Rust Repairs & Restoration

[Big_Richard]

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[TJ 450]

Yes,

The sunroof is a two person job. Well, removing the frame is anyway.

It sounds like you're getting there though, with regards to stripping it down.

Tim

[Mforcer]

Things have been slow over the last few weeks but there is no turning back now!





It is fun working on the car knowing that it doesn't matter if you scratch the paint

[WGB]

Looking good Michael.

Keep up the good work.

Bill

[Yesmar]

Looks great, very inspiring thread!

[KenM]

As you say Michael, no turning back now. Out of interest, how long to remove all the paint on that panel? I have absolutely fallen in love with soda blasting, having seen a number of demo's lately. It would eat

the paint off those panels in no time and not leave a blemish. Bit of a bummer if you have to pay somebody to do it though but does an undeatable job I reckon.

[Mforcer]

I wasn't keeping track of time but it was at least a few hours to strip the paint from the one panel. The difficult part for me was getting into the bends and curves of the panel but this was the first time doing anything like this. I still left the pros to clean it up.

[oscar]

Geez you've come a long way since I last popped in.   What are you using to strip, sanding pads?  I had mixed results with paint stripper, sometimes great, other times barely worked.  Most of the time I used a flappy sanding pads but wire wheels mounted in a drill and/or grinder did a great job too.  Either from the start or to clean up residue it left the metal bare, I was really impressed.  But damn the panels get surface rust overnight when exposed like that.

[Mforcer]

The stripping started with a course sanding to roughen the surface and prepare for the chemical paint stripper. After that worked its magic and cleaned off, the edges and last remaining paint was cleaned up with a sander (done by the pro's, not me) soon followed by the green undercoat (also done by the pro's, not me).



While waiting for the chemical stripper to work, I took the time to finally remove the windshields to allow for the sun roof and frame to be removed from the car. There was a mix of hard and soft sealant around the windshields which I still need to clean up but I did find some rust around the rear window;


The sunroof was rusted at the back of the panel which is not normally seen;




The sunroof frame was also rather rusty;








While dismantling the sunroof frame, I also found the trim piece that I previously thought was missing. The previous shop installed it in the wrong order, under the track the sunroof slides on



I think I have turned the corner and have done all the dismantling that I intend to do. It feels great to have some of the panels start moving towards being finished with painting.

[TJ 450]

It looks like it's all happening for sure.

Does the shop have a plan for the sunroof/frame rust? No doubt there will be a good one somewhere.

It's all pretty sound though, the rust at the rear window aperture looks quite treatable.

Tim

[pal]

Great work Michael, good luck with it.

[albe]

 Micheal  ''Top work'' Big job when you take on rust, will be follow this post .Keen to see how it comes up .
Keep up the good work ...
  8)Al

[Mforcer]

I am now on the hunt for a late series W126 sunroof following Nathan's swap to replace my rusty frame.

The whole car generally looks really quite clean without any issues to scare the panel and paint guys.

I am looking forward to putting the car on the hoist soon-ish to redo the underside padding.

[Big_Richard]

.

[Mforcer]

I felt that way when I saw the new leather for my seats Seeing the paint go on will be even better

Another box of goodies arrived yesterday for the Classic Center too.