okay, first off, my parents helped me purchase this 1966 malibu, a couple months ago. Now that i am getting time to fix stuff on it, i took out the rear seat to put some speakers in and found that the bottom corners of the window let water in.and have rusted a lot of metal around the rear dash area there. Now my questionS are , Is the a design flaw?? How much will this cost to get fixed? what can i do in the mean time?? thanks to everyone who answers!!!

Pretty dry in eastern Oregon. May not be a local car. I've got family members in your area. Design Flaw? Yes. E-mail me and can give you some tips on repairing this. Done it several times.

Rick can you please E-mail me the same info im working on the same problem with my 67
and need help.

john

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69 300 dlx SS
67 Malibu Sport Coupe

not to sound like a broken record but can I also get some of that info. I just pulled out my back window in my 70 and one side is rusted through in spots.

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Hey, how about answering right here on Team Chevelle so any who are interested could benefit from your tips.
Bill

Any of you oregon guys want to buy a 67 Malibu? $1200, no rust! I need $$$ to finish my 71.

I'm working 14-15 hours a day right now and am about to fall asleep at the keyboard.Can post this weekend when brain is'nt so foggy.

wish you guys with the window problems lived near me, I have some sheet metal and a mig welder and would love to help. I love doing metal fabrication. just had to put corner window channels in the hardtop because of rust.

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Michael


T.C. member # 758
ACES member # 4292

69 malibu convertible
69 malibu h/t 307/pg
<<this space reserved for 66/67 chevelle BB/4spd>>
01 gmc sierra

Definetly a design problem! I'm about to attempt this on my 67. It has spread from the window track to the sail pillar, will definetly need some fabrication work done there (affected area is about 1 1/2 inches dia.) Once it is rust free (probably have to replace the sheetmetal piece in front of the deck lid, $79.00 from OPG) I plan to find the lowest spots in the window track area, drill holes for 5/16 or 3/8 copper tubing (copper vs. steel because copper wont rust!), flare the end, drop in the hole and weld it in place. In the trunk I'll connect it to rubber hose that will exit in the wheel well.This seems to be the best fix, better than the butyl rubber solution that some have used.

malibu18 this rust in the window problem was one of chevy's huge weakpoints in car producing. my 71 is so bad with rust that im going to have to clip two cars and weld then together. rust spreads so be sure that there are not other affected areas. another somewhat inventive way of fixing it is to completly remove it and replace it with a custom "sound box" put some 10's or 12's with 6 by 9's and put the clips for the rear seat on the box. my friend did it to his charger and it came out real well. only other alternative is to have sheet metal work done to it. make sure to weld up the corners of the window and caulk it somehow to prevent the same problem.

My 72 had rust very bad around the back glass. It was rusted out where the glass sat on the lip. There was almost no lip left at the bottom!! Welding was out of the question at the time, b/c I didnt want to bubble the paint. I used metal-2-metal compound. Its very strong, and it has aluminium shavings in it so it doesnt rust. Thin I sanded smooth, painted, and set the glass back in. Worked very well. Its also unexpectedly strong.

Over the years I've seen a lot of "clever" fixes and hardly any worked. Thats why I got the job of fixing the damage. Just a few-electrical mastic,fiberglass,caulking,and several types of body filler with the darndest backing material you can imagine(rags,t-shirts,newspaper,etc).The 67 EC I'm working on now,some genius stuffed chicken wire in the rust hole and blurped half a tube of silicone over it.Then after he pulled the trim off used the rest of that tube and another to go around the rest of the window. Since a lot of the trim retaining clips were rusted away,used the silicone
to hold the trim in place.(Thanks pal. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your underwear).
I feel the only way to do it right is to cut the damage out and weld in new metal. Can't give you any clever tips for doing anything other than this. It just will not stand the test of time.
I use a local metal shop to shear 2 and 3 inch strips of 18ga cold rolled mild steel off a 4X8 sheet then brake it 90 degrees at the half way point. This gives me "L" shaped stock for the window channel. You will be doing a lot of grinding so feel 20ga is too thin. To form corners,cut small pie shapes out and form around the corner. The pies must butt together and these need to be welded up(I TIG them)as this is where the window ribbon goes. If the damage extends past the channel,weld pieces to it to fill the hole.
Of course you must have clean metal to weld your patch to. The best way is to sandblast it. After sandblasting the entire window channel area and rusted areas past it,your jaw will drop to your knees when you see just how bad it really is. Wire wheeling will take some of the rust off. You have to get rid of all of it. You can't weld to rust and even if you want to try fiberglass or some other kind of filler,it will not stick to rust and will only keep growing.Yeah it makes a big mess.I may spend several hours making shields to keep sand out of the interior and to protect surrounding paint if needed.
To cut out rusted areas I usually use a die grinder with cut-off wheels and a spot weld cutter. Trim back to good metal.
I give the owner the option of drains. Silver solder in barbed fittings and use 1/8 or 3/16 surgical tubing.
If you lose some studs for trim retaining clips,will have to use screws. Make sure these get sealed up good.
So,if you have the use of a wire feed welder and a sandblaster,it's kind of a pain to fix,but will last WAY longer than any other method. Your guy's opinion may vary.

The only way to do it right is cut out where its rotted and weld in pieces.Heres some pics of how i repaired my front window channel,rear would be similar.Just make sure you test fit your glass and moldings before you finish.I use the moldings as a guide on corner angles and curves.
pics (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ochrisl/lst?.dir=/1970+Chevelle/RoofRepair&.order=&.view=l&.src=bc&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/)

Hey rust problem guys.I beleive I still have the r-l window corners and sail panels from my nos quarters when I put new ones on my convertible.If anyone would like them give me a ring to discuss how to get em to ya if I still have them.309-682-8993