[Matt P (Matt)]

I have been fixing up a 1970 dodge challenger for a while now, and i have come across the point of repairing the rust around the front window. and the rust at the top of the pillar post where the vinyl top was. I was wondering if anyone had incountered this problem before and how they fixed it? What filler if any did they use to repair this problem? I asked a body shop and they sugested an aluminum filler called aluma fill? I just want to know what other people did to fix this problem and how it turned out for them. thanks matt

[Henry (Henry)]

Dave R has just done the screen surrounds on his car. If you do a search you will find it on here somewhere.

I'm pretty sure that he has actually welded up the holes left around the screens.

Since coming back from holiday Dave has a backlog of things to sort so he may not have time to reply for a few days.

[Dave-R (Roppa440)]

I think it was on the MMA mesage board Henry.

Hello folks. This is just a flying visit. I will be back on here and acting my normal self after tomorrow if things go my way...otherwise I may be some time crying in my beer.

This is a common rust area. The best way is to cut a small bit out at a time and weld in new metal. Don't try to cut the whole lot out in one go otherwise things can get distorted and well out of shape.

On my car I found the worst areas were the botton edges at the front and rear. I used sections of thin angle iron as a basis for the basic shape although you will find there is not a single section that is not curved so you will have to shape the angle iron.

After welding a few sections around the base of the front screen and most of the base of the rear screen I re-sealed the glass back in and the whole thing is nice and water tight now. No more water in the trunk and no more drips on my legs when driving!

[Matt P (Matt)]

thanks for the help!!!!

[David Robson (Admin)]

Here is the bit of rust repair I started with. I thought it best to do the easy bits first. The rear window was a lot harder and it was pointless using angle iron because of the curve. Easier to weld in flat sections one at a time.



Angle iron was ideal for this bit along the front though.

After a few tacks to hold the new metal in place weld a seam all the way around. BUT don't try and weld it all in one go! Just do an inch at a time and quench the heat out of it with a wet rag before starting the next inch. Heat build-up in the metal will either set something on fire or buckle the metal. I do not reccommend welding around here with the dash pad in place. Ho hum! Remove anything that can burn first and keep a bucket of water handy a well as an old washing-up liquid bottle to squirt water into small places if needed.

After welding just grind off the weld until smooth. Watch out where the sparks go. They melt into paint and glass and burn vinyl tops (ho hum again!).