Fixing GQ Roof Rust

[Devious 4x4]

Gday, Just thought Id show my latest project on the Patrol.

When I bought it a few years ago there was rust in the roof above the gutter on the drivers side above the rear window.

I ground the paint back and found it was just surface rust with no holes through the metal. So I rust treated it and primed it and that was it, I never painted it, which was a bad move as the rust came back and much worse!

So I ground it back again and found there were a heap of holes in the metal.



So I figured I might as well cut the rust out and fix it properly. So I cut out the rusty areas and found the inner frame of the roof also had surface rust and lots of moisture in there, and the small hole I cut also had a heap of rusty metal flakes behind it.




So I cleaned the inner frame up with a wire wheel on the die grinder, rust treated the areas and coated them in a Kill Rust epoxy paint to prevent more rust from forming.



I then cut out replacement sections from some steel I had, which I had zinc coated on the inside to prevent future rust and welded them in. I also removed the rear side windows, so I could lower the headlining to the back seat, which would allow me to keep an eye on any potential fire risks. I also had an extinguisher handy just incase!




After I cleaned up the metal it only needed a little filler to smoothen everything up and it got a coat of 2K high fill primer.


I have to let the primer cure for 24 hours, So it will get a coat of paint during the week. The job took me about 7 hours in total, and that was just taking my time. A decent mig welder would make it quicker, but ive only got a gasless mig, so there was lots of cleaning up welds involved!

Thanks for looking!