Above windshield rust

[Roadkillerv8]

Hey fellas, i picked up this '72 Sierra in Feb this year and i plan on getting the whole thing redone sometime soon. That is all the rust and repainted, it was originally that kind of mustard yellow, then it was red, and i bought it when it was blue haha. Anyhow, you can see the rust im talking about on the top of the windshield which is probably the worst rust on the outside of the truck. Above the drivers door theres a pretty good spot that you could probably poke your finger through if you tried hard enough, but thats the worst of it. Would it benefit me more to just have that all cut out and redone or just have a new roof welded on?
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[Gmc.guy]

Only way to tell is to pull windshield. There could be a hole or two under that. I would patch it there myself, rather than entire roof(if rest of roof is rust and dent free). I was lucky with a perfect roof and cowl. just a terrible floor

[mmiddle]

I going through this right now with my 70. Once I cut the outer panel off to replace it and fix a few minor rust spots the extent of the damage began to snow ball. So, I got another roof clip from a junk yard truck. It is a lot less work in the end.

Good luck

[Roadkillerv8]

Better pictures and yes bubbled paint too
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[Roadkillerv8]

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[Roadkillerv8]

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[Gmc.guy]

Ya. Looks like you have some more holes. Look behind the visors inside and the firewall/cowl. All this stuff leaks worse and worse as it rusts out and leads to the kick panel, floor and cab support

[Roadkillerv8]

Could the holes in the roof have leaked down to my cowl vents? I know the passenger vent has a inch by inch hole in it.
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[Gmc.guy]

Yes. But the cowl itself does too. It should drain "through". Usually the blockage of leaves and junk hold moisture there

[Roadkillerv8]

Oh and also, the truck is tarped now because the antenna wire hole leakes after putting a new antenna in. I cant figure out for the life of me why but after christmas settles down im gonna be popping the cowl piece of and finding out why cause being in washington where it just rains i wind up with a river flowing through my truck. Im just mentioning all this so you guys can help as much as possible, im still trying to firmiliarize myself with these trucks.
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[cypressbog]

That's definately rusted out and I think it's intentionally covered up for quick sale. I'd be worried about what other areas of the truck have rust covered up.

[Gmc.guy]

Once you pop the cowl you can see in there good. If the cowl is off and you open the hood towards the sun, have a look under the dash. The holes really show up then. The cowl drains behind the fender under the vent area / front of rocker. Cleaning this out and letting it dry will help a lot

[Roadkillerv8]

I replaced the antenna, and i, like a moron, forgot to replace the gasket both times i put new antennas in so its hard to keep water out without a gasket lol. It never leaked when i bought it, so that leak is my fault. I dont believe its rust, just idiocy.
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[Cape Codder]

Usually any bubbled paint is hiding a rust hole.

[Roadkillerv8]

So with all this in mind, would i be better off with a new roof (pillars included) or is it something i could have a resto shop fab up new pieces and save the roof?
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[Spartan]

Investigate further.
I have had drip rails rust out and all that was needed was new rails. On the other hand I had a small hole same spot. When I pulled the windshield there was rust inside behind the rubber. After I peeled it back a bit with a flap wheel it opened up. Gasket looked good but must have failed at some point. Replaced entire roof and down to solid metal on pillar. All good. Learning experience for sure. Thing to do now is take a look see and determine where the rust stops and good metal starts.

[ss454conv]

I will add my 2 cents. Just went through this. I was aware of the roof problems that these trucks have and when I bought my 72 I looked closely at the entire roof, above windshield on the inside and over doors. There was some signs (rust stains) around the windshield gasket and above doors but all in all looked decent and there were no holes or soft spots. I decided to replace the outer roof skin due to many small issues, not just what I noticed alone. When I cut the roof skin off I was shocked by how all of the internal parts were very heavily pitted across the tops of both doors and the windshield. I don't want to bum you out, but if you want it fixed correctly, you better be prepared to bust out the checkbook and a new roof (inner & outer) is definitely in your future.
I ended up drilling all the spot welds and making factory like repairs for the inner and outer roofs as well as the side structural supports and both drip rails. I did it all myself and it was a ton of work. I can't imagine paying to have that all done but I guess most put the whole roof on at one time. The problem with that is you don't know if the new used roof is much better then what you have without opening it up. Good luck with whatever route you take.

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by Roadkillerv8

So with all this in mind, would i be better off with a new roof (pillars included) or is it something i could have a resto shop fab up new pieces and save the roof?
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If the bottom of the cab is good I would just clip the roof off and weld a better roof back on. I had my roof and donor roof off and new donor tacked in place in one day. Next day, completely welded back up. I had a hole in the roof and back of cab you could walk through.
Compared to my cab, yours doesn't look soo bad?

[88Ironduke]

Originally Posted by Cape Codder

Usually any bubbled paint is hiding a rust hole.

I agree with that statement whole heartedly. I had almost exactly the same damage on my 72' front windshield area. There was much weeping, cursing and gnashing of teeth.. There is more rust hiding in there and the MIG welder will blow right thru it. Your cab isn't beyond repair or salvage but a shop will bleed your wallet dry. Invest in yourself with decent tools and a good gas MIG welder. Or have really cool friends with good tools and a welder... Provide beer!!!!

Fix that truck!

Paul

[Roadkillerv8]

If i even had the slightest clue how to weld i would love to do the truck myself, unfortunatly if i tried to weld that i would probably be better off throwing the new roof at it... I dont know anyone who can teach me either. Getting this truck done is supposed to be one big graduation present from my family, with that in mind and from what nearly everyone here says a shop is not the way to go (money wise). Anyone have a really rough guestimate of what The cost would be? (I did have a shop quote me at $5500 for body work and a fresh paint job...) Or some inspirational words of welding? Haha

[68gmsee]

Can't help you with the welding part, but I did want to say that I also had a leak in the truck from what I thought was the antenna.

You didn't say if the water was inside the truck floor board but mine was. I found out it wasn't coming in through the antenna even though I went so far as to put a new rubber gasket and silicone the hole where the cable goes into the cab under the vent cowl.

What I did find was that the leak was coming in through the windshield wiper motor seal and traveling through the inside of the dash to the passenger side floor board. I removed the wipers and the cowl vent grill and saw that the rubber gasket/seal was completely rotted out. A new one and silicone fixed it.

[Roadkillerv8]

Originally Posted by 68gmsee

Can't help you with the welding part, but I did want to say that I also had a leak in the truck from what I thought was the antenna.

You didn't say if the water was inside the truck floor board but mine was. I found out it wasn't coming in through the antenna even though I went so far as to put a new rubber gasket and silicone the hole where the cable goes into the cab under the vent cowl.

What I did find was that the leak was coming in through the windshield wiper motor seal and traveling through the inside of the dash to the passenger side floor board. I removed the wipers and the cowl vent grill and saw that the rubber gasket/seal was completely rotted out. A new one and silicone fixed it.

Im not 100% sure where the leak is coming from, i may go pop the cowl off right now actually and see but when we had a really heavy rain the water was running down the antenna wire... I couldnt see up there to know for sure where it was coming from but i should know in a bit. Oh and i do have a picture of what happened to the floor.

[Roadkillerv8]

Well it sure is hard to be excited about this thing, the more i learn about it the more it seems like a expensive pile of rusty scrap... That i love...

[402Bowtie]

ss454conv, can you elaborate a bit more on how you made the "factory-like" repairs? I am trying to visualize the process for doing what you mentioned. Seems to me that you would have to weld up one of the seems-- either the outer rear seam above cargo light or inner seem below (maybe above. ..can't remember) the interior dome light. Were you able to spot welds both of these seams?

I am curious because I want to strip and prime the inside of the two roofs and then reinstall and keep it looking all original.

[Cape Codder]

Keep in mind if replacing roof panels technology has come a long way. I would seriously consider panel bonding adhesive to attach new panels without welding all areas. It is strong and it fill the airspace between the panels that lets the rust start in the first place.