I have removed the rear glass as well as the surprising amount of bondo placed ALL around the glass area. (Somebody got really happy with the bondo on this poor car)

Isnt bondo supposed to be used for dent repair?

Im thinking I will weld up all the holes and thin areas, as opposed to using bondo or fiberglass. Anyway, is this an ok thing to do? What shall I do to prevent rust from coming back? Is that possible? Any help is appreciated.

(I enjoy the mechanics of the car, but know nothing about the body and envy those who do)

I found the same thing on my car, I'd be interested to know what the best(cheap) repair is.
thanks
-David

They make replacement "Rear Window Panels".

They replace the the section from the rear glass to the trunk.

Greg and David,

I too have some rust on the bottom edge of the rear glass on my '67 Elco. Seems Chevy didn't think it thru very well when calking these rear slanted windows. Usually, the bottom portion of glass is not factory caulked. The slant on the Elco's back glass collected water and dirt, making it hard to dry out, and this would form the rust. In my case, Mom & Dad didn't pay much attention to the rust under the window, and I now have the problem deal with.

OPG has the replacement lower panel for a complete repair. This requires cutting out about 4-6 inches from below the window to make room for the new panel. Mine only has surface rust on one lower side, and I think I can clean it up well enough to use some plastic filler to repair it. Paint it, replace the glass then caulk around the entire window, bottom also. This worked on my last '67 Elco, and I had no more water collecting in the grove below the glass.

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Blast from the past
<A HREF="http://www.wport.com/~blusk/billhome.html" TARGET=_blank>
Mom's Ride
</A>
62K Original Miles

The rear window panel will fix the really important part along the bottom of the window. As far as the sides and the top, it's basically whatever you can come up with from refilling it with Bondo (probably not the right thing to do) to welding in new metal.

I'm replacing my rear window panel then cleaning up and putting POR15 on the side areas to keep it from rusting any more (it isn't too bad and the chrome molding covers it). Mine isn't rusted along the top...that could be a tough one to fix.

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Rick Sutter
Member #383
'67 Chevelle Super Sport
www.sutternet.com/chevelle.asp (http://www.sutternet.com/chevelle.asp)

I appreciate everyones responses. I spent most of last night welding in new metal in the damaged areas. Im planning to pick up a grinder that doesnt require a crane to pick up. (The one I was using last night is the meanest and heavyest thing Ive ever seen!, Its my brothers.) My arms are killing me.

Anyway, I guess the next trick is to use bondo to get a smooth finish. Id like to know is are there any recommended brands of bondo, or are they all comparable? Are there different 'grades' of the product? Thanks.

The lip that the glass sealer goes on doesn't have to be perfect. Just get it close and the sealing ribbon will conform to slightly uneven surface. On the 3 I have done I noticed that the seams where the body panels came together were quite uneven yet seled just fine.

I'm restoring a '72 and when I removed the back glass moulding low and behold, I could see all the way into the trunk. After cleaning out the debris and the rust, the damage was only in the corners of the glass. It did not get into the back panel. I happen to know several people in the body shop business being that I an insurance adjuster and they gave me two recommendations. However, prior to doing the repairs the rust needs to be ground down to the metal so the rust is non-existent. Once that has been done then you could do one of the following.

1. I could pop out the back glass form two pieces of metal and have them welded in. It is extremely critical that the areas where the rust was, is treated with corrosion protection or prepared so the nasty iron beast does not return. One note: When the patch panel is welded in how will you get the corrosion protection between the pieces of metal? So, since you cannot treat that area, will the rust return?

2. There is also another product on the market that is not widely talked about. It is a fairly new product that bonds two pieces of metal together while sealing the area where the pieces come together. It is a two part epoxy that you can get at any specialty shop. When I attended the NACE show in Las Vegas two years ago it showed this product being attached to an object that weighed in the neighborhood of a couple hundred pounds.
I haven't decided which route yet that I will take. Good luck.

I just received a 36" by 48" piece of 22 gauge steel from JC Whitney. The piece cost $10.79. I plan to use it for replacing a few rotted flat sections of my El Camino's body, and also for some modifications to the trans tunnel to mount my floor shifter off center.

This was a very cheap and convenient way to get some patch metal.

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My Elky Page (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Strip/4523/ElkyPage.html)
"If you're gonna go fast, you may as well look good doing it."
Chad Landry
TC Member #643
'68 El Camino

for what it's worth I had same problem I used POR Putty 2 part material, then painted with POR 15 worked great so far.

Greg;

One thing that you have to KNOW is that bondo will NOT seal out water. In fact, if the water is allowed to pond, it will soak through the bondo and rust out the metal under it!

There are "waterproof" bondos on the market, but I wouldn't trust them sealing out anything.

You have to use a product like PPG's DP epoxy primers to seal out water. Por15 is also a good product for sealing. If in the process of working, you scratch through the primer, respray that area!

Fiberglass will seal out water, however is prone to seperation from any metal that it's applied to (due to vibration).

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Wes. Vann
Technical Reference section
Gold Member #5

the simplest answer is completly cut out the rot.fabricate your patches,weld them in.grind the welds.finish with body filler.then prime it and paint it!as long as you paint the channel with an enamel or urethane paint water is not going to penetrate it.

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70 chevelle,400cid turbo400.blue with silver stripes.http://members.spree.com/entertainment/ochrisl/

Im learning a lot here. So far I have welded in the new metal and have got a good start on grinding down the welds. (Its looking like a car again!)

I did not realize bondo will not seal out water. Ill be sure to primer it right away.

Thanks again.

Unless you use an epoxy primer, the primer will not seal out water either. PPG DPxx series primers or similar will prevent additional water damage.