Ack! Rust in weird places!

I'm in the salt belt but I still find this odd. The Jeep is a 2001 (bought used).

Where the drip rails in the roof attach at the top of the A-Pillar I have substantial rust. It is about the size of two nickles placed side by side right at the leading edge of the drip rail. Both sides.

I think the previous owner had to have the windshield replaced (sloppy caulking along dash near a-pillars) so I'm wondering if the monkeys doing the job were reefing on the drip rails during the re-install.

I also have a few pencil eraser sized rut spots above the windshield and one on the D-pillar.

Suggestions on how to fix the drip rails? I guess the drip rail has to come off.

Do I dare bring this to a third party, dealer or an auto-restoration shop?

Past experience tells me the former two are tin foil and bondo butchers. No experience with the latter.

Help?

r@m

In the world of body work theres three way to fix things..

dent doctor paintless (only for dents though no rust)

Bang and bondo the metal to the original shape after grinding and sealing the rust

Cut out the section and weld in a new one... which still requires bondo or some form of filler to reduplicate the body lines...

So in a word it's up to how much you want to replace and how deep that rust hole is already.. if you are getting leaks... cut and paste is probably your best option..

If not and this is no show winner anyway I'd say grind it down rust proof paint it.. primer it and sand it smooth.. then if you want to get it pretty paint it later..

If you take it to a body shop they'll probably give you two different quotes..

One to do a quick and dirty (grind prime paint) so it doesn't continue to rust.. and one to actually replace the section of the roof and seal the rusted metal...

You can guess which one is going to cost more!

Root Moose said:

I'm in the salt belt but I still find this odd. The Jeep is a 2001 (bought used).

Where the drip rails in the roof attach at the top of the A-Pillar I have substantial rust. It is about the size of two nickles placed side by side right at the leading edge of the drip rail. Both sides.

Click to expand...

not wierd....common

i have 2 XJ's and both had rust in the same place you are describing. I also noticed it on a few other XJ's when I was shopping around

Root Moose said:

Where the drip rails in the roof attach at the top of the A-Pillar I have substantial rust. It is about the size of two nickles placed side by side right at the leading edge of the drip rail. Both sides.

Click to expand...

Yup! My 2000 had the same problem. I sand blasted the areas, prime, painted, and clear coated. 2 years now and they are still good.

Out of 3 XJ's I know of, 2 have had the problem.

my 98 has it.... though it is milder than most xj's I looked at in the area.

Mine is very minor. I just cleaned it up alittle with a mild dremel bit, POR'ed, and alittle touchup.

My 95 has it too. Of course my 95 has rust almost everywhere, and it's probably only the liberal coating of oil on the undeside that keeps the seats from rotting through the floor. But it's not that uncommon. My guess is that if the windshield had to be replaced because of bad caulking, the leakage from that contributed to the rust. So might leaky caulking of the drip rail seam, or leaky well nuts for the roof rack.

IntrepidXJ said:

not wierd....common

i have 2 XJ's and both had rust in the same place you are describing. I also noticed it on a few other XJ's when I was shopping around

Click to expand...

Mine too. 2000 model.

I had the same thing on my 00 in the driprail. I used one of the little wire wheels with my dremel and took all the paint and rust off in the whole channel. I then let it sit bare for a few days to get a light coat of surface rust. After that happened I painted it with POR-15 and it hasn't come back since.
You can't see the paint unless you look for it specifically.
HTH and good luck.
Nathan