When your car approaches 30 years there will surely be rust behind the weather strips. If there is no visible rust yet, it is only a matter of time before it creeps out.
I have previously removed the window on the tailgate and both rear side windows. All the windows had rust behind the weather strips. On the tailgate window I also had to weld in a small bit. The rear windows are easy to take out and insert, just follow the service manual that you can find here: factory-service-manuals
Apart from one of the rear windows there was no visible rust until the window and weatherstrips were removed. If you wait until the rust creeps out it has probably gone so far that it needs to be welded, so don’t wait to check this.
Of course I realized that I had to take out the windscreen as well, but I have been dreading it, so it has been postponed. The principle for taking it out is the same as for the others, but the size makes it more difficult.
After the car had been standing outside a long, rainy period I discovered water under the front door mats, and when I pulled out the rubber plugs in the Rocker panels under the doors, the water gushed out. Luckily they are treated with Fluid Film inside.
Since the car does not have a sunroof, the most likely leak point is the windscreen.
I removed the rear windows by pushing the weather-strips from the inside out as described in the manual. This allowed me to reuse the strips which were still quite soft. In addition, I treated them with silicone grease to soften them further. Read here/ video: Insert windows in a Land Cruiser
But the weatherstrip around the windscreen was so stiff that I chose to change it. So here I took a Stanley knife and cut around the glass from the outside. You’d think this was the easiest way to get it out, but I think the push method was just as easy.
Preparations
Before I started on the window, I removed the interior mirror and sun visors, and the panel at the rear of the bonnet. According to the manual, the hood must be removed first, but it is not necessary. You get to the screws that secure the panel with a Phillips bit on a small ratchet wrench. The window wipers were as glued so I had to use an extractor. There are special extractors available, but I used a modified small standard extractor. A little work with an angle grinder and it did fit.
There was no visible rust to see before I started, but after getting the window out I could see how much rust there really is. In both upper corners there is quite deep rust, but fortunately not through the steel. There is surface rust all the way in the lower part, and in one area the entire seam has rusted away, so here a bit has to be welded in. Fortunately, the rust does not go far down. If it had, the dashboard might have to be dismantled before I could weld.
The sealant that should lie between the bodywork and weather strip turned out to be so dry that it just cracked off. It must be elastic to seal well. So no wonder it leaked here.
The only way to stop rust permanently is sandblasting and priming with epoxy. Read here: Painting and rust protection
The most difficult part of the operation is to cover up so the car will not get full of sand. I taped thin plastic sheeting to the dashboard, but on the roof it is hopeless to tape. I couldn’t find any tape that would stick to the headliner. The solution was to lay a thin wooden strip across the window opening to clamp the plastic firmly against the ceiling. The strip was then stamped up with another strip.
The plastic may look thin, but just a little distance to the sandblaster nozzle will stop the sand without making holes.
Headliner must be loosened wherever there is rust. It is glued back on with contact adhesive after the steel has been painted.
On the dashboard and around the window opening I taped with sandblasting tape. This is an extra thick and wide tape that protects when blasting. It can be bought where they sell sand and blasting equipment.
Sandblasting and painting
I do sandblasting outside on a sunny day with a tarpaulin under the car to collect the sand. The blaster is a 50 liter hobby blaster.
After blasting clean for rust I primed with 2 coats of 2K epoxy, then 2 coats of base color and then 3 coats of 2K clear coat. The clear coat is important to protect the epoxy against mechanical damage. It is the epoxy that protects against rust.
To get a nice result you have to use a spray gun when painting. But this repair won’t be visible when the new weather strip is in place, so I painted with a brush instead. Spraying such small areas only leads to a great waste of paint, and a lot of work with masking. Use the same paint as for spraying, but do not add thinner, only hardener. When you spray, most of the thinner disappears in the spray mist anyway.
Watch video for more details:
