Roof rust

My roof has rusted where it meets the windscreen presumably due to the seal being bodged when the trim was removed/replaced at some point. I'm not stupid enough to think this will T-CUT out, but what I'm wondering is what it will repair entail? and what ballpark am I looking at? I am guessing it will either need part of the roof skin cutting out and part of a replacement/donor panel welding in? or the entire roof skin replacing? /shrug

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8202/w6if.jpg

You will not know how bad it is untill you remove some of that paint,so it's hard to put a price on it,get a screwdriver and have a dig.

When all the crap under it is removed then you'll get an idea how bad the rot is,then slap some paint back on untill the repair has

been done,what a pain in the ... that job will be.

So what scrape with a screwdriver till I hit metal to find out how deep the rust is then just hammerite over it to stop the weather making things worse? bit worried about doing that as if it is as deep as I expect I could make a hole then rain will be able to get inside and that will compound things no?

You will not know how bad it is untill you remove some of that paint,so it's hard to put a price on it,get a screwdriver and have a dig.

When all the crap under it is removed then you'll get an idea how bad the rot is,then slap some paint back on untill the repair has

been done,what a pain in the ... that job will be.

don't do this imo, the screen will have to come out and a thourough repair with rust treatment done on the inside under the glass do not attack it with a screw driver this will defintley let the weather in easier, I have know idea on cost but defintley factor in the screen removal

A skim of filler will stop that,anyway you are not going to put the price of the car down will you, i've done a few jobs like this and it's hard to tell how far the

rot has gone,some i can put a screwdriver in,others have been surface rust,if you are not happy with filler,use fiberglass over any holes then flat it untill you

Find someone to do a propper job.

don't do this imo, the screen will have to come out and a thourough repair with rust treatment done on the inside under the glass do not attack it with a screw driver this will defintley let the weather in easier, I have know idea on cost but defintley factor in the screen removal

Screen will have to come out anyway,who ever put it in needs a slap !!

A skim of filler will stop that,anyway you are not going to put the price of the car down will you, i've done a few jobs like this and it's hard to tell how far the

rot has gone,some i can put a screwdriver in,others have been surface rust,if you are not happy with filler,use fiberglass over any holes then flat it untill you

Find someone to do a propper job.

It doesn't look like the rust is terminal where its rotting through the roof but looks like its spread under the paint and down under the screen, imo filler wont work as a decent fix, trust me I done my boot lid last week (I painted the whole car btw rust treated etc without taking the screen out) filled it painted with 2pk primer, celly base then 2pk lacquer and today theres a few spots coming through under the lacquer! without taking the screen out theres no permanent fix and will just keep coming back!

Imo take it to a few body shop's and ask them for a quote on the job

I know there's no permanent fix untill he gets the screen out, this idea is so he get an idea how much work it will need, it's not ment to be a fix !!!!

I know there's no permanent fix untill he gets the screen out, this idea is so he get an idea how much work it will need, it's not ment to be a fix !!!!

Fair enough Mr Angry whats up? not had non this month!

as already said its clearly under the screen a bodyshop will know this take it too them job! jobbed! no need to scrape the paint off his roof it quite clear to Ray Charles how bad it is!

You have xray eyes? fair play..i've had no cars back on my jobs,anyway you did an ace job on yours did you not? had plenty thanks

You have xray eyes? fair play..i've had no cars back on my jobs,anyway you did an ace job on yours did you not? had plenty thanks

No I didn't actually as I said earlier, the rust came back through even after treating it etc basically as its under the screen where its inaccessible, I did plan on getting it took out but instead Im gonna go for a carbon bootlid later so thought I wouldn't bother, but maybe this guy just needs you to do it for him since your an expert.

And no not Xray eyes Just common sense

Yes common sense not to take the bootglass out ,then cut out rust, weld new metal in grind off,skim with filler,prime,base c,then clear coat...25 years lost count of the cars i do for friends and about 20 bikes, and still not one car back, Cheers!!

Ps..that's me done on this one !! fun anyway

Yes common sense not to take the bootglass out ,then cut out rust, weld new metal in grind off,skim with filler,prime,base c,then clear coat...25 years lost count of the cars i do for friends and about 20 bikes, and still not one car back, Cheers!!

 

Ps..that's me done on this one !! fun anyway

Wow you are clearly an expert who Chip Foose himself would bow to, oh rust god i do apologise for questioning your judgement, So in midst of that Im now bowing to your greatness!

If you poke at that expect to make holes and have water leaks. As Shaky says, the screen needs to come out for a proper assessment. Putting a new roof skin on properly will be hugely expensive. Someone really good could cut out the bad and TIG in patches, but even that will be very costly. Without being TOO dramatic finding a better car might be cheaper, long term I had similar issues with the screen surround on a Corvette. Luckily I had a great bodywork man at the time and he TIG'd in patches. But on a Corvette it's all hidden by trim, so it didn't have to cosmetically perfect. I'd consider having everything properly masked up with the screen out and using an abrasive grit blast gun to get all the pitting out. Nightmare...

If you poke at that expect to make holes and have water leaks. As Shaky says, the screen needs to come out for a proper assessment. Putting a new roof skin on properly will be hugely expensive. Someone really good could cut out the bad and TIG in patches, but even that will be very costly. Without being TOO dramatic finding a better car might be cheaper, long term I had similar issues with the screen surround on a Corvette. Luckily I had a great bodywork man at the time and he TIG'd in patches. But on a Corvette it's all hidden by trim, so it didn't have to cosmetically perfect. I'd consider having everything properly masked up with the screen out and using an abrasive grit blast gun to get all the pitting out. Nightmare...

Yep all the above I'm afraid:(. Some of that rust will probably have penetrated the steel so poking around as it is will cause holes. That said with the glass removed it is repairable although roofs are notoriously bad to repair because they are such huge pieces of sheet metal that if the welding causes the plate to get too hot distortion will happen:rolleyes:. A good car body welder will try and keep heat to a minimum but I have seen the best get a little distortion (then its out with the Bondo (said in an American accent!!)). If you love the car and have spent thousands then its worth repairing. If she is getting old in other ways (Mechanically, chassis corrosion etc) then maybe looking for a better example would be an option and break this one for spares.

Wont be too long and we will be seeing more and more rust stories coming up:blink:.

Thanks for the advice guys, I guess ill have to consider my next move, apart from that roof rust, a bit on the tailgate and wheels in need of a refurb the car is in okay condition for its ago, its a '94 UKDM with 106k on the clock. I hadn't considered just breaking it and sourcing another car, how much do you think I would roughly get? I'm not really considering that yet but its handy to know so I can weigh it against the cost of repair.

Thanks for the advice guys, I guess ill have to consider my next move, apart from that roof rust, a bit on the tailgate and wheels in need of a refurb the car is in okay condition for its ago, its a '94 UKDM with 106k on the clock. I hadn't considered just breaking it and sourcing another car, how much do you think I would roughly get? I'm not really considering that yet but its handy to know so I can weigh it against the cost of repair.

Auto or 6 speed? It'd be a shame to break it either way.

The rust on my boot lid is getting worse. I think I'll opt for a second hand one with no rust, then maybe repair this one and sell it to recoup losses

Thanks for the advice guys, I guess ill have to consider my next move, apart from that roof rust, a bit on the tailgate and wheels in need of a refurb the car is in okay condition for its ago, its a '94 UKDM with 106k on the clock. I hadn't considered just breaking it and sourcing another car, how much do you think I would roughly get? I'm not really considering that yet but its handy to know so I can weigh it against the cost of repair.

I haven't got you down on the UK spec register mate, when you get a moment can you send me your reg number, mileage and any comment about the car you want.

Sorry for the off topic, I have nothing useful to say apart from it would sad if it got scrapped but it's not worth throwing money at it if it's starting to rust in other places too.

Well guys, I have been to a couple of body shops to try and get a quote and both have said they only do crash repair whereas rust repair is classed as restoration so now looking for somewhere that does it lol. One of them did mention though that the cars paint colour would mean blending int the work afterwards would be very costly/difficult.

I would like to get it repaired, however I am not inclined to throw more money at it than is economically viable, I.E if the cost of repair is comparable to the cost of breaking/scrapping the car and buying a tidy one to replace it I would be sort of inclined to go that route, the seem to be some very well priced examples coming up at the moment, hell the is a V8 converted JDM in the classifieds atm for just £5k /drool.

I haven't got you down on the UK spec register mate, when you get a moment can you send me your reg number, mileage and any comment about the car you want.

I'll do that now mate

Did you ever get it fixed, and what prices were you quoted? I had my roof resprayed about 9 years ago, and the car has been sat on the drive covered for about 2 years. I removed the cover recently, and was horrified to see 3 bits of the roof blistered. I on the top of the windscreen about the width of a 50p, and another one over the drivers door panel, along with some small surface bubbles (water ingress I think) on one of the window pillars.

So Im looking to get these repaired shortly, as I don't have the time at the moment to do them myself.