Rust problem

[FundamentalyConfused]

So the cancer is becoming unbearable on my car. The worst spot is along the top edge of the windshield. It's leaking water inside when it rains and when I go to wash the car.

Will I really have to take out the windshield to fix this right? It already needs to be replaced since it has a rather long crack in it but I've been putting it off for the winter and I need to get a new piece of glass first too.

I want to take the easy way out on this and put down a bead of silicone behind the top trim piece but the clips holding it down are going to be the tricky part. Since they clip under the glass that would be an issue if I were to silicone it. I wouldn't be able to clip them under if I did that. I could also silicone it then put the top trim on but then I'll have the issue of possibly not being able to take that trim part off without destroying it.

I don't like doing body work to my car all that much because it's my daily driver and trying to fix this is going to take me like 3-4 days and that's too much time off work. Not to mention the fact that my wife will be angry at me for not being there to help her.

Ugh decisions decisions.

[FundamentalyConfused]

I'll have to get a pic of it sometime soon but there's rust bubbles along the top of the windshield and I've had thoughts of finding a donor car somewhere and chopping the top off and depending on how far gone it is replacing the top along the windshield.

If I were to get a donor part and not fab something what years could I pull from? Am I stuck with years 89-94? Would I be able to take from an imprezza or another model?

Thanks for the info.

[matt00rs25]

You'll prob have to pull the windshield to see the full extent of the rust. If you were to buy a rust free donor you could just swap everything into that shell or use it for parts. Ideally it should be the same year range or you can custom fab replacement parts. I intend on doing that myself this spring as mine has quarter rust and two small holes in the rockers.

[FundamentalyConfused]

I decided to take off the top trim piece to fix the water leaking in issue. I found lots of dirt in there because the trim piece isn't holding tight to the glass and the glass bonding adhesive had extruded and wasn't cleaned up from when the glass was replaced.

There is quite a bit of rust covering about half of the front edge of the glass and I found what looked like a spot where the seal had a hole in it. It was hard to tell though the spot was at the middle point. Thankfully none of the rust looks severe enough to be holes yet.

After I cut out all the extra sealer, cleaned out the debris and rust flakes and tried to notch some spots for the clips to grab the glass, I used some of this permatex stuff I found at Oriley's.
http://www.permatex.com/products/produc ... ant-detail
I failed at the notching, I don't have a proper tool to do that with. The permatex stuff was the right thing for the job I think.

When the 1st coat had cured for 2 hours I decided on using this stuff to cover over all of the rust not just what the trim was going to cover. This stuff has good covering ability and appeared to cover gaps without dripping in too badly. It didn't come with an applicator tip, which would have been nice, but I used one of those wooden sticks the doc uses to hold your tongue down. I tapped the end of the stick down in the gap as I squirted the sealer onto it so it wouldn't make a huge mess on the glass.

The end result was a fairly smooth looking gap and even though the clips aren't able to grab the glass the way I'd like it seemed to be tight putting the trim back in. I need to fix the clips not being on correctly, the trim is wavy like it was before.

The operation was a success!! I took the car to the wash today after about a week since I resealed it and I didn't get a single drop of water coming from the headliner. I did however get some coming in from the drivers door. I set the door too far back when I attempted to slide the door back hair and put the end of it back up in place.

[Legacy777]

Good deal!

Thanks for following up and letting us know how you fixed it.

[FundamentalyConfused]

Well upon further review, and this bad rainstorm, my success was a failure! It's now dripping onto both front seats now. My current idea is to take out the headliner and rig up some sort of drip tube until I can get the windshield replaced.

[SILINC3R]

do you have a sunroof?

[FundamentalyConfused]

No sunroof.

I'm sure that the windshield has been replaced before and whoever did it messed it up.

[FundamentalyConfused]

I decided to take out my headliner and am going to seal it from the inside and reseal the outside. I picked up some clear silicone with a long applicator tip and I'm going to make damn sure this doesn't leak again!

[rallyak]

I'm not sure it will be that easy. The under side has a inner structure, that's what your visors screw to. But there are some holes in that piece that has limited access. Good luck

[FundamentalyConfused]

I've already gotten the headliner out and there's water coming in from where the glass meets the metal. I didn't see any rust or moisture on the inner structure after I took the liner off and wiped everything down.

I drove it for a couple days, thankfully those were rainy days, with the liner off to see where the drips were coming from.

[FundamentalyConfused]

So far my seal job has stopped the flow of water in. I think that a few more days with the headliner out to make sure there's no more leaks is in order.

I'll keep yall posted.

[FundamentalyConfused]

After that bad ass thunderstorm that rolled through last night with hail my seal job has held up. I'm going to call this one a success this time.

Someone did tell me that the silicone will shrink and crack after a few months so I might have to do this again but I know how to beat this one now!!

[Legacy777]

As long as you use the proper type of silicone it should be ok.