Since I have owned this car I've been mystified by the only bit of rust on the whole car- there are two spots of bubbling along the passenger side rear quarter window. The pictures don't show them well, one is just below the forward edge of the alarm system decal, and the other more forward one is best seen in the first pic. I presume this is due to not drying the car after washing and letting water sit in the channel, as this car has lived its whole life in the LA basin:





My concern is that it's more extensively damaged in the rear quarter window channel, as the whole lower window trim is bulging:




Does anyone have a sense of how much decay is actually there given two ~1cm areas of bubbling below the paint? I'd like to believe the displaced trim is coincidental, but I'm probably not that lucky.

And for the bodywork gurus, what's it take to properly repair this? Obviously the window comes out, and sand/fill/prime/paint, then new window seal, but what do I need to look for in an estimate that'll fix this right? My concern is that if you can get rust like this in the desert southwest, how do you prevent its return when your repair wipes out the galvanized coating from the factory? The car's got single stage black, no clear coat. What are my options on matching this, without re-spraying the whole quarter?

Thanks for any opinion/advice!

 

I can only tell you how it happens... Window seals reinstalled incorrectly! If you see that 100% the rear quarter window was pulled for some reason! SUCKS!

Sorry I don't have a repair. Could use the proper answer for that though myself as I have that with my '81 and maybe with my '84...I think the rest of my babies are ok though!

James

 

I can tell you what I found with my car.....

the rust was not very evident when I bought the car....similar to yours. a few places on the quarter windows, some on the hatch.

the Houston area humidity/rain did not help, and this year I went after full throttle to see how bad it really was. I found extensive rust areas in the entire quarter window channel. the hatch was no better--the lower third of the hatch was under attack. not rusted through mind you, but plenty of rust none the less.

Cure:

per my paint and body guy, I removed all trim, glass,and rubber. I used a grinder with a #36 paper to remove as much of the rust issues as possible, and then progressed to removing paint (to the metal) on the entire car.

Next, I sprayed the affected areas with a primer OK for galvanized steel.

The car will eventually go to the paint and body shop for media blasting of the rust affected areas, then filler, then primer filler, then paint application.


Can you do this piece meal? Yes. Will you be satisfied? Maybe, maybe not. I suspect that you will find that the more you dig, the more issues you will find hiding behind the trim, glass, and rubbers......If rust is in the quarter channels, it may be in the front windshield channels, the hatch channels, roof trim areas, and the body areas around the rear bumper cover beading.

I am all for repairing things like this correctly, as I want no part of it re-appearing any time soon.

As for cost----it's your wallet. Get estimates, and then decide how long you are going to keep the car/how much you are willing to spend.

Good luck---

--Russ