[SimonB]

Has anyone gone through the exercise of having rust fixed on their Gen 2 A-Pillars?

I just want to know what would be involved. If this has to be sorted then it might be prudent for them to go through the vehicle thoroughly and then a respray.

Mine has a couple of places where the rust has developed quite a bit, and a couple of years ago when I had the windscreen replaced they had to fix some rust then. I think they did a lousy job at the time because now I am getting water coming out of the rooflining at the top of the passenger side windscreen.

So as a matter of urgency I need to get it sorted but am too scared to see what the quote is likely to be from the panelbeaters

[RoelfleRoux]

Simon,

As a matter of interest: does your roofrack "stand" in the gutters?

I recall on my Gen 2 and Gen 2.5 that the RR stood in the gutter and in heavy rain I used to get water dripping onto my feet - but only with the RR mounted. It stands to reason that this points to poor drainage and I won't be too surprised if your rust problem is partly to be blamed on the permanent nature of your RR.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but could be food for thought.

Roelf

[SimonB]

Roelf

Yes the RR is permanently mounted. If, as you say, it related to poor drainage, how is the water getting INTO the vehicle. I cant see any external holes in the drainage channels). I did take the RR off to check late last year, but this problem has existed for a while now.

Your answer might not solve my current issue, but it is pertinent to future prevention.

[Ernie]

Hi.

There is two main ways to fix rust. 1. You grind it down so that there is only clean metal remaining, then undercoat, then paint. 2. you cut the affected area out and weld in a new piece and grind, undercoat and paint. It depends on how bad it is. Now on a pillar it might get difficult because of the shape.

What I do once in a while is to check some areas and if I see a spot that could cause a problem I patch it with some rust inhibitor paint that almost match the main colour. a funny looking spot is better than a rusted spot. Normally they are so small that it is not seen.

Scratches and chips is most of the time the cause of rusting spots. Also the guys at the coast have even more to worry about. Hope it helps a little.

[SimonB]

I took Pumba to a panel shop (owned by a friend of a friend who, incidentally is doing a cruiser rebuild ). He did an assessment and will quote me in the morning but says it's not oo bad - while he cant see it he suggest there is some rust pushing the windscreen up causing the leak, but he'll give me a full assessment with the windscreen out. The A-pillar spots he also says are not all that bad but this winter will kill them if I dont attend to it.

The one thing after I get it fixed is cleaning the stains from the headliner.

[paw_by_paw]

Hi Simon,
Had a similar problem with water in the vehicle especially at driver side floor. After much looking and searching with removing the front top grille at windscreen and flushing water with a hosepipe found that the right front door hinge were leaking into the car. Without removing the whole door took some sealer the same stuff used for installing winscreens and sealed it. Looks like the problem is now solved. Sikaflex- quite expensive for a tube.
Regards

[paw_by_paw]

Hi Simon,
Saw you mentioned cleaning the Roof Lining.
I took a high foam carpet sjampoo with a good sponge and rubbed the foam in and rub off with another sponge. Lots of elbow grease but worked a charm.It was Mr Muscle Dry Foam carpet cleaner. Use only the foam not water, as water will leave marks.
Good Luck

[SimonB]

Ok, Pumbaa is booked in for some Botox treatment and a few stitches )

[cloyd]

Paw_by_paw,

Thanks for the roof liner info. SWAMBO has some work for the next week.

Cloyd

[SimonB]

I'll be getting Pumbaa back tomorrow. Apparently the rather alarming leak was because the windscreen wasn't fitted properly when it was installed a couple of years ago. It seems my Richtersveld trip caused the glue to give up in a couple of places.

The rust in the a-pillars was relatively minor, and nothing to be too concerned about