Hello people I am a college student and I purchased my first muscle/classic and I am very excited to work on it! The car is a 1970 Cutlass S 2dr it has an original (or at least I think it is) 350 with an edelbrock performer and a carter 4 barrel carburetor (want a Q-jet). It had a vinyl top on it that I took off today(because I heard they cause rust) against my grandfathers and roommates beliefs and to my surprise it was only three very small rust holes two in the rear window channel and one in the front. I want the car to be a complete DIY project from bodywork to paint if possible. I will also like to remove as much chrome on it as possible. Can I fill in the window channel where the chrome trim goes(front and rear) with some kind of product because I will like to remove them if I can for the blackout look?

 

The vinyl top itself doesn't cause rust. If moisture is getting trapped in there (speeding up the rust process) something was wrong to start with(i.e. it's old).
I personally don't like vinyl tops, but if i wanted to stay original, I would without fear of rust from caused by a vinyl top. A hardtop car can rust just as easily if it's not properly maintained. As for your DIY good luck & don't make a mess. I make a good living off of a lot of well intentioned car guys who thought they could do it themselves. As for the window trim question, only an experienced professional could pull something like that off and end up with a presentable final project. If you don't know what "material" to fill that in with, I would suggest you leave it up to someone else. You would need to extend the metal in toward the windshield edges to allow a much tighter fit, then when you re-install the glass they make a gasket that slips onto the edge of the glass & has a small flange that extends onto the surround painted edge(much like what comes on some late model trucks & a few cars). Just use your better judgement, don't bite off more than you can chew just because you don't want to spend the money to do it right. Listen to the professionals around you! Good luck.

P.S. That "material" is steel.

 

Do you have a picture of whay this gasket looks like? Because I am not sure if you are saying I do or dont Have to put the chrome trim back on. I will be taking the car to a body shop to get the rust hole repaired the way they supposed to be done!(with metal)

 

A few years ago I saw a car that had the aluminum trim painted a matte black, the body was red. It looked pretty nice! I think you would have to rough it up some, maybe sandblast it to get the paint to stick. John

 

I think he was saying you don't put the trim on and use the gasket instead. The appearance would be that of a modern car that has only rubber gasket surrounding the window. That is why you would have to add some material to fill the channel surrounding the window.

 

Thank you thats what I wanted to know!!!