Doing a deep dive and getting under the trim of the 1976 I just picked up. Wanted to confirm the birdcage pics look acceptable?

I did find a few small spots of rust on the underside of the windshield frame. The flash makes it look worse but wanted yalls advice how bad it looks and the recommended way to fix. I haven't removed the chrome on the other side yet because I had to take a break and research how to get those off. Any suggestions?

The rest of the frame looks great.thank you in advance for any guidance.

 

looks solid to me

 

That is amazing condition! Remove the oxidized material, treat with phosphoric acid, prime and paint.

 

Thanks guys, is the window frame rust any concern?

 

to answer your question, no just do as stated above

 

Brother, that ain't NUTHIN! Half of us could only dream to find as little rust as that on our cars

 

Yup, that's in fantastic condition. A bit of a wire wheeling, a bit of rust converter. Paint. And done.
Extremely good!

 

Thanks everyone, ever since I brought it home I've been stripping the interior to make sure it's in sound shape and to plan on what to do next. Is there a recommended paint that's "correct" for repairs after treating with a phosphoric acid solution?

I picked up this one at auction but I couldn't inspect it for what I think was a great value (my wife sees different) so I was expecting the worst. Found some paperwork with the original purchase receipt and some maintenance receipts so I think it was only owned by one person since new in late 1975 from Michigan and moved some time in the 90's to Florida. I unfortunately found his obituary online from summer last year so I've been thinking I'd want to get it in best condition and drive and enjoy it the way he did for so long.

On the truck getting delivered to Texas some water got in because the carpets were moist. The truck did drive through at least one heavy rain system but I was concerned the damage might be worse than soaked carpets that needed replacement anyway due to fading and wear. Now is the process of deciding what to fix, repair, upgrade, or live with. I can certainly spend more than I spent to purchase it on a new interior from some of the site sppnsors. I'm sure I'll have lots of follow up questions in the future.

 

The factory green paint you see is zinc chromate primer so not strictly a “paint”. Once you have physically removed the oxidized material (wire brush followed by application of the phosphoric acid (Bonderite C-IC 79) followed by Chemfil SX-520 conditioner. Both are phosphoric acid based but the conditioner will actually create a zinc-rich layer that allows the primer to adhere to. Wear gloves and work in a well ventilated area. The process is rather simple but is, by far, the best way to prep metal for coating.

Zinc chromate primer is widely available. I don’t see a need to topcoat but if you want, something as cheap as Rust-Oleum will work fine for some incremental additional protection. The key is to clean, treat and prime correctly.

I am not a fan of using something like POR (Paint Over Rust) but it is up to you to decide what you want to use.

 

I suggest getting a USB/Endoscope camera (cheap on amazon) and inspect the insides of the windshield frame. ..... before you go off restoring things. It's easy enough to look around in there and if necessary coat the insides with some of that Eastwood Internal Frame Coating..... it would also let you know the internal status and whether you need to do more work.
Those upper corners look really iffy to me and if the carpets got soaked during the transport then you really want to take a good look that.

 

On those upper corners, take an ice pick and go after it like, well, like you are chipping ice! If you get a dull thunk sound, or worse, the pick goes thru, you need to break out the grinder and welder. If you get a nice solid metal on metal sound, treat it like the others are saying here, and send it.

 

I haven't pulled off the chrome on the top yet because I see a couple rivits at the back of the t top that look like they would need to be drilled out to remove the main piece. The smaller corner pieces I've read needs the windshield removed to access the screws behind them. So I was debating if I needed to pull the chrome trim to really get a good look behind.

I have an automotive endoscope but I'm not sure where it can go in under the top of the window frame? I'll check this weekend if I can sneak it by the side weather stripping

regarding the ice pick I'll give that a try or at least see if there's any give in the metal. Assuming it's all good and I can somehow sneak a peek up in there with the endoscope, I'll spray some rust inhibitor as much as I can behind if I can get back there.
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Appreciate the advice!

 

There is no place in the A pillar to stick a ‘scope in. I rustproofed mine by drilling a small hole near the top so I could insert a wand to spray rustproofing material along the length of the post as well as the header. It is a bit of overkill so you’ll need to decide if you want to go through the effort to drill out the rivets and remove the trim. I will warn you that there is a lot of sealant the factory put on, in addition to a foam strip, that will take some time to remove, clean the metal and replace if you go that route.

 

great you dug in.
looks good.

 

I had nice looking no.2 mounts like yours, but then learned my upper windshield frame has rotted and holed after I removed the windshield.
Just saying.

 

Giraffecaster
The good news is that if your start "ice-picking" and it goes through you would then have an access point for the USB camera.....my USB scope is quite small and even if the ice-pick doesn't poke through I would drill a small hole and take a look.
Get the Eastwood internal frame coating ahead of time anyway. You can always use it some other place but I suspect you're going to want to use it on that windshield frame.
You can also come up via the body mount area directly ahead of the door and look up that-a-way.

 

started off with a pick and everything felt and sounded solid. some rust flaked off but no holes poked through!

lifted up the chrome top trim enough to sneak in an endoscope. it's about the 3rd time i've used it and it's been more valuable than the $30 i spent on amazon for it.

besides one bug shell looking thing the rust on the inside didn't look bad at all. the black on the left side, does that look like maybe someone treated some surface rust before? I believe the windshield might not be original so maybe through the process of changing it they discovered a bit of rust and cleaned it up but didn't remove the interior trim panels?
Either way I'm super happy I was able to check it out for peace of mind and will pick up some Eastwood Internal Frame Aerosol and coat as much as the nozzle will let me get access to.

Drivers side that had worse looking rust from underneath trim panels:





The one passenger side pic I was able to take:

 

You bought a diamond in the rough! Buy a lottery ticket!

 

Way to go! I'd Eastwood spray that too. I did my frame sides just because and when I was working on the spare tire carrier I did the sealed metal beam back there.

 

These are mine 1975 coupe awesome looking right NOT!!!!!!