Title says it all,

I am looking to see the construction of the truck roof. It looks like 3 pieces where the sunvisors attach. I am wanting to do some rust prevention to the area, but don't want to drill through the outer skin.



Help!

Michael

 

Best thing to do is get a wire wheel and take it to bare metal. See what you're working with. I have a wand that I stick through the visor hole and spray "rust cutter" all over. It's acid and turns rust into a black paintable surface. From there you can hit it with fluid film or use eastwood (Internal Frame Coating w/Spray Nozzle | Eastwood) then hit with fluid film.

Remove the entire windshield and tackle it that way. I actually have to do this to a ramcharge I bought. I did the same with my W250 restore.

 

This is my crew that I ended up replacing the whole rood section on.
Re: Quicksilver project (85 crew cab) Roof replacement!!! - Dodge Ram, Ramcharger, Cummins, Jeep, Durango, Power Wagon, Trailduster, all Mopar Truck & SUV Owners. Dodgeram

Scroll down to reply #12 to see the insides of the roof. There are actually 4 layers in the roof. Outer skin, inner front brace (what you are seeing inside the sun visor holes), drip rail, and inner skin.

I think bcron has the best idea for rust proofing/prevention on these rigs. He simply cuts out the inner skin around the stamped designs on the inside of the cab, then cleans and treats with primer/etc.

 

Was the inside painted in these ??

I don't have a rust problem. Just trying to shore things up. Wurth makes a spray able wax for rust proofing closed panels. I was thinking adding holes maybe 1/8 inch.

Removing inner panel is beyond scope.
Let me know the wand you are using please. Will look more.
Will 80mil sound deadING fit above the headliner? Seems booming with a tap.
M

 

They were not painted. Anything is better than nothing, I like the eastwood stuff because of the creep it has. We used the wax from wurth (big fan of the SKS underbody). Unfortunately when the -30F or -40F cold hits the wax falls off and becomes fragile. If you live in the south, no worries.


The small ones are great and easy to seal up with a mig.

 

If you are using the plastic trim piece over the windshield you can spray through the screw holes

 

Something like this maybe.
Eastwood Internal Frame Coating 14oz Aerosol

 

Heres a good one
1stGen.org ? View topic - Club cab drip rail over windsheild rust rot repair

And this guy copied the first one
1988 W-100 - 360 magnum swap- running - Dodge Ram, Ramcharger, Cummins, Jeep, Durango, Power Wagon, Trailduster, all Mopar Truck & SUV Owners. Dodgeram

half way down

 

I'm going to be doing this to my single cab sometime soon.

 

This is what I was referring to^^^

Also, don't overlook the initial cause of most roof and driprail issues. Dried up seam sealer that is coming out of the gutter. Chisel all of the old out, wire brush it, prime with a quality primer, then reapply new sealer.

 

I'm painfully aware of the drip rail issues. Mine, previous owner had hit something on a corner and it was leaking. Roof was rusty, so I took it all down to bare metal.
I sanded it all and with all the seam sealer removed- you prime it first, then seam sealed it with the fancy stuff, then top coated with some leftover Kirker single stage white urethane.


Michael

 

seam sealer recommendation I posted four years ago:

 

My only concern is where the driprail goes vertical behind the door. will the sealer run down the side of the truck?

 

I didn't watch the body shop do the work; next time I speak with them I'll inquire about whether or not this is an issue and, if so, how to deal with it.




1. Does anyone have a strong opinion as to whether Fluid Film or Eastwood coating is the superior product for this application?

2. Is there any reason I could not use an aerosol can of Fluid Film or Eastwood coating with a wand -- applying the product from outside the cab via the cab marker light holes in the roof?

TIA

 

I have used fluid film cans with the wand to spray in the cab light and sun visor holes on several 1st gens, to ward off the windshield rot.