Rust problem

I have a serious rust problem on the roof of my 74 four door. All the junk on the roof is peeling off and it is rusting underneath. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the rust?
Also an informal poll should I redo the vinyl on the roof or paint it?

One more thing. Do any of you know a good place to get weather seals? The only seals that are any good are the windshield and the back glass. I despreatly want to redo the interior but with a good rain I get 1/4 inch of water standing in front passengers floor pan.



All links will be throughly explored

 

Lose the vinyl.. hopefully the vinyl protected the roof some what.. I would say if theres no cancer holes get out the grinder and get at it.. if there is a bit of rust out i wouldnt worry to much about it grind it off and put some fiberglass body filler over it (you can pick this up at almost any autobody supplier... it comes in a paint can and u will need a hardener i suggest a cream one so u can see the colour change to ensure its all mixed up if not it really sucks having some dry and some wet spots) then sand the whole roof down get it to about 180 grit maybe higher depending on how picky you are go up to 400 dry but seeing as it is pretty much flat u can layer the primer on with out little worrys of runs.. use a high build primer on and then sand it if u have to get rid of any inperfections and then spray some sealer on then paint and clear it. this should prevent any further rust if u wana get really rust proof crazy spray some epoxy primer over the high build

And hey if u want the vinyl back u can always put it on over the paint .. personaly i like a painted roof, vinyl gives it the granny look

As for the seals do u mean window and door seals.... some seals like deck lid seals u can pick up at just about any auto parts store it comes by the foot i belive and u just run it along the top of the trunk

Sorry about the book same thing happened to me

 

If you have rust there under the roof, make sure you use an etching solution after you sand befroe you use any glaze or putty. Sanding rarely gets all the rust and it will keep corroding the metal unless you treat it. I have a vinyl roof replacement in my future on my 4 door also, but I'm replacing it. The blue roof will look good with the white body.

 

n2m, when i did the rusty top on my car i had the guy put some paint on after the primer. i found in the past that primer will rust if not sealed. as for the water in the floor pan, did you check your cowls try pouring water in the vent. try not to get any on the windshield. this way you will know if it is a seal on the door or the cowl. jmo.

 

next step

 

i cain't get the after pic. to load. i will bump the sav. mini meet post to the top so you can see the pic. posted there. it is on the main page...frank...:bananaman :bananaman

 

Well there is no cancer yet but I am worried about oversanding and making a hole.

I know the window and door seals are crap because when it rains there is nearly as much water running down the inside of the door glass as there is on the outside. I also know that I need to redo the whole heating system duct work and all that junk because when I have the blower on the heat doesn't really come out of anywhere until the whole thing is hot enough to make the dashboard radiate a little bit of heat. bottom line there is that I am more than likely getting watter in through the cowl as well as the door and window seals.

 

my halo vinyl roof was the same way........i lightly sand blasted the roof, it doesnt take much to get that paint off the roof at all,then used a da sander with 80 grit paper to smooth it out...i then etched the roof with metal ready and painted it with por-15...the ecthing solution works really well for getting in the rust pits(the longer you keep it on the better it works)

 

Do you have the drip railings over the doors or do 4 doors have those, my advice it to just go to a parts store and ask them for the seals if they dont got them try some where like autocrafters

 

autokrafters have all the seals you need but i am betting that the leak isnt in the seals...........its more than likley your intake vents in the cowl......they rust really bad around the standpipe that is supposed to let the air in and leave the rain and dust out......pull out your vent on the drivers side and you will probably find rust holes there for sure

 

There is no rust around the vents but the entire heater box is all messed up. I need to take all that junk out and put it all back together and maybe get some of that foam rubber seal stuff to keep the heat flowing through the ducts like I should.
I know that watter is comming in through the door and door glass seals because I can see peices of those seals missing
Thanks for all the great advice on how to take care of the rusty roof.
Where would I guy get the etching soulition?

 

check out www.por-15.com for the paint and metal ready ecthing solution........you dont have to use por to use the metal ready but i will stand behind por as anybody that i know that has used it.......is very good stuff

 

Well this is gonna be fun.

On Wensday I blew up the starter on my 74 Maverick. When I had the car on a forklift so that I could work on it while standing up out of the puddle at work I found a hole about twice the size of my giant foot in the drivers side floor pan. Maybe the missing window and door seals are only part of my water problem.

The more work I do to this car the more I find that has yet to be done

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

That has got to be the #1 rule for cars.

 

New2 the more you get into the car the more your likely to find wrong. As I'm sure most of us have when taking on a 30 year old Mav.
The key is tackling it one problem at a time. It's very easy to get overwhelmed and become discouraged.
After you've found the major problems make up your mind what your gonna fix first and go for it.
You think you got problems? hehe...I'll post some pics tomorrow of a 4 dr. comet I'm starting on, this thing is so ugly it would scare the warts off a witch.
Chin up and head first