So I have even larger issues that the overdrive issues that I was asking about in my other thread.

cab was about ready for paint (so I thought) all rust fixed (so I thought) and was going to get primed later this week after smoothing out the previous owners “rust fix”. Claimed to have fixed the rust in the roof, but just riveted tin foil over the rust and put bondo over it. Rust has continued down in behind the windshield seal, and I’m at a lost. Any ideas how to go about fixing this?

 

If possible, I would like to not have to take out the windshield, but I fear the worst.

 

Holy crap!......Ben

 

Unless you want to just bondo over it and let it continue to rust underneath, the windshield is coming out....


Options:
A-Complete cab swap
B- Find a good cab "toupee" and weld it in as a whole.
C-Make custom patch panels and weld in it in pieces.
D Bondo over it and add a cab visor to hide the ugliness underneath.

I wish I could tell you some magic easy fix.....Sorry.

 

Wouldn’t even have thought that all that rust was under that

 

That’s what I thought. I would rather take the extra time to take the windshield out and fix it right, rather than in a few years have a even larger issue than this.

My only fear is that when I take the windshield out, what ever is left of the roof behind it is coming out with it, but I guess I will find out sooner than later.

with me luck.....

 

Oh you can be sure the bit that has been trapped behind the upper rubber windshield gasket is going to be super tender or more than likely totally missing.

 

Save that glass!!! Pull the seal insert, then cut the seal off of,the glass. Make sure,you have a new seal first.

The After market glass is thinner, and can be problematic sealing, from what the local auto glass guy told me.

Sorry you experienced that. I've seen guys cut the entire roof off of a junkyard truck, and weld the front section in, replacing the top.


I would then linex the roof, and never deal with it again..like my truck

 

Believe it or not I have seen worse.

I bought a '89 W-350 truck a few years ago, you could poke your fingers through from the driver seat into the fresh air above the windshield. Every bump or gear shift resulted in rusty metal flakes in your lap.
You almost needed to wear safety glasses just to yard drive the thing. Yard driving it was all you could with it as the brakes where basically just a memory.
The lug nuts also where shaped like walnuts, no socket would fit them.


I will be watching this thread to see what the OP comes up with as the best fix for him.

 

Man I feel for u u got a lot of work ahead.If u can’t or don’t want to change cabs the windshield has to come out.Keep in mind if u take the windshield out carry it on the Edge don’t lay it flat or it could crack .Anychance u can find a cab

 

I feel like if I had found this at the beginning, the cab would have already been swapped. But I already have replaced both cab corners, both rocker panels, both floors, and both cab mounts. So at this point I have way too much time and money tied up in this cab to just throw it away. Like I said, it was all ready for paint till I found this. Other than that SEVERE cancer about the windshield, there is absolutely no other rust on the cab

 

If the roof looked like it does in post #5 and you fixed all the other rust BEFORE digging into that just because the last guy said it was all fixed... That was a really big mistake on your part.
In post #5 there is no roof drip "gutter", it is obvious to me that the top of that roof is rusted out completely just looking at that one picture. That is the sort of fix someone does to get one or two more years out of a rig. There is a local guy who has a truck like that.

I will be honest, finding a good cab and swapping it out, will still likely be your best option at this point, regardless of the rest of the truck being "rust free" now.

I know their are several threads on fixing roof rot on this forum. If it was a crew cab or maybe even a club cab and finding a replacement cab was much harder, fixing might be the only option.
But since there are lots more reg cabs out there, I would look at finding a nice one.
What part of the country are you located in?

Once again I am not trying to be mean, I am trying to give you good, honest advise. Fixing roof rot that bad where some of the inner and all the outer roof is totally rotten away will be hard and time consuming. The end result needs the shape to be perfect or the windshield will not fit in at all, or will leak badly.

 

Does anyone know where I can find a cab with a solid roof in the western pa area. Just need the roof to splice into existing cab, so condition of rest of cab doesn’t matter. Willing to drive out of state to pick up

Pm me if you know of any

thanks

 

I have a good reg cab upper roof section I have saved, but I am in northern VT.

PM if you want to take a road trip.

 

1. We’re in western pa ?I know there quite a few in a junk yard over In Altoona area