Rust above gutter line on side of roof ?

[g8dhe]

Anybody else suffered rust on the roof above the gutter line and had it fixed ?
Waiting on Discount trucks to give me an estimate but just wondered if others have suffered at all, if so how was it fixed ?






Doesn't appear to be related to the awning supports at all, so a little bemused as to why at the very top ? Unless due to condensation inside the outer skin ....

[the1andonly]

In comparison mine has been tiny.
some small bits on gutter that are due to awning rail activities.

I had an inch diameter patch originating under the AFT seal at front passenger corner.
The seal was beginning to stick to the patch of rust. So had to quickly repair myself. No holes so just a simple sand fertan and paint.

Has anyone known of this area (roof) being waxoiled and how.
Is the rust only on passy side? How many years has the awning been attached, how quickly has this taken
I'm thinking stress corrosion
My aft created rust is likely to be a differential aeration cell (eg wet mud)

[g8dhe]

Only problem is on the nearside, nothing on the offside at all. The rear corner corrosion started first, no marks on the outside at all just a bubbling. Started a while back now 3 years ago I reckon but nothing serious. I would have expected stress corrosion to have caused problems at and below the gutter line itself as opposed to just above it, but not sure about internal supports or strengthening which might affect stress levels.

[Bongolia]

On my vehicle it is apparent that the paint in this area is very thin and I can see the start of a rusty rash appearing along its length, Temporarily I have sealed it with a coat of lacquer until I can get to it and carry out a proper repair.
In my case I believe that the spray film was masked by the gutter edge at the time of painting which would suggest that it has had repair work carried out to the vehicle possibly in Japan and sprayed by a human rather than a robot.

In your case I wonder if the attachment of the roll out awning has flexed the gutter and cracked the sealant allowing the water to get in between the cant rail and roof outer skin or maybe as you say the result of condensation from the inside.

As to a repair in this area it is complicated as several panel will be meeting there and it is a structural area on a monocoque shell. As this has gone into holes there may be damage to the internal panels where the flanges meet.

The only way you could be sure of this would be either to remove the head-linings around that area or try to inspect through the holes with a boroscope. If there where found to be holed areas to the cant rail beneath then I would think it would become uneconomic to repair properly.
If the damage were not to extensive/serious to the inner panels,after treating with rust treatment fluids, the outer panel could be either plated over or cold repaired with fiber glass chopped mat after the worst of the rust has been removed and treated . The cold repair wouldn't be a lasting repair but could extend the useful life of the van by 3-4 years if done carefully.

I would be reluctant to refit the awing however.

[mikeonb4c]

Good advice from Bongolia though i prefer glasscloth woven tape to chopped mat. You'd want to use resin and not p38. I'd love to see if the inside surface could be revealed by removing headlining as if so all sorts of treatments become possible.

[haydn callow]

I would get a proper job done and get the affected areas cut out and new metal welded in. Must admit , never seen that area affected by rust before.

[Northern Bongolow]

i would look to the tent seal to the roof, i think you had problems a while ago with this needing to be redone. any water/rain getting into the van structure would run round the inner rail where the roof joins the van side and quietly rot from the inside out. i can think of one bongo that had rain running in the tent seal then came into the bongo through the front courtesy light, this bongo now has a rear panel crack like yours geoff, but not the rusted areas as yet.

watch how you repair, theres a bit of wiring up there in the cavity.

http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... 1of03.html

[mikeonb4c]

I would get a proper job done and get the affected areas cut out and new metal welded in. Must admit , never seen that area affected by rust before.

Question is - can you weld new metal without scorching headlining etc?

[Bongolia]

Not an uncommon repair in restoration stuff. Thames 15cwt and early Sherpa's, yes people restore Sherpa's!
It is fairly common.
It always comes down to economics in the end.

To carry out a "proper" repair to a complicated area such as this is would require the local roof skin panel to be removed to expose the structure beneath . That area may require additional welding and treatment then the "cover* replaced.
I would estimate for a repair such as this from the images using metal as;

Remove all necessary trims etc and refit 5 hrs
Cut out affected panels and dress 2 hrs (E)
Fabricate inner support panel work 3 hrs (estimated cos we dont know till the caps off)(E)
fabricate cover panel 3 hrs
weld into position 1.50 hrs
load and level area 2 hrs
prepare for paint 2 hrs
refinish in color to match blending adjacent panels 3hrs
re seal all affected areas 1 hr
labour @63 pph
plus materials paint and sundries at MLP (150.00-200.00)
+ VAT at 20%
That would include identifying the initial cause and trying to correct it.
That should give a "proper" repair that would probably out live the rest of the van but would only ever include a 1 tyear warranty!
This is an estimate and would be subject to stripping.
That is a proper job.

Its all horses for courses and emotion should not be a factor Benji Bongo is really just a Bongo at the end of the day.

And no I would not want to do it it, it would interfere with my Bongoing time away.


re

[g8dhe]

Thanks for the thoughts so far. I don't intend doing anything myself, waiting on Gerry at Discount Trucks to give me an estimate, they got a bit wet last Friday after that rather heavy downpour over Newbury! Hoping he will get back to me this week

[BongoBongo123]

Sorry to see your problems there and I think you are right doing a pro job on that. I stop problems before they start on the body and will continue to do so early. But when there are holes and significant
patches/bubbling I think it needs to be assessed for structural issues. Safety first and all.

Looks awkward for welding as there are shaped bits of metal etc.

Hoping you get a wallet friendly quote.

PS for anyone interested look under the gutter and you can see these round rivet type things every 6 inches or so they start to discolour slightly so I went along and sealed those in with touch up paint/laquer.

[windywatson]

The round rivet things you refer to are the spot welds. Unfortunately these areas always seem to show signs of surface rust first on my van too. I think that the surface of the metal is effected by the weld & the paint may not take as well as it should.

With reference to the original post with regards to the roof rusting badly on the nearside, is the van or has the van been parked predominantly on the road? if so it could be due to condensation on the inside of the roof always running in that direction due to the camber of the road.
I have often wondered about the possibility of internal damage due to condensation. As these vehicles are not intended to be live in campers with people sleeping in them night after night. They don't have the insulation that a camper/motor home would have. Hence the amount of condensation on windows & cold surfaces if the van is not well ventilated at night. There are many areas for moist air to be able to circulate up & under the roof lining etc. I should imagine that on a cold night there would be many areas that if could be seen would be wet to the touch on the underside of the roof.

Cheers & best of look with the repairs.

[mikeonb4c]

Thanks for the thoughts so far. I don't intend doing anything myself, waiting on Gerry at Discount Trucks to give me an estimate, they got a bit wet last Friday after that rather heavy downpour over Newbury! Hoping he will get back to me this week

I'll be very interested to hear what they have to say. I'd be tempted to DIY it using resin and glassfibre cloth/tape if it were mine. The interesting bit would be cutting out access holes with a view to getting corrosion protection onto good metal, but without spraying or otherwise getting any on the headlining.

[kloonsy]

In my opinion the best way forward would be to cut out all corrosion,inspect the inner stucture and weld in new sections cut from a scrap shell and repaint as required.

[g8dhe]

Spoke with Gerry today, and yes that is the plan, two or three panels replacing the outer skin, from an old donor vehicle. He has a plasma cutter so shouldn't be to bad a job to cut them out and whilst off will waxoil the inside cavity. The rust appears to be away from the internal supports so hopefully it hasn't spread to them.