Has anyone repaired or attempted to repair rot under back window?

[cam9457]

So the 87' WE4 I just brought home has some rot under the rear window/trunk area. I pulled off the panel that has three bolts holding it down just in front of the deck lid and under the rear window to see how bad it is....it's scary bad. Has anyone attempted to repair this area? If so how? Did you cut what you needed out of a donor car or do they sell this part/area somewhere? Can it be cut out of a regular Regal and match up? If you have any pics that would be really helpful. What do you call that area? Thanks in advance!

 

[9secWH1]

I'll be tackling that on my car when the floor pans are all done. The area your referring to is the trunk jamb. Yes the regal carries the same sheet metal, so if need you could cut it out a doner car. unfortunately it looks like youll need to remove the glass to see how far it really goes; that means remove the glass from the doner car to get what you need. good luck

 

[asto-t]

I would take guess and say the rear window would have to come out. You would see more rust behind glass. I would get a donor car for the repair! It will not be easy to get to area in the trunk because of the hinge. I think it can be repaired. I had some rust in the same area. Here is a pic. This is what the body shop did. I redid this area again because the body shop did a very poor job. I used very little filler the second time.

 

[asto-t]

This area is prone to rust because of dirt and leaves that get caught. But is very fixable

 

[cam9457]

WHEEEEEW, am I glad to hear you guys say it is in some way repairable in one way or another! I was expecting to hear "part it out". I am really thinking of buying a donor car but my better half would sh!t a brick on my head if I bring yet another car home. The pics are INCREDIBLY helpful and if you find anymore please post them. I just couldn't let her rot away in that field in Delaware. I'll post pics as soon as I begin tearing her apart

 

[cam9457]

I was pulling the back window trim off and half of those little white clips just broke coming off....Anyway, had the trunk open and noticed that on the trunk code sticker it says the car is a WE4 and a WO2

 

[Bweavy]

Ryan I returned your e-mail today. The proper way is to drill the welds out.
Back glass has to be pulled & depending on the rot the rear package tray may need to be removed also. That is how I quoted you today is with the rear package tray area.
Rear trim clips we also have new.

 

[cam9457]

Yeah I was hoping to have gotten the window out today to be able to let you know exactly what I needed but haven't gotten that far just yet(kids sidetracked me). But I did climb into the trunk and looked at the bottom of the package tray and it does have some surface rust to it so I'm assuming just to be safe I'd need that too. Which rivets need to be drilled out?

 

[Bweavy]

Yeah I was hoping to have gotten the window out today to be able to let you know exactly what I needed but haven't gotten that far just yet(kids sidetracked me). But I did climb into the trunk and looked at the bottom of the package tray and it does have some surface rust to it so I'm assuming just to be safe I'd need that too. Which rivets need to be drilled out?

Look at the pinch welds. You have to drill them out to install the new metal.

I'm calling it a night but if you want to call me in the AM I'll be here. I can help you with the rust problems & any questions you have on we-4's.
252 825 3293

 

[cam9457]

Will do, thanks for all the help!

 

[earcher1]

yes yes and yes

i have recently done that very repair.click on my user name and then look at my alblum.i have some pics of it there.i harvested my parts from a cutlass.take the rear glass out and drill all the spot welds.you can remove and replace the panel all in 1 piece.i cut my donor piece in half when i removed it,but i definatly wouldnt do it like that again.you cut the top portion beyond the rear glass.in other words,what will wind up being on the inside of the car with the window installed.this will make any seams invisable when done cause its all covered up with the rear speaker panel and jute material.urethane all your seams after welding and if you do it nicely you wont even be able to tell.

 

[cam9457]

earcher1 the speaker shelf and rotted panel can all be drilled out as one piece? That would make life easy to not worry about matching cut lines and whatnot. Pics were EXTREMELY helpful!

 

[st1nger]

if your get a spot weld cutter ( a fancy drill bit) sand blast/soda blast strip that whole area you will see all the spot welds drill them out the whole section will come out one in piece go to junk yard drill out same spots take pic with you for locations put it back in and reweld spot welds, cut outs (holes) will match up on both pieces you only cut one layer of metal then urethane oh remove trunk lid to relive stress on trunk jam just a thought

 

[cam9457]

Never even heard of a spot weld cutter but I'll be sure to grab one at this point! Thanks for the tips st1nger!

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Use care..

Never even heard of a spot weld cutter but I'll be sure to grab one at this point! Thanks for the tips st1nger!

when choosing a cutter. Some are JUNK, and will last a couple holes and either break or go dull.

To find the spots, I use a small Roloc disc on a air grinder. This produces aa area around the weld, so it can be identified.

I also spot drill the center of the welds so the cutter tracks correctly...

Auto paint supply houses sell the good cutters.
Also, if you can gety to the layer of metal that's being removed, you can use a die grinder w/ a cut off wheel on it, to grind thru the spots. You then split it w/ a weld cutter tool. [Looks like a HD putty knife]

here's what we use:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=CxywTYDDNM3ytgfGqMGEDA&ved=0CDoQ8wIwAQ#

 

[cam9457]

Thanks Chuck, I ordered it from Amazon. Helps to have the right tools. Thanks for the tip!

 

[st1nger]

just a note my cutter came with thread on replaceable tips, like chuck said center drill weld keeps cutter in place broke first one because it wouldn't track removed floor pan and ttop windshied frame work whole, went back together the cutt outs just line up

 

[cam9457]

I'll definetly drill pilot holes first. Heres a few pics of my progress in what time I had today. I think I'm ready to drill as soon as the spot weld cutting kit gets here. I was suprised to see only a few spots of surface rust under the carpet back there . I bought a windshield removal tool but that adhesive that holds that back glass in place is awfully hard and to be honest it scares the sh!t out of me to try and remove without breaking the glass. Actually thinking of calling Safelight or something to pull it out so it doesn't break. I used Gorilla tape and 3mil trash bags to seal up the back window/trunk area, the look on my new neighbors faces was priceless till they saw I covered "the beat up black hoopdie with trash bags and tape all over it" up with a nice car cover.....up tight suburbia....

 

[cam9457]

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[cam9457]

Did find the factory build sheet or something behind the back seat too which was cool too