What is the best way to handle rust around the back glass? Take it to the body shop and tell em to fix it?

It is going to the shop to have a new quarter panel put on, but I would rather do as much to it as possible before the get it. If it is just sanded and primed and painted it is going come back isn't it? Need to clean it up and then treat it with something?

Thanks!

 

It's probably rusted all the way under the glass. If it gets bad enough, it will leak rain water into your trunk. If you pull the trim, cut the seal under the glass, and remove the glass, you can clean it up and hopefully you caught it before it turns to Swiss cheese. If it's rusted through, it's not too terrible to fix. Out with the old and in with the new. I'll be doing the same thing on my Delta before too long, among a great many other things.

 

Pull the trim from around the rear glass yourself. Start at the bottom and undo the screws. Note: they all should have a clear plastic ring around the head of the screw. It was there to keep the stainless and steel screw from direct contact and causing rust. They probably need replacing? Then use a trim tool to remove the rest of the moldings. There are 3 pieces to the window molding, counting the lower. The upper ones are like giant hockey sticks.

Once you have the moldings off, you will be able to see the extent of the rust. You might be lucky and find it's not bad. Unfortunately I can't tell if you had water coming in the corners because the package tray is missing. These cars were notorious for water leaks in the back bottom corners of the windows.

If you have perforation, you're looking at body work. If you just have light surface pitting, you could probably clean it up yourself. Just don't overgrind the pins the molding clips sit on. More than likely you'll break some of the plastic clips taking off the molding, but they are available as aftermarket parts.

 

actually it does not look that bad from the pics , mine is worse off then yours is..... X2 what Allen said to fix the problem

 

Just did mine. Pulled the glass, got a small spot blaster and blasted all of the rusted areas. Better then grinding/sanding which removes too much metal.

I had a small hole in a corner so I welded in a small patch. Then epoxy primer and finished with Acrylic urethane. Never going to rust again. It depends how much you can do yourself.

If it is getting body work done anyway absolutely get them to hit it with epoxy, paint and reinstall.

If your moulding clips are screwed in like mine you can use a little strip caulk under the clip to seal the hole. More insurance to keep water out. Also, before you reinstall the mouldings you can put some thin poly all around the edges to protect the paint when the mouldings get slapped in. Then pull the poly out after. Its a bit **** but good insurance against chipping the paint.

 

I believe in 72 the pins holding the clips were tack welded. But, I guess if the rust is bad they can always be replaced as screwed in ones. I see lots of clips on the market. Just curious- would it be better to screw in the molding or pop rivet?

That is a cool tip about the poly. Just like taping around the fenders when fitting a bumper!

 

Got to mine too late. At the shop now getting cut out and replaced.

 

i also got to mine too late!

 

this is what i had to do ( half way through project )

 

I'm sure they will be happy to fix it but it won't be cheap. Do you have any pictures showing how bad it is?

 

I remember my Dad had a 1972 88 that leaked around the window.Water got into trunk well and under the rear seat.

Make sure its dry under the seat and not rotten.