.
Will the pitted sealing areas cause poor urethane adhesion?

What are my options for welding the holes shut?

I've never done work like this but have access to a welder...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[AARONTLC]

I had to pull the glass because water was leaking into the car at several places around the windshield. The windshield was replaced 10-20 years ago, I am not sure who did it, but they did not follow precedures. They used no dams, no stoppers, no rivets. they painted a couple areas, knicked more than they cleaned, and urethaned the moldings to the glass.

Now I have pulled the glass, wire wheeled off most of the rust, and this is what I have:

Pitting all over the sealing area:
View attachment 4122686
View attachment 4122687


Now, here is the bad stuff. There are several areas where the rust rotted through the body:
View attachment 4122689
View attachment 4122690

View attachment 4122691

I am 100% convinced all of this came from a lousy glass installation.

After repairing the damaged areas, I plan on painting with POR-15 + top coat.
Will the pitted sealing areas cause poor urethane adhesion?

What are my options for welding the holes shut?

I've never done work like this but have access to a welder...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If you have a welder or are willing to pay a body shop then that can all be fixed. Unfortunately if you don’t have a welder or are not interested in doing it yourself this repair will be costly.

I own a welder so I would immediately be looking for someone parting out a cruiser in any color. I would travel to that cruiser with some cash and a sawzall and start cutting out patch pieces to weld in. I wish you the best.

 

[LazarusTaxa]

I went through this issue in the fall, and the options I found were not ideal..

First, only a couple of body shops were interested in the work. Both quoted between 3-7K. This was before the windshield was pulled, and I found the extent of the damage. For yours, you'd be at the top end of those quotes.

The price is high because there's a fair amount of sheet metal work to repair all that rusted-out metal. And then, once you start welding, you have to repaint a lot; both A-pillars and the roof far enough back to properly blend.

 

[Snow Wagon]

Hello styran,
Unless this cruiser has massive sentimental value, I'd just worry about making your repair effective, and maybe not super pretty.
Obviously, the key is stopping the rust from getting any worse and to fill the holes you already have.

My windshield installer did not want the gutter (proper term?) painted with clearcoat or to be super slick.
So the body shop I used prepped the gutter in a specific way so the urethane / windshield sealant has something to grab on to.
I'd talk to your windshield installer and see what they'd like for the gutter topcoat.

IMO, the urethane / windshield sealant will fill in any small gaps / pits, etc.
Cutting out sections and replacing them with new good used could be problematic, because you need to make sure the plane / angle / straightness of the gutter remains consistent, otherwise your new windshield won't fit correctly.
I personally think the better thing for you do is weld small pieces on behind the holes, then fill / level the holes with putty (or lead...).

Unless you want to spent a ton of time on bodywork / blending in the repaired areas, I'd consider painting the pillars and the 1st 3 inches of the front your roof with a textured paint.
Same color as the rest of the body, just textured.
It will hide your amateur bodywork
Might not look amazing, but it will be effective.

Just my $02.

Good luck.
Tom

 

[juicemode]

I went through this last year. Wanted to keep mine as the mileage is on the low side (100k) so I dropped $4k. They cut out all the rot and welded new metal in. I did the glass install and it looks and functions as new. I’m happy with my decision but if my rig was not otherwise clean I’d start over with a different one without the rot.