So I was getting the windshield replaced on my 98 Trans Am and the technician brought me out to the service bay to show me rust damage on the passanger side windshield header. I don't take the T-tops out often so this was a surprise to me. Has anybody else seen this and had it repaired? My car is a low milage car but for the last couple of years has lived outside.

 

 

Thanks for the reply, replacing the windshield is how the rust damage was discovered, otherwise it couldn't be seen. I'm just glad for one, the technician working at Safelite thought enough to show me what was going on, and two, that I decided to have the windshield replaced in lieu of polishing it. I just have to find a good shop to do that work, most of the body shops around Hampton Roads VA are collision repair only.

 

Sadly, there's probably more rust elsewhere . . . from winter road salt, most likely. Yes, it can be fixed but it won't be cheap.

Rick

 

Hi Rick, yeah I know it's going to be expensive. I don't know ow so much about rust any where else. Where I live in SE Virginia we don't see much snow and my T/A is parked when there is snow/salt on the roads. My biggest concern about this rust damage is where it is in the windshield header.

 

Not sure if you got this fixed yet but the same thing happened to my brothers Z28 a few years ago.
He got a crack in his windshield and got a mobile glass installer to come by his work. The installer found bubbles along the edge of the windshield under one of the t-tops and said he couldn't continue. My brother called me a bit upset because his car is a 9.5/10 car and had no reason to have any rust anywhere. I told him to bring the car down to my dad's garage after work and we would figure something out. The glass installer guy was cool and left my brother his personal number and said he would come by the garage after his normal work hours. We got the car stripped down for the glass guy to come by and remove the windshield, which he did amazingly quick. The rust was caused by the corner of the windshield being loose. The factory windshield urethane glue/sealant bond was broken. Luckily it is a pretty heavy gauge metal structure around the windshield and t-tops because it would have rusted through a thin gauge metal. I'm no professional body man but I hold my own pretty well. I wire wheeled the rusted area clean, put on some locktite rust neutralizer, filled the divots left by the rust with fiberglass resin, and then 2k primed the area that evening. The next evening we picked up a pint of single stage MAE and some hardener and I sprayed the t-top jamb with an old touch up gun. The paint dried overnight and the glass guy came by and put in the new windshield.
All in all it wasn't a huge deal, and as an added bonus my brothers t-top jamb is slicker than oem.

 

Thanks SuperSport01,
My T/A is only a good detail away from 9/10. It's only got 37,XXX miles on it and is all original. I dropped it off yesterday at a shop recommend to me by several people I know. I'm waiting for a written estimate from them but the windshield has to be removed first. I'm hoping it isn't too bad damage and cost wise. Maybe all it really needs is what you were able to do with your brother's car.

 

Interested in seeing the outcome.

 

I was faced with the rusted windshield frame on my wife's car and I had noticed it growing for a few month. I thought about it and figure to re-do the headliner inside at the same time. After thinking about it, I was at the bone yard with a buddy who had a cordless saw's all. I took a straight chunk of glass channel out of a Tahoe that had no curve, longer than what I needed. So the day came, the mobile glass guy came out, pulled the windshield out because it was cracked anyways, then I went to work. Measuring twice, cutting once, I took the rusted channel out with a welding blanket covering the insides and plastic behind that. I sanded, cleaned and prep the new piece then used a air powered flanging tool on it and not the car. The flange made a perfect off-set to slide in under the good metal and with a number of plug welds, I used my MIG to finish it off. Flap disc work great on outside then used the metal body filler for a skim coat. The inside was right over the rear view mirror, but have open cavities in the sheet metal to weld from inside to complete the job. Cleaned it up, used seam sealer, cold galvanizing spray inside, then painted with some 2K to seal it off. The outside used evercoat gold and feathered it out, sanded about 8" away with finer grit until I was at 800. Epoxy primed it with SPI gray, white base coat, then re-taped it back further and cleared it. Using the tap roll-back method, it blended right into the good paint then let cure for the weekend. I figured the primer used on the glue-in windshields might attack the paints clear if it was too fresh. Windshield went in, trim on and put the recovered headliner back in. I got it outside and had to polish the rest of the top to get it shiny... "Wooda, Coulda" Should have just re-cleared the entire top, but didn't. Oh well, cheaper than a replacement vehicle and looks fine.

This is how I got my large rear window into my 1967 C10. I cut it out of one in the bone yard and went though all 3 batteries we had that day. Did that one 5 year ago with the same flange trick. What a difference in the thickness of sheet metal though between 67 and then a 1999. It's Huge!

 

did you ever get it fixed and what was the cost?

 

Hey. I was building my car and there was no rust anywhere. When they took my windshield out, they found rust all across the front where the windshield meets the roof. I halfway freaked out. I took it to a guy that had done some work on my Squarebody and he fixed it for $300. Zoom in on the pictures and you can see how good it turned out. He sliced out the rust and welded it a new piece and painted it up.

 

Is there a way to prevent this from happening or keep it from getting to this stage without removing the windshield?

 

Hey. I think that you would at the least remove the molding from the top of the windshield to see how it looks. I knew that something was leaking when I bought the car because the headliner was messed up in the front middle. I thought it was a T-Top gasket but when I took those off they were fine. This was the only rust on my entire car. I have been working on every part of it and it has nothing else even showing surface rust. When they took my windshield out I was completely shocked. Problem is, if you take that gasket off, you might tear it off to the point that you can’t get it on. So, first thing to look at is the front of your headliner showing damage. My car would have a leak during a real hard rain.

 

I had the windshield rust thing. I wire wheeled it, used Rust Kutter a couple of times, sanded it, used JB weld to fill the pits, sanded that down, then coated it with POR 15 twice. The part where the T top gasket sits, I over painted with a couple of coats of Gloss roll bar paint. This is a drag car so it is definitely not show car repair. But it's not coming back and it's not leaking.

 

Pretty sure I have this problem with my 01 trans am after finding this. Mine keeps leaking right above the rear view mirror and water pools up in the ABS headliner that came on the car. Figured I�d try silicone on the hole in some sealant I seen near the T Top bar that meets windshield. Did no good. Wondering if I have a bigger problem like this. Seen some bubbling on the paint in the area but don�t see rust. Guessing I need to remove the moulding or even the whole windshield to see something.