Roof Rust - 2007 Vibe

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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rogi88
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2017 7:42 pm

Roof Rust - 2007 Vibe

Post by rogi88 »

Hi,

I recently purchased a used 2007 Pontiac Vibe. The car seemed to have most things order but somehow I failed to notice the bubbling paint on the roof. Here are some pics:

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The rust seems to have penetrated quite deep in some spots.

Can anybody recommend the best fixes for this, preferably both a temporary and long term. Eventually I plan to sand down the whole roof for repainting, so If anybody has any suggestions on the best way to go about that. My primary concern is how to sand around the rubber strips that run through the grooves around the edges and at the edge of the windshield. Will I have to remove the rubber to do a proper job?

For now though I would just like to handle the big rust spots temporarily. Here is what I am wondering:

1. Should I use rust converter or should I sand down (what grit ?) the rust as far as it will go and use a bondo patch and filler to repair any holes if they appear.
2. What kind of primer should I use, can the same product be applied to converted rust, clean metal and bondo filler?
3. Any recommendations as to where I can find the original blue paint, and what should I use for the clearcoat.

There are just so many products out there, I'm not sure how to go about this.

I have a few other more minor issues as well but I should probably create another post for those or add them later to the thread.

Thank you for any suggestions.
hogdoctor
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 4:28 am

Re: Roof Rust - 2007 Vibe

Post by hogdoctor »

I bought mine with rust spots up near the upper windshield seal, and a water leak.. crappy windshield replacement I expect, probably scratched the paint off and it rusted through under the urethane - I stopped the leak and consulted with my cousin in the body shop trade. He said the entire underside of that panel is probably rusted nearly through and he'd probably sand right through it. His suggestion is to drop the headliner, paint the underside with the rust convertor to stop it from getting worse, lay in a layer of fiberglass and resin to support it from underneath, then sand and paint the top. Probably pull the windshield too as the support lip is probably badly damaged and my repair is just to buy some time. For now, I'm thinking of just overcoating the rusted through areas with a UV resistant bedliner (POR isn't UV resistant, unfortunately). Have you made a move on this repair yet?
cthomasparr
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:03 pm

Re: Roof Rust - 2007 Vibe

Post by cthomasparr »

My daughter has a 2004 and there have been bubbles on the paint on the hood for the few years we have owned it. one of the bubbles finally popped off and I decided to take a small screw driver and start digging. Went right through the hood to part of the hood brace below. I did a crap job of removing part of the hood liner ( itchy fiberglass) and sanded the underside and put some sticky aluminum duct tape underneath. If I had more time I would have treated the rust with converter. From the top of the hood I put some JBWeld...it gets pretty runny while it hardens, so it flattened nicely. Sanded it and went over the outside with spot putty and touch up paint.

In all honesty it looks crappy because I was in such a rush before she left again for school About a month later I saw it again and I was thinking it wasnt that bad for a 45 minute repair. If I had more time to brush on a clear and try to buff it maybe it would look OK.

Moral of the story is there is no way that there should have been rust from the inside out when the area was protected by a heat shield. Must have been damaged in the factory and rusting ever since. Same goes with the damage to the paint that you must have had under the headliner.

Good luck with making it look better. Removing the headliner isn't too bad, but its a shame that this ever happened.
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