Paint and Body Water collecting at the bottom of the rear window.

[Johnyemac]

I'm new out here, my first post!

I have a 93 LX Black on Black , 67k miles, blown, methanol injection.
This is the quickest car I have ever owned.

I'm retired now, but this car sure brings a smile to my face every time I take it out.

What I need to ask is if it's normal for water to pool at the bottom of the rear window?
I had this car stripped, painted, new glass etc.. about 11 years ago. It never sees rain. Has about 3k miles on it since. Just drive it occasionally during the summer .
I used to wash it weekly. A couple of years ago, I noticed rusty colored water coming up from under the rear window trim while rinsing.
So, since that time , I started using a blow gun attached to my compressor to blow the water from under the trim.

Today I took the rear window trim off. Yes, I should have done this years ago! Anyways, most all the clips that hold the trim on were all rotted.
This of course looks troublesome.

Is this normal? Was the rear window replaced incorrectly?

I was going to stop at a glass shop and inquire, but thought perhaps I should ask out here.
Someone with more experience with our cars.

Thank you in advance for any advice/suggestions!!

 

[General karthief]

From what I can tell by the pics that body shop didn't paint/seal the window channel and now you have a problem.

 

[90sickfox]

That's what it looks like to me too. Shouldn't be rusting under there. The clips rusting is normal but there's a bunch of orange going on.

 

[limp]

Not familiar with this era of car, but the 60's cars had this problem.. Water just sitting with no way out.... No drain holes in the bottom of the backglass pinchweld. One good idea was the change to plastic molding clips instead of the older metal ones.... The metal ones seemed to start rusting quickly, spreading to the pinchweld.....
I am assuming this is your problem..
Alot of Windshields had this problem too as they were the same design.. Examples I can remember of the fix for this are 70 camaro's and newer and 73 Chevy trucks where the bottom of the windshield area just fell off into the engine compartment... No place for water to pool ........
Looks like not enough paint in that area.... Use a compressor or a leaf blower to blow out all of the water after washing...

 

[Johnyemac]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen.
I apologize for not cleaning the channel prior to posting my question yesterday.
I have included several new pics of the channel cleaned up a bit.
So, this is what I was afraid of , that is this is normal. for the water to pool in the channel , as is currently is.

DAM!!

Yes, I currently use my compressor and air/blow gun to clean out as much water as possible. after I wash it.

At this point, I was thinking the same, try to locate some plastic clips and then hit the rusted areas with some rust dissolver.
Will need to check on every couple of years.

Unless anyone has any better idea?

Thanks again!!

 

[limp]

How solid are the rusty areas?? Can you poke a screwdriver through it?
If its solid, use some Rust converter, then prime and paint over it....
Take your time and let every step dry well.... MIght me a good place to use some POR 15 or even some Bed liner paint, as long as your trim covers it....
I did Auto glass in the 70's and we also sometimes filled the area with glass sealant so there was no area for the water to sit in.......
Remember that if you don't kill the rust it will continue to spread and you will have a bigger mess in the future... I don't want to give you some bad advice here and have you hunt me down..... LOL

 

[Johnyemac]

Very solid! Surface rust at this point The first thing I checked of course. I expected the worst.
Yes, converter, I wrote dissolver, by mistake.
Great advice, thank you!!

No worries!! The advice is much appreciated!
BTW, I thought of filling the void, but wasn't sure what I would use.

Thanks again!

 

[limp]

No worries!! The advice is much appreciated!
BTW, I thought of filling the void, but wasn't sure what I would use.

Thanks again!

I can recommend you stay away from Silicones,,, I am aware that there have been improvements in the last 45 years ( sheesh, am I that old) but the glass shop really had bad luck with them..... NO adhesion.. the " do it your selfers" would bring in their cars covered in it and you could grab one end and pull it all off... Even the stuff that looked adhered, was letting water go underneath it.....
Pretty sure we used tubes of butyl after we put Pinch Weld primer on the prepared surface....
for some reason the pinch weld primer makes all the difference....... The butyl never entirely hardens which lets it " give " and flex with the car and it really stuck to the PW Primer.....

 

[Johnyemac]

Limp,
Would you mind me checking in occasionally for some pointers while doing this work?
I'd sure appreciate it!

Thanks!

 

[rednotch]

Its a problem on hatch cars. Ideally you need to pull the glass and strip it to clean metal, then seal it with a good 2 part epoxy sealer. Primer isn't a sealer its there for adhesion, and that's why glass shops use it before the lay the glass in., glass isn't to hard to pull with 2 people just don't lose the spacer blocks. If you look up foxjunk on YouTube he has a video on it that has a alot of good tips.

 

[limp]

Ideally you need to pull the glass and strip it to clean metal, then seal it with a good 2 part epoxy sealer. Primer isn't a sealer its there for adhesion, and that's why glass shops use it before the lay the glass in.,

The pinchweld primer is used on top of the car primer/paint, like you said for adhesion.... The need for cleaning/sanding/ primer/ paint first is a must..... forgive me if I gave the impression the pinchweld primer is all you need.....

 

[limp]

Its a problem on hatch cars. Ideally you need to pull the glass and strip it to clean metal, then seal it with a good 2 part epoxy sealer. Primer isn't a sealer its there for adhesion, and that's why glass shops use it before the lay the glass in., glass isn't to hard to pull with 2 people just don't lose the spacer blocks. If you look up foxjunk on YouTube he has a video on it that has a alot of good tips.

Are there no drain holes in the hatch? Amazing how this problem was still around 20 years later.......

 

[rednotch]

Are there no drain holes in the hatch? Amazing how this problem was still around 20 years later.......

They fill up with trash under the trim and hold moisture but the channel doesn't really need a drain.. Its like the gt wing at certain angles like parked on slightly sloped drive it just becomes a bird bath... those Trim clips are obsolete outside of mustang shops repos now and cost like $30-40 A set. I have to do it on my 93 when i paint it, that's the only rust on it and its a not so common none defrost glass in that one. The factory glass is just butyl tape and a gasket you can reuse not hard to cut out, just helps to have 2 ppl..... Most places now would use windsheild weld and try to bang it out without fixing or tell ya its a body shop only job... Everythings short cut these days for turn around time..


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5FnEW-G9BkM

 

[Johnyemac]

Hello again!
Sorry for the delay getting back out here.

I cleaned up the rust and now it really looks so much better.

I then took my car to a local glass shop. There's nothing they can do. Claimed it's installed correctly and removing and reinstalling will do no good!

So, I guess I will continue to remove the water from under the molding with my compressor after each wash.

I did want to ask....
Has anyone ever heard of plastic molding clips? I searched for, unsuccessfully. Perhaps they are not strong enough. Figured I'd ask. The clips on my car had rusted so badly they fell apart when I removed the molding.

Thanks again!

Happy 4th!!!

 

[General karthief]

I wish the pics were better, check with a body shop about the clips?

 

[Johnyemac]

I agree about the pictures. Here in NH it's been raining so much I haven't opened the garage door it seems in weeks.
I went out today and took some better pictures!

My apologies for the ones posted.

In looking at these new ones, they don't seem to be that great either. They look so much better on my phone.

 

[Rdub6]

I don’t know how much you drive your car, and how dirty it gets, but I have gone to almost exclusively using a quick detail spray to “wash my car”, along with a California duster to keep it clean.
I only wash with a hose on a rare occasion to keep as much water off of it as I can.