Ok I have had the car a week and I decided to look under the bubble and see what was there. Well as I suspected.. I have seen a number of posts regarding rust, but have yet to see anything about rust around the window. Can I repair this or does it make more sense to cut it off and replace it with a donner? Would that be strong enough?
Anyone have any suggestions? on what to do.
Last question, anyone know of a good paint and body shop in Southern California? inexpensive but good.. Hoping to find a killer deal.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

What was underneath.

Driver side front shield.

At the very least it gonna need the windshiled to be pulled...more than likely donor pieces will need to be welded in.

Yeah, I would cut the entire top off, all around the windshield and down onto the front cowl and weld in a doner piece. As for the rest of the paint and body work, Los Ponchos in Mexico has been known to do some pretty good work at very cheap prices. They may even be able to do the windshiled sectioning.

QUOTE (skline @ Aug 30 2005, 08:53 PM)

Yeah, I would cut the entire top off, all around the windshield and down onto the front cowl and weld in a doner piece.

has been done before. not too complicated if you know what you're doing and you got the factory measurements and such ...

contact our very own McMark and talk to him ...
Andy

Before you get to emotionally committed to your plan, take out the windshield and see how bad things really are. If that much was hiding, more is hiding for sure. You can weld in a donor front cowl, or you can make one if you're handy. It's not a structural piece, so you only have to worry about aesthetics.

Mark,

I have no F*****G clue what I'm doing, but I'm convinced to see this through. I am good with my hands, but as I have no idea where to start I could use some guidance. You said to remove the windshield, to see how far it goes. Do I need to pull the dash out as well?

Taking the windshield out is really easy. Getting your chrome trim out without bending it into a pretzel is the tricky part. There are some good threads on here about removing it. Read through them really well and get familiar with the process. Once the trim is out, you can cut the sticky black butyl tape that holds the window in. Once that's cut out it just pops out. Then you can dig around and see the extent of the problem. Rust likes to form under the windshield as well, so you'll probably see it there. Cutting and welding these pieces out will be fairly straight forward. Keep asking questions each step of the way and we'll keep you pointed in the right direction. You're not alone and people have been through what you're about to embark on. Keep on truckin'!

Will do thanks for the direction Mark...

Ok last one. After removing the windshield, and it's determined that welding is required, does anyone here have the knowledge and equipment to do the welding? I will kick some cash your way, along with beer and Pizza. I know that's got toget someones attention.. You name the beer Hell I will even go as far as to flip for imported...
I know there are some beer drinkers here that also can handle the pizza..
Oh shit if anyone has some free time locally I could use some help figuring out what I got myslef in to...

There is a great group of people in your area. Start attending as many events as possible. I think there's one in the next few days.

I just realized that I was a little confused about where your rust is. That area is a little more complicated than I previously implied. That area has internal supports, so it's not just a cut and weld.

Still do-able though. Don't get too scared.

just a little bit...

Dam that looks familiar, I have a donor frame and cowl on the way so I was going to graft it in section at a time to make sure everything stays nice and straight. If you beat me to it start a thread with lots of pictures as I know I will find it helpful as will many others

Andy