Re: [T2] Argh! Rust!

["G. Simmons" <gls@xxxxxxxxx>]

Paul, list member Mark Durrant and I just did this job on our busses.
There's no good way to do this with the window rubber in, because the rust
goes under the gasket, and you aren't doing anything if you just fix the
rust that's visible.

You need to remove the windshield, grind off the old paint, and then fill
the rust with new steel.  You can get the smaller holes with tack welds from
a mig welder, but the larger holes require cutting pieces of sheet steel
roughly to shape and welding them in.  Having 2 people is great because you
can tack a wire to the patch piece and the helper can use it as a handle
while the other person tacks the patch in.

Be careful welding sheet metal.  Too much heat warps it.  Use lots of little
tacks instead of running beads.  You can use a wet cloth to cool the welds,
although Mark and I found that if we made a tack in one place and then
worked on another area, and eventually came back to the first place, we had
no problems with heat.

Smooth the welds with a flap disk and a flat file, prime, sand and paint.

It sounds harder than it is.

Grant