Windscreen Rust (with pics)

[White_Lux]

I need to fix some rust in the windscreen of a 4 Runner (see pics below). Anyone here had windscreen rust fixed? If so how bad was it (in comparrison to the pics below), what was involved, how much did it cost, ect...

[dazzah]

Hey, I fixed mine myself in my pathy last xmas, spent a few days doing a little bit at a time, wasn't as bad as yours but :O

A mate and I removed the windscreen, mine was sikaflexed around the whole thing so was a pain to get out, didn't even bother trying not to crack it, pulled a piece of wire around the edge to try and break sikaflex, it kind of worked, eventually both got in car, sat in seats and pushed windscreen out with our feet.

Then got the angle grinder with a flapper disc and cleaned all the sikaflex stuff off, then removed all the rust, using flapper disc, wire brushes, wire wheel attachments on my drill and then rust killed it, bogged, sanded and painted, came up pretty good for a backyard job, then paid the window dudes to come put new window in. Probabaly cost me around the $300 mark including paint and new window. No sign of rust returning and window doesn't leak anymore

Also had this same thing fixed a few yrs ago on a corolla, just at the local smash repairs and it cost me around $900...didn't shop around but so not sure if it was a fair price.

[want33s]

As mentioned above you could do it yourself but use fibreglass bog (gorilla hair) to fill the holes and then polyester bog to fair it in.
Better to weld patches in but a glass bog repair done properly can last for years. Use plenty of rustproofing afterwards.
A panel shop would weld patches (hopefully) and you'd be damn lucky to get out of it for less than a grand.
Jas.

[White_Lux]

Update on the rust (for those who may have to do the same repair in the future):

Repaired the rust with the help of a panel beater friend. Started by gently pulling the black plastic strip off the top of the windscreen. Then got a fine tip die grinder and slowly cut into the rust. Luckily it wasn't too bad and didn't require windscreen removal. Once back to bare metal, I masked off the windscreen and top of the roof line. I then used fibreglass filler straight onto the bare metal to fill the holes. I was advised not to use rust converter as the polyester resin won't stick to it as well as bare metal. Sanded back the high spots, then filled in the low spots with another swipe of filler. Sanded the job back with 120grit, then 200, 400 and finished with 800 grade paper (note I didn't use water with the wet and dry sandpaper as I didn't want water to seep under the window seal). Using prep-wash, I cleaned away the dust and dirt from the area to be painted. Next I taped off the windscreen then feathered primer over the area. After that dried I matched up some white paint and feathered a few coats to finish the job. Finally, I taped off the windscreen a 3rd time and carefully taped off a thin strip just above the window seal. I then used window sealant and a plastic applicator to force sealant back into the top of the windscreen. The plastic strip was then pressed back into the groove (now filled with sealant), and the whole lot cleaned up with turps. If I did the job again I'd prolly try black silicone as apposed to window sealant, as the window sealant never dries and is messy to work with.

Cost the repair:
$20 for filler
$8 for primer
$8 for colour
$6 for sandpaper
$10 winscreen sealant
$12 for 3 XXXX tallies.
...and a whole saterday.

Good luck