Need some advice - roof/drip rail rust on an otherwise clean E350 :(

[yonah]

Gents,

Need some advice from the gurus - especially those with experience with roof/drip rail rust treatment and repair.

---

Backstory:

I found a E350 wagon locally for sale. Private party (very nice, retired couple), uncommon paint code, low miles, preferable drivetrain, new high-end tires, and, per my research of the axle tag's code, it has a full-float D60 rear end. The van was a local fleet vehicle for years - so the maintenance records are robust. The owners purchased the van a few years ago to turn into a travel vehicle, but health concerns made this unfeasible.

The interior is beautiful minus a few light blemishes here and there from normal use and the front headliner could use a recover as the fabric is separating where the headliner meets the windshield. The undercarriage has a light patina, but is otherwise spotless. I observed no leaks or signs of seepage under the vehicle. The body panels look great and I saw no evidence of body or paint work, etc.

The test drive went well. All systems appeared to function correctly (A/C, F/R vents, heat, radio, etc.). I noticed a slight wander/pull to the left at highway speed (70 mph), but other than that, it drives very well.

I told the selling party I need to do some more research and query some experts (you guys), but would reach out in a few days with either a 1) offer - pending a PPI (funded by me) at a local indy Ford shop, which they agreed to - or 2) a polite withdrawal of interest in the vehicle.

---

The issue:

When I was inspecting the exterior of the van I looked at the roof and saw some light surface rust and some bubbling around the third brake light and edge of the drip rails in the rear / drivers side of the van. I expected some paint failure / light patina on the roof given my research and location (lots of sun).

However, the worst example of the rust damage is a ~6"x~4" section of the drivers side rear portion of the roof where it meets the drip rail - see below photos. This area has some heavy pitting, feels thin to the touch, and there is a BB-sized hole in the sheet metal. I checked inside the van and saw no evidence of water intrusion (stains on the headliner, etc.), but I only did a quick visual check. We get very little rain where I live, so this may be what kept this portion of the roof from decaying at an accelerated pace.

I'm really bummed out as this van is an otherwise immaculate specimen ...

---

Questions:

1) To those that have dealt with rust damage/repair in/around this general area of an Econoline's roof, how bad is this example - in your opinion, should I walk or use this damage as leverage to considerably lower my initial offer (if I give one)?

2) What kind of damage should I expect to find behind this corroded area?

3) I'm handy with vehicles and have an engineering background, but I’m wise enough to know this type of repair is beyond my skill level and means to DIY (time/tools, etc.) and if I owned this van, would seek the services of a pro/craftsman to repair it - what is a rough estimate of the repair bill for the rusted areas? My goal would be to properly repair all of the rusted areas and then spray the roof with color-matched Raptor Liner, or similar UV resistant HD coating. I understand this would probably be a project split between two different shops.

Thank you in advance for the help and I look forward to reading your feedback.

V/R,

-Steve

—-

Photos:

[yonah]

Drip rail:



*apologies for the orientation of some of the photos... I corrected them on my iPhone before uploading, yet they revert back to their original orientation.

[1der]

First - re FF rear axle - unless you pulled a hub cap and visually confirmed a FF is really present, there is no way to tell from axle code on the door.

Rust - that is pretty bad and likely worse as the paint strips away. The gutter putty should be removed and then the whole roof should be addressed. If there is ANY concern of rust around the windshield then the windshield should be removed.

As to cost- if you go to a name collision repair place it will likely be an automatic pass on the vehicle due to cost. If you can get it up here to SF then there is a good guy who will do a very good job at a reasonable price.

Reality is the rust could return years down the road, but that could be more than ten years if addressed properly today.

If there are no other rust spots - check really carefully around the bottom of the doors, rocker panels, under the hood - then at a really, really good purchase price this would not put me off.

[doublevan2]

Agree with 1der - but with limited personal experience on this. What year is this van - you don't mention that ? I'm confident 1der knows his stuff and has multiple "guys" who can do almost anything regarding repairs. If it were mine to consider all roof things - drive to SF - raptor liner (partially (?), etc., I think I'd go for a fiberine top - or CCV top - but you might still be faced with some rain gutter issues/repair ? GLW decision !

[yonah]

Originally Posted by 1der

First - re FF rear axle - unless you pulled a hub cap and visually confirmed a FF is really present, there is no way to tell from axle code on the door.

Rust - that is pretty bad and likely worse as the paint strips away. The gutter putty should be removed and then the whole roof should be addressed. If there is ANY concern of rust around the windshield then the windshield should be removed.

As to cost- if you go to a name collision repair place it will likely be an automatic pass on the vehicle due to cost. If you can get it up here to SF then there is a good guy who will do a very good job at a reasonable price.

Reality is the rust could return years down the road, but that could be more than ten years if addressed properly today.

If there are no other rust spots - check really carefully around the bottom of the doors, rocker panels, under the hood - then at a really, really good purchase price this would not put me off.

Ray, thank you for the advice!

Maybe I'm off here, but with regard to the axle specs, I cleaned up the tag on the D60's cover and it revealed the code 60-7026-2, which per the D60 BOM (https://www.crawlpedia.com/dana_60_bom.htm) is a 3.73 ratio 32 spline F/F. I read this a D60 Full-Float (F/F), unless I'm interpreting the acronyms incorrectly. FWIW, the van is a 2006 E350 with RSC.

I checked around the windshield, engine bay, and undercarriage - they are all very clean with a light patina that seems to be the norm for around here. No flaking or rot that you see back east. Some of the hardware under the hood was corroded, but that's it. The body panels and hood are gorgeous, I had to look very hard to find one small dime-sized shallow dent on the side of the van that was only visible at an angle. I actually checked everything from the roof down first and, due to their condition, was very surprised when I examined the roof.

Regarding the repair work, yeah assumed this was something a mainstream bodyshop would turn down. I'll be in touch if I pull the trigger for your bodywork guy's POC - need to give this a couple more days thought, but I'm leaning towards "no". Seems like a potential can of worms with a lot of unknown cost risk and the timing could be better.

Originally Posted by doublevan2

Agree with 1der - but with limited personal experience on this. What year is this van - you don't mention that ? I'm confident 1der knows his stuff and has multiple "guys" who can do almost anything regarding repairs. If it were mine to consider all roof things - drive to SF - raptor liner (partially (?), etc., I think I'd go for a fiberine top - or CCV top - but you might still be faced with some rain gutter issues/repair ? GLW decision !

Year is 2006.

Good things to consider, thank you!

[posplayr]

It is hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like a respray where the “at the time “ rust was not properly treated. There are plenty of holes but it is all fixable. A labor of love so i would get s substantial discount. It is not enough to yotal the vehile but there is not much to make that assessment

[1der]

Cool, nice reference re axle listings. I would still check to validate. lol!

Good news on rust not present elsewhere. New roof metal skins are available in a worse case scenario but not cheap.

[Big_ern_101]

Depends on your ability. It would be an expensive repair at a shop but is relatively easy to DIY since it is both up high and a light colored vehicle - both of which hide a lot of flaws in ameteur bodywork. Also depends on how long you plan on keeping it. Repair could be anything from just working in the effected areas and tossing on a coat of marglass to cut and weld to the whole roof skin replacement.

If your ability level or tolerance for bullshit is high and the price is right I wouldn't run.

The level of quality to the repair also depends on how long you plan on keeping this vehicle. For a 1-2 year repair a guy could just grind it off, bondo it, prime and paint and be fine for a little bit.

[yonah]

Originally Posted by posplayr

It is hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like a respray where the “at the time “ rust was not properly treated. There are plenty of holes but it is all fixable. A labor of love so i would get s substantial discount. It is not enough to yotal the vehile but there is not much to make that assessment

I agree and thought the same regarding the respray. I do not think this is the work of the current owners, but was likely painted prior to selling it to them. I would venture to guess they have never looked at the roof.

Originally Posted by 1der

Cool, nice reference re axle listings. I would still check to validate. lol!

Good news on rust not present elsewhere. New roof metal skins are available in a worse case scenario but not cheap.

Can't take credit for that, I discovered the D60 BOM via this Youtube video:
https://youtu.be/sdnichlpbwQ
But yes, understood the only way to be sure is with a visual inspection of the hub.

If I decide to move further I will schedule another showing and do a more thorough examination of the windshield area, and may try to get a peek behind the some of the rear trim, under the rear cargo mat / floor mats, etc.

I honestly think, given the condition of the rest of the van, the paint on this portion of the roof failed due to a specific set of conditions - maybe it was parked long term in a partially shaded parking spot / under a big tree or a heavy/deep paint chip was created by a piece of road debris/rock and was never treated. The owners told me that the van's previous life was a transport vehicle for a local daycare center, where it was used for in and around trips and sat a lot after the center purchased a Ford Transit - the employees preferred driving the Transit. The daycare story also makes sense given the spec of the van - XL trim (spartan interior, rubber floor mat, no cruise or tow package), RSC upgrade, etc.

Originally Posted by Big_ern_101

Depends on your ability. It would be an expensive repair at a shop but is relatively easy to DIY since it is both up high and a light colored vehicle - both of which hide a lot of flaws in ameteur bodywork. Also depends on how long you plan on keeping it. Repair could be anything from just working in the effected areas and tossing on a coat of marglass to cut and weld to the whole roof skin replacement.

If your ability level or tolerance for bullshit is high and the price is right I wouldn't run.

The level of quality to the repair also depends on how long you plan on keeping this vehicle. For a 1-2 year repair a guy could just grind it off, bondo it, prime and paint and be fine for a little bit.

Yeah, lots of risk and a lot to consider - at my age and phase of life, I'm more on the risk averse side. Could be a relatively simple fix or something much worse. There are a few, albeit minor, additional compromises with this van, so as I mentioned above, I'm leaning towards a no go. But I could always give a very low offer, explain my position, and like Ray and others have mentioned, the juice could be worth the squeeze in that scenario.

I'd want to keep the van for at least a decade. The goal would be to make this a weekend warrior, travel trailer puller, camping/mtn biking vehicle to enjoy with the kiddos (big family, so I want a van for these kind of getaways). I say that as I would want the repair done right.

---

I'll keep you guys posted.

And thanks for the members that have shot me PMs sharing their opinions and past experiences. Much appreciated.

-Steve

[Big_ern_101]

Based on that you want this vehicle for 10 years, do you really want to be driving a stripper XL spec vehicle? I sure don't.

Just because this is local and popped up doesnt mean you have to jump on it. Lets go through the list....

I found a E350 wagon locally for sale.

Convenient, but a flight to anywhere in the USA for a rust free vehicleis around $500 and you can't get much rust repair for $500

Private party (very nice, retired couple)
Other than cheating taxes and maybe a lower price there is no advantage to buying private party. There are plenty of disadvantages.

uncommon paint code,
This I understand - I am picky about color as well.


low miles,
How low is low? Unless this is some 30k mile creampuff...doesnt matter much especially if you are gonna drive the wheels off it.


preferable drivetrain,
Which is...? 7.3s are preferred for some reason, Cummins swaps are nice if done well - but cant always be registered in some states, but otherwise they are all pretty common and easy to find.


new high-end tires
This is like $1k - doesnt get you much for rust repair

and, per my research of the axle tag's code, it has a full-float D60 rear end.
Junkyard swap is relatively easy and again, cheaper than rust repair and way easier to find a shop to do it. If you are gonna go 4x4 this axle should come out for an F350 axle anyway.


The van was a local fleet vehicle for years - so the maintenance records are robust.
I would rather have a private party owned than a fleet vehicle. I have seen what guys do to things they don't own. At the end of the day these are robust and simple vehicles, there isn't much deferred maintenance that will put you in the poor house. Its not a Lamborghini.


The interior is beautiful minus a few light blemishes here and there from normal use and the front headliner could use a recover as the fabric is separating where the headliner meets the windshield.
Average condition, same as every other used vehicle out there.



The undercarriage has a light patina, but is otherwise spotless. I observed no leaks or signs of seepage under the vehicle.
So basically the same as any other vehicle from outside of the salt belt.


The body panels look great and I saw no evidence of body or paint work, etc.

What about the roof?


The test drive went well. All systems appeared to function correctly (A/C, F/R vents, heat, radio, etc.). I noticed a slight wander/pull to the left at highway speed (70 mph), but other than that, it drives very well.


That sweet fleet maintenance left it with a nice pull to the left. Sounds like it needs front end work, like they all do. Gonna chew up those nice new tires

In short, there are tons of these vehicles out there and this one is nothing special. If you don't want to do rust repair, walk.