Still considering it, I'm more concerned with how much time it would take me than if I could do it...
Rust around the windshield- anyone ever repaired it?
- Thread starter I_bRAD
- Start date
Still considering it, I'm more concerned with how much time it would take me than if I could do it...
KidVermicious
New member
Not as long as you'd think. A couple solid hours of practice will have you making decent stitch welds. Normally with welds you're trying to get good penetration and that takes some practice, but with body panels you'll have your hands full just not burning through, penetration will not be an issue
. Get your machine (or even borrow one if you can). Do some reading to get your bearings, then find a junk Toyota body in the yard and cut some panels off to practice on and get your settings dialed in. Welding is FUN, and amazingly useful.
Scramble
New member
What did you end up doing? I saw your pics & they are disturbing to say the least. Rust like that doesn't happen overnight. I went through the car wash today & had one drip of water come down from the inside top of the windshield on the passenger side. When I lifted up the black trim I can see rust under the glass all around. No rust showing above the black trim. My rugs are never wet & drove home 3 hrs in the rain from my Sisters house after Christmas so I think I caught this at the beginning. But who knows what I'll find when I pull the glass out.
Mark_BC
Senior Member
My mom's 4runner has rust at the bottom of each pillar, bubbling paint. This is from a poor windshield re[placement where they scratch the paint and don't properly repair. Save a couple dollars and pay way more to get it fixed. I don't trust anyone to fix this. I would remove and do it myself, there are some good videos on youtube on how to replace a windshield. Otherwise I'd have to drive it into the windshield shop to get a new one put in after I've repaired the rust, without a windshield, which I doubt is legal, never mind safe.
Beaumont67
New member
This thread started in 2015, but would like to know how things turned out.
For anybody else looking at this thread / OP's cab rust is cancer now, not a sand & scrape repaint.
- his Gen3 is from the winter-salt belt, up North
Did a similar windshield repair on a 78 GMC 4x4 - rot in both sides & bottom corners, of windshield frame.
- paint was bubbled & lower frame full of bondo & old brazed tin.
- found a $100 donor panel, came off a Suburban / vehicle wrecked locally, the rust free truck came out of New Mexico
- drilled out lots of factory spot welds, in my home garage / used an air chisel, to seperate panels
- used cowl panel was Mig welded in with a Miller 150amp/220V...to factory new condition & put in Epoxy primer
- probably a 2 day job (with repair panel) fixed right with auto body technician
Expect +2x more expensive ($$), if compound curved sheet metal patches have to be hand fabricated...takes much skill.
I'm also in ON, with very good contacts (South of London) / should Brad (OP) need further help.
For anybody else looking at this thread / OP's cab rust is cancer now, not a sand & scrape repaint.
- his Gen3 is from the winter-salt belt, up North
Did a similar windshield repair on a 78 GMC 4x4 - rot in both sides & bottom corners, of windshield frame.
- paint was bubbled & lower frame full of bondo & old brazed tin.
- found a $100 donor panel, came off a Suburban / vehicle wrecked locally, the rust free truck came out of New Mexico
- drilled out lots of factory spot welds, in my home garage / used an air chisel, to seperate panels
- used cowl panel was Mig welded in with a Miller 150amp/220V...to factory new condition & put in Epoxy primer
- probably a 2 day job (with repair panel) fixed right with auto body technician
Expect +2x more expensive ($$), if compound curved sheet metal patches have to be hand fabricated...takes much skill.
I'm also in ON, with very good contacts (South of London) / should Brad (OP) need further help.
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T4R2014
Elite Member
It's always worse underneath. Start looking for a good body shop. I'll recommend SalMar in Newark if you want work that you won't think twice about.
Scramble
New member
I think I could repair this myself as long as there's no rot. But I have a friend who can weld. I wouldn't even blend the paint. I would tape it off & just spray the inside of the window frame since there's no rust above the inside.
Scramble
New member
Thanks, I have a guy, a friend of a friend who does award winning paint jobs on classic cars. I hope he can help. He also drives a beautiful 1st gen Taco with a glass pack exhaust that sounds great. He painted the truck a dark green that looks amazing.
T4R2014
Elite Member
Where's he at? Might be interested at some point... I have a horrific looking passenger wheel well on my "less nice" one. I was thinking of cutting pieces from a wreck and getting them welded in.
Scramble
New member
He lives up the block from me in Greenwood Lake, NY but his shop is somewhere in North Jersey. I'll get his info from my friend Craig. I know he's not cheap because of his reputation & quality. He wanted $800 to paint the hood of my old 01 Accord. He wouldn't just do the hood, he wanted to blend it into the fenders. I would have paid him $400 but I passed because I was selling it. I would spend the money on the 4Runner because he only does quality work.
nc-grayson
Member
FWIW I did this just last week. $410 for the windshield and rust repair, all done at the windshield shop.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2570760-post18243.html
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2570760-post18243.html
The body continues to rust. I did discover that if I park it on an uphill slope it doesn't leak enough for water to puddle in it at least so that slows the deterioration. I pulled the carpet back a while ago to fix another problem and discovered that the sills are rusted and the floor pan has started to. In short, it's dying!
Here's where I'm at as of this morning:
A recent discovery! The yellow wire is a splice into the harness between the ignition switch and the fuse block for the tail/instrument cluster lights due to a short likely caused by the leak.
The rocker and corner aren't looking so good. This was just a soft spot during hunting season (November) now it's a nice big hole.
It's still an awesome truck and I'm probably going to take a trip down south to find it's replacement when it finally dies.
For now, I did wind up buying a welder and I think I'll give it a go in the spring. Even if it turns out mad-max style I'll get practice and it won't be any worse than rust.
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poleclimber63
Member
I feel for you Easterners! Our family vacation, this last Sept, consisted of a visit to my brother in Toronto and a drive through the Maritimes with the Family-- 6k KM roundtrip!!! The first thing I noticed, on the road, was a distinct lack of older vehicles! Not that many pre-2K still on the road, and of the ones I did see had a significant amount of rust. You need to move to the west coast! You'd have the pleasure of driving a wide select of pre-2K vehicles, wrenching without breaking bolts and not having to use excessive amounts of PB Blaster!
With all the family home, I've got 6 vehicles parked out front, of which only 2 are newer than 2K. My oldest son just trashed his 89 Mazda, due to a tranny failure. Few people dump vehicles here due to rust--- unless you were the owner of an early 80's GMC...
All kidding aside, vehicles here do rust, Less so in Vancouver, more so as you head North. Most of the guys I know, will head to Vancouver to find a vehicle--- as here in the Okanagan, we actually get a Winter, and our trucks tend it get used.
I'd go with your idea of acquiring a MIG, getting some practice welding, and then fixing it. Use lots of rust inhibitor (I used POR15 on my sons' Eclipse, which we discovered started its life in Ont--- we spent a week rust treating that car!). POR15 is great--- but messy to work with---- hint: don't get it on your skin, it will be there until the skin dies of old age!
Good Luck!
Scramble
New member
Thanks for the updates, sorry to see your truck rusting away. I think if I can stay on top of it, the cancer wont spread. I have no water in the interior yet. Instead of a Shrockworks rear swing out bumper this spring I'll be doing window rust repair. Fun, Fun, Fun!
nalbertasr5
New member
I had the same problem with my 4runner. I removed the rubber windshield strip, got a grinder and went to town, grinding it down as far as it could go. I used some POR15 rust paint to seal up the areas that were really bad (POR15 is expensive, but it does a great job at inhibiting rust, I used it on the whole frame too). I got a can of factory paint-matched aerosol from NAPA and painted over everything.
Does it look shitty? Sorta. but it looks wayyy better than before.
Did it stop the rust? I think it has! It hasn't come back yet and I did it a year ago!
Does it look shitty? Sorta. but it looks wayyy better than before.
Did it stop the rust? I think it has! It hasn't come back yet and I did it a year ago!
Scramble
New member
Sounds similar to what I was thinking about doing.
sportscarfan
New member
To follow up with my band-aid from page 1, mine is only rusty where the previous installer scratched the paint cutting the old windshield out - so under the seal. The previous installer also put the wrong seal on it according to the guy that came out to change it (and subsequently discovered the rust before going to work). "There's the cause of your leak"!
I have not had the time or the budget to invest in proper metalwork/repair, so the workaround that has held up for 2-1/2 years now is a wide strip of black vinyl applied like a band-aid across the top of the windshield overlapping the roof by ~4". Before applying the vinyl, I did my best with compressed air, various brushes, and rust mitigation spray to clean out the loose bits and hopefully halt the corrosion. Having the wrong windshield seal helped with access since I could just peel it back on the body side. The 4runner sat outside the first 2 winters after the vinyl was applied, and has not leaked since.
To follow nalbertasr5, does it look shitty? Sorta. But my 4runner is green and usually filthy anyway, so the flat black vinyl mostly blends in.
I have not had the time or the budget to invest in proper metalwork/repair, so the workaround that has held up for 2-1/2 years now is a wide strip of black vinyl applied like a band-aid across the top of the windshield overlapping the roof by ~4". Before applying the vinyl, I did my best with compressed air, various brushes, and rust mitigation spray to clean out the loose bits and hopefully halt the corrosion. Having the wrong windshield seal helped with access since I could just peel it back on the body side. The 4runner sat outside the first 2 winters after the vinyl was applied, and has not leaked since.
To follow nalbertasr5, does it look shitty? Sorta. But my 4runner is green and usually filthy anyway, so the flat black vinyl mostly blends in.
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powersandlorimer
New member
Good info on that here: rust around windshield - YotaTech Forums
