I had the back glass taken out today and rush home to
get started on the channel. Didn't know what I was getting into. Turned out to be not as bad as I expected, the holes were no bigger than the last time. But they were leaking water in the trunk. I found out the hard way when I laid in there to remove the
molding strip. Which is still on. Heh
After grinding everything to bare metal, treated it with rust converter, sanded it again, applied some etching primer, let it cure, and put some All Metal in the channel. Realizing its all fiberglass and aluminum I decided I would coat the whole lower track with it and create a plastic bowl so to speak. Once I get the sealer primer on there, scuff that up and paint it, I doubt this will ever happen again. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of the before. I went in to get the camera and forgot why I went in. Sat and watched TV instead.
The guy at the paint shop I use is 70 years old. He's done a few Mopars in his days too. He showed me his Coronet which he just took off the road last year because of a tired trans. He had the exact same problem in the rear window and like Polaraco, sat out side 24/7. I remember him doing this car some 20 years ago. It was a Jersey shore car, so salt was always around it. What a rot box it was. But Cecil got right into it, making most of his own panels. Today the chrome is dead, and the interior is tattered, but the car has almost 200K on it. It's a 383 4BBL Sedan with air and odd things like power windows and cloth interior. That's why he bought it. Funny I can remember him doing that car vividly when I can't remember allot of other history.
Anyway There wasn't a spot of rust anywhere.
This is what he told me to do.
Grind out the areas and back away from the areas which have surface rust and craters.
Wipe with acetone to get any greases out.
wipe the area with a rust converter, making sure it is well into the craters. Let dry.
Next, sand the surface to get the residue off.
Prime the whole area with a 2 part etching primer. I use the DuPont. (They didn't have etching primer 20years ago)
Fill the area with a non talc compound, like Gorilla Hair or Equal. I like the USC stuff but can't remember the name of it now.
Sand, shape, feather accordingly
Apply a sealer primer. After 4 hours you can wet sand it. Don't cut into the metal. If you do, you need to reapply the primers.
Paint it before 24 hours. If it's after 24, you need to make sure the whole thing is wet sanded, at least with a 400, 600.
In my case, the area is not scene. and the edges will be painted over anyway. Once the window is in, I can paint the roof. But the paint needs to be at least 36 hours old before the glass goes back in. In the case of the window channel, he said not to make it too thick.
It's expensive, but it makes allot of sense.
So I have been following that procedure and the job is completed. I brushed in all the layers so that it will be fully cured Monday.
This was the last 2 pics I took. The rains came and cancelled the last pics until tomorrow. All this will be feathered out and maybe primed by tomorrow night.
I had to write everything down several times and check each function off so I wouldn't forget. If Cecil is right, I will never see rust there again. Of Course there won't be a vinyl top either.
