Rust Under Vinyl Roof - HELP!!!

[doctorpimp]

I peeled my vinyl roof off, knowing full well that it wouldn't look cool under there (I could feel bubbles etc from under the roof.)
This is what I saw:
What would be the best way to repair this?  There's pin holes and the joints on the roof to A pillar and along the windshield channel are full of holes.  A "new roof skin from a donor car"?  It's a 3rd gen non SE.

[4402tuff4u]

There is a member here by the user name of "cluesoe" (?) that did an awesome job of patching a roof with rust. Mine had rust holes on the roof approx. 1/4" diameter all along the front area by the windshield. I filled them myself with weld using a mig. I did the small ones and let my body guy do the rest of them in fear of warping.

In your situation, from the photos you posted, I would wire brush all the loose flakes and surface rust with a 4.5" grinder and a rigid welders straight wire wheel. That wheel will clean to white metal with little heat. After cleaning it, then see what the real damage is. Once you clean it might not look that bad. I would have a can of etching primer just to coat the areas you clean so it does start the surface rust process again. The center of the roof does not look too bad. Let a metal guy look at it unless you plan on doing it. On mine, I had in mind the worst. I thinking I was going to have to buy a roof. As a matter of fact I had located two roofs before I even spoke with my body guy. When my body guy looked at it and I explained what I had in mind he said: "what are you nuts? We'll patch it with new sheet metal if we have too.." and it came out really really good. Dont panic!!   

[clausoe]

I agree with 4402tuff4u, clean it all up as much as you can to see exactly what has to be cut out. If you have to manufacture some patch parts yourself do it before you cut anything out. I removed all the paint and as much rust as possible before I did anything else, it looked much worse to begin with. Here are some pics.

[clausoe]

More pics. There were alot of pin holes in the removed patch, actually the whole roof looked quite like yours when I took the vinyl off. It's very important to note that the piece i made to fit had to be perfect before I cut anything out or you will risk a new piece pulling the rest of the roof out of line.

[doctorpimp]

Deep Sigh
OK, I feel better.  Thanks guys!!!
I'm no body guy though, and I don't have a welder; How many manhours did you put into your roof?  I want to see approx how much it'll cost.
My car is virtally rust free in all the would-be trouble spots, but there is a bit of damage from sitting outside with leaves and crap in the hidden places.
I guess next stop is the body shop 

[Todd Wilson]

First thing you need to do is strip the roof clean. Get down to shiny metal and then see what has happened to your rust. A few things.......if its real bad you may have to replace metal and or roof. If its not too bad and you are going to put a vinyl top back on (It will cover up flaws)  you can use some POR15 products and fix your problem.   I had a spot on my 71 that was rusted. It was not anywhere near your problems. What I did was wire wheel and DA sander it all clean.   Then the bad areas were cleaned up and POR15 painted all over the rusted area. Then I used POR Patch to mold and shape and fill in the holes and build it up. This stuff also kills rust and drys into a hard finish. It can take weeks for the center of the goop to cure and it can be sanded but is hard to sand so you want to make sure you get it shaped and as smooth as possible while its wet. If you are going back hard top I really see no other way to do it without replacing the roof.


What I started with.......



Finished roof......

[BigBlockSam]

 

[bull]

And people wonder why I don't like vinyl tops. Good luck with it. Believe me, I've seen worse.

[terrible one]

Man, looks like you've got some work ahead of you. My car had no top from the factory. Definitly saved the roof!

[doctorpimp]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!
I knew when I first saw the car, (when I was looking at buying it) that there would be problems, just because it had a vinyl top.  I like the look, but...
My car is in excellent shape regardless.  The floor and trunk and complete underside are immaculate.  The only problems I have are in areas where dirt/leaves/water can collect and stay wet for long periods - Inside the fender to cowl area below the lower door hinge (same as on Gouls car) and under the vinyl.  I've almost got the car completely stripped (EVERTHING BABY) and I'm happy with what I'm seeing so far.  I'll post some more pics of the car's condition tomorrow.
I wish that when the car was repainted in the '80s, that they would have pulled the vinyl and painted underneath (typical shoddy factory paint-under vinyl.)  And that someone could have used a garden hose very so often and flooded the cowl etc to flush out dirt etc.
I'm still happy with it's condition compared to the average 33 year-old Canadian car!!!  This one was from Florida until the early '90s.

[doctorpimp]

More Pics:   

[doctorpimp]

Quick fix in cowl with alum foil and silicone 

[doctorpimp]

This is what I find perplexing, the rest of the car is so clean, with just a bit of surface rust:

[doctorpimp]

Some nice glued-on, household carpet insulation:

[73dodge]

If you are intrested I have a roof section that I got that is the section around the windshield to the seams on the window pillars. I had the same rust issues with a charger and I got a roof section it's in good shape but has some jagged edges where I had problems seperating it from the under side supprt structure.

PM me and I can send you pics of it if you want

[doctorpimp]

PM Coming!!

[mikepmcs]

I agree with 4402tuff4u, clean it all up as much as you can to see exactly what has to be cut out. If you have to manufacture some patch parts yourself do it before you cut anything out. I removed all the paint and as much rust as possible before I did anything else, it looked much worse to begin with. Here are some pics.

This guy is awesome, should be workin for NASCAR

[Brock Samson]

this reminds me of a third gen i seen on the "old" site of a guy who had made a convertable or a targa top,. I forget now but it was cool..

anyone got that pic?..

[NHCharger]

Quick fix in cowl with alum foil and silicone 

Join the club. In my 72 the previous owner used duct tape and roofing cement.
I might be getting my hands on a 72 parts car. It does have a vinyl top but no rust bubbles. If I do get it I'll PM you.

[bull]

What's sad is that Chrysler knew it was actually cheaper to put vinyl tops on cars back then rather than prep and paint them. I don't think they protected the roofs at all unless you consider a nice coating of glue as protection, and we all know that vinyl is porous so every time they got rained on or washed that water would seep through and just sit there on the bare metal.

[terrible one]

Cheaper, eh? So did a vinyl top delete cost more?

[Todd Wilson]

What's sad is that Chrysler knew it was actually cheaper to put vinyl tops on cars back then rather than prep and paint them. I don't think they protected the roofs at all unless you consider a nice coating of glue as protection, and we all know that vinyl is porous so every time they got rained on or washed that water would seep through and just sit there on the bare metal.

My 71 had a vinyl top and had paint under neath it when we removed it.


Todd