I am certain i will find something similar when i pull my windshield. ill be waiting till i have the time and money to do it right...

 

the whole care is apart, so the time is not the issue. I just need to decide how far I want to take the repair. there are no pinholes or anything like that. the holes are the only ones there.

it is pitted, but not crazy. just one of those many decisions to make during this restore.

 

I have made the repairs to the holes (pictures to come).

I ended up cutting the holes back to where it was a consitent thickness of metal. I used 16ga welding steel as a backing to the holes that I cleaned up (it was bend and curved to match the curves of the original). I tacked and welded the new plates in place, then used a 22ga steel to help bring the repair flush (a little taller actually) than the original metal. Then ground it down with a di-grinder w 24grit pads. Which was a really long process but worked well.

I am happy with the repair, it was ugly weld at first, but it cleaned up nicely, but more importantly there are no holes in the repair or rust.

I want to go ahead and get it frame pimed and painted (just to get it sealed up). It will be while before get the windshield urethan sealant etc.

This is what I want to do to get it ready now so I can continue with other items on my todo list for the car. Please let me know if this will be ok or not. There is some pitting in the frame but it cleaned up nicely.

I am basing these steps on the Post from Willcox about priming and painting then priming again with windshield urethane primer before the adhesive and windshield goes on. I also am going to prime the firewall at the same time.

1. Clean the rust pne more time just to make sure it is inert.
-- Should there be a rust converting primer put on here just to be safe --
2. Prime with a 2 part epoxy primer
3. install the primed firewall bonding strips (these were removed to get to the holes) using bonding adhesive and rivets. Any issue with bondding to primered metal?
4. To help fill the pitting some, I want to use a 2 part ceramic infused paint that I will use on the firewall and have used on my control arms. Will this paint cause me any issues in the future when it is time to prime and put the sealant?

 

I imagine this is what my '71 convert looks like.

Excuse my ignorance, but if I were to remove the windshield/all trim/wiper trough, etc., is it even remotely possible to half-*** this repair by injecting some caulk/sealer, etc. into/onto the holes, just to keep it from leaking into the interior?

I know what I'm suggesting isn't the correct way to do this, but can it be Bubba'd?

Thanks

 

the inside of the frame is hollow, would use a butt load of it even in the attempt. :S

 

Keep up the good work efather. Thanks for letting me look over your sholder, sure is amazing what your doing.

 

Been a while since I updated this post. I was able to get the windshield frame hole fixed. I ended up cuting the hole to straighten the edges, the used 22g steel and cut it and bent it to fit into the hole. i slipped it through the hole and I tacked it in, then put a beed around it. I had planned using a 16g piece and tack it to the patch piece, but ended up just filling it in with the weld. I did run the patch long and tacked it also through good metal not close to the original hole.

finally I ground it down to flush etc.

Next step is to finish it with filler then primer (and prime the frame), then put a topcoat etc on it all. then I will start bonding the firewall strip back.

 

Did your 22ga patch match up with the original thickness of that area? It seems awful thin.

 

actually I said it backwards. used 16g backing patch welded in, and was going to bring it up to the height of the original using 22g. bending/hammering the 16 to the shape i needed was a tedious process. thinner would been easier.

 

I was able to get the rust primer on today. I did the couple of metal items in side the car that were rusted also as well as the t-top bar since it has some rust in it also.

I am following the recommendation from Willcox. I am using LORD bonding agent to put the firewall bonding strip back on as well as the panels which can go on top of primer.

I have not decided if I am going to bond the strips on ontop of the rust primer or after topcoat and urathain primer. I am leaning toward the urathain tho so I can just continue with it taped as it is now.