rusty gutter.. uh oh trouble

[james.ed]

hi all,

second post in the same day.. going to start fixing some of the things i've let slipped / inherited with the car. the gutters always had a slight crack on the top, and in one place a rusty mark beneath, just above the passengers seat. cw told me to sand the gutter back, remove rust and either cure it or rid it (i've got a sealed bottle of jenolite from the 1980s.. does it go off?). once thats done, fill any holes, sand, prime and paint. simples

had a look at the rust patch beneath, and tried to dig off the loose.. i have a hole (actually two hole) and not in the best place i guess. photo's attached. one day bertha will get money lavished upon her, but this depends on my post uni chances of getting a job . until then she need reasonably priced fixes that i can do. what should i do with the holes.. if it get the gutter water tight then that will stop the entry of water so can i leave the holes for another year by making them good? my plan was to take the head lining out so i can treat the rot on both sides.

all help appreciated. dread to think what else i'll find! she's generally kept under cover for long stays now.. just to keep her damp free.

also.. is this a serious body failure.. and if so would you expect a body warranty to be at all useful in this situation (i should be so lucky!)
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thanks for the help.. sure they'll be lots more rust related questions soon

[polo2k]

could you retake those pictures from a little futher away so that we can get a sence of the area and which way the camera is pointing, (I suspect you are shooting straight up)

[james.ed]

thanks for replying.. it was a hurried shot on a camera. It is looking up, and i'll try and get new photos of the area this week. The holes are quite small (1x2cm at most) so i'm still hoping for damage control. i'm alittle worried that was i hit the rust will acid the holes will get bigger! still.. if its best, i'd rather get it out, have a hole and deal with it properly when i can, having made the metal stable in the mean time.

The surface rust probably continues along the seam with the gutter, but i've not sanded back yet. hoping most of it is just surface rust

[polo2k]

harsh as it sounds, just go mad on the rust now. find out how big the holes are. Things can be worse than they first appear! (click the middle pic on my signature).
From your description, it sounds like the underside of the roof curve, I dont think you can buy this panel, but take your time and be logical until you have made a replacement bit.

[chickenjohn]

I'm dealing with much the same on my 4-door project.

You can buy gutter sections, or make up new ones. You will need to drill out the spot welds on the guttering and cut out all the rust around the rust holes, cut back to solid clean metal as these holes are from rusting out from the inside.

Butt weld new flat sections in 1mm steel to replace the rusty holes cut out grind down the welds and then finally plug or spot weld the gutters back in place. Use Zinc spray where the inside of the repair will be.

I would also remove the headliner or it may be burnt by the welding. With the headliner removed, you can also get into the roof rail section to paint the rear of the repair and wax protect the inside of the section so it does not rust out again.

Best to do the job properly and the rust won't come back. Take the whole gutter off by drilling out the spot welds- The spot welds are the small depressions. visible in the photo- If you're careful, you may even be able to save the old gutter as it seems to be the metal behind the gutter- the roof rails- that rusts away rather than the gutter piece itself.

Don't be tempted to use filler or fiberglass as this is not a proper structural repair. Some of the strength of the car is in these roof edge rails so best to do the job properly.

[bmcecosse]

If the car has a Body Warranty - take it back and tell them to fix it with properly welded in 'invisible' patches and then new guttering.

[ian.mcdougall]

Body Warranty???? Are we not talking about a Minor here

[chickenjohn]

Body Warranty???? Are we not talking about a Minor here

Some of the Morris Minor companies provide a two or three year warranty on the body for the cars they sell.

However, these warranties apply only to structural MOT items. The roof side rails/ gutters would have to get REALLY bad to fail the MOT on!