Rust on Econoline rain gutters...

[dbhost]

Has anyone had the rain gutters on an E series with the penthouse roof replaced? Mine has the far too common rain gutter rust that was fixed, poorly previously and is rusting through again.

 

[Big_ern_101]

Got any pics? Its fixable but not for the faint of heart or pocketbook.

 

[dbhost]

It's been raining pretty heavily here lately. Will have to wait until it dries up. Got it buzzed down, treated with ospho, primed and painted to prevent the rust continuing. The holes for now are patched with caulk to keep rainwater from pouring over the edge and flooding into the door gaps and flooding my interior.

Will get pics once it dries up some...

I am not looking at doing a concours restoration on this old van, just keep the rot from prgressing, and keep the rain water where it belongs.

I am NOT beyond grinding the rust away, neutralizing it at bare metal priming it, and doing a fiberglass repair to the gutters to get them usable and looking good at 5' or so...

A full on cut out and graft in a new panel isn't going to happen with this old thing... I want the repair better than what was done previously, but I am not aiming for perfect...

 

[Big_ern_101]

For a less than perfect repair I would not be opposed to the idea of bringing it back to bare metal and laying some kitty hair bondo over the holes.

This tutorial here is pretty close to what you would need to do if you are gonna DIY it.

 

[dbhost]

The 14 year old boy in my mind just wet himself laughing at the name "kitty hair" bondo.

Going to look into it. I am aiming for function. If I want to see something beautiful I will look at the scenery around me, not the rain gutters on the van... Again this is a 5ft repair job I am looking for. Something that should blend acceptably well with a Raptor Liner finish over it...

The idea here is to patch these areas, get them in primer / protective but not pretty paint coat, massage out the prior owner backed into something dent on the right rear lower quarter panel, scuff the whole thing up, tack it down and spray with Raptor Liner...

I will go a bit fancy - ish long term though. Raptor Liner tan for MOST of the body, bumpers, Grille, Spare Tire carrier, and lower band / beltline down Raptor liner Sepia Brown.

I am thinking about the time I get that shot on (Probably do it in a friends barn / garage since he has the space) I will pole the holes to mount and route cables for the Cell Booster. I know there are those that seem to hate them, but on the tripod so far so good... Would like to be able to use it going down the highway though...

 

[dbhost]

Okay so here goes...

Need to get fresh sandpaper. Long story, but my sandpaper collection got corrupted by an angry cat that got locked into my shop... (Shouldn't have been there!) https://amzn.to/42TFA2V

My sanding disks for the orbital sander are fine, sleeves for the Dremel are in perfect shape...

Next...

Oh and the Amazon links are placeholders for me and for you to get an idea. The same items are cheaper at Walmart, but not logged into my walmart.com account you can't see the same stuff...

Ospho rust coverter to stop any rust that gets missed. https://amzn.to/3Qi38Hh
Chip brushes for applying Ospho. No link.
PPE / gloves / respirator / safety glasses to keep from killing or harming myself.

3m heavy drip check sealer since I am going to rip the drip rail sealant out. https://amzn.to/4b0KixG

Wen Rotary tool (Dremel clone) with flex shaft. https://amzn.to/41lElqX Not going to show link, but large assortment of grinding, sanding attachments...

Bondo Long Strand Fiberglass Reinforced Body Filler with hardener. https://amzn.to/4hDslYF

Rust Oleum Self Etching automotive primer. https://amzn.to/3CTbXnG

4 Liter Raptor Liner spray on kit with spray gun since this WILL jam up a spray gun... https://amzn.to/3CNU9KJ

4 liter Raptor Liner tintable kit, no spray gun. Only need one. https://amzn.to/41e8Hwy

Acetone to clean the gun and any other doo dads. I need a fresh bottle anyway for other cleanup of finishes... https://amzn.to/3CTSa7K

Heaviest gauge aluminum HVAC tape I can find as a backer. Home depot in store...

I can fab up a flat block for sanding / leveling the small areas in my wood shop pretty quickly...

My idea on the process would be...

Using the dremel, sanders, etc... strip back to bare metal, removing the sealant, paint, rust etc...

Treat exposed metal with ospho, rinse, encourage to completely dry...

Cut out and apply HVAC tape to the back side / inside of the gutter, forming a backer.

Mix up and apply in small batches kitty hair bondo, smoothing as close as reasonable...

Let cure.

Sand, level, shape and smooth the bondo, prime, sand, check. mixing, filling in any low spots, lather rinse repeat until acceptable smooth and level.

Prime and paint.

I have a connection that tints Raptor Liner for a tiny fraction of the cost of the Upol tints using standard automotive paint tints... If he can get passable results I would actually like to go with Ford Arizona Beige and Ford Dark Stone...

Not going to put too much worry into the door jams etc... It would be obvious this is a repaint anyway...

 

[posplayr]

Okay so here goes...

The biggest benefit from Kitty hair vs trying to weld in pieces of metal, is you don't have to worry about burning the back side of the metal on the interior if not set your insulation on fire if you stuff it into every crevice.

Not I have Flux Wire, Mig,Tig and Stick welders but welding sheet metal is a pain and if after the metal warps, you have a bigger bond problem.

Watching the video, I have used Por-15 to seal in any rusted metal after doing what I could to sand away as much rust as possible. You probably don't want to disassemble your van sufficiently to sandblast from the inside.

My 1997 E-350 was not a full build but other than rusted-out gutters, the interior was factory-finished as good as the day it left the factory. So by and large removing rust from the outside pretty much removes anything from the interior. Just to get good coverage, I used a small foam brush to get into the interior of the wall (from the rusted out holes ) .

Generally, the Bondo products want to be applied to bare metal after it has been scratched with at least 40 grit in a cross-hatch. This presents a bit of a dilemma as to how to prep the metal with Por-15 in combination with kitty hair. I painted with Por 15 and scratched the heck out of it with the 40 grit.
Then applied the kitty hair. Before it gets too hard I used a cheese grater like rasp to cut down the buildup of the excess bondo. There is virtually no dust when you do this.

I know the Rustoleum is very good paint but I use it with a Rustoleum rust convertor. Paints have gotten much better in the last 10 years. Before , I would always go for the Por-15, but now the Rustoleum combination is a much more cost-effective alternative.

If you are going to use automotive paint over the top, I would probably sand down all the Por-15/Rustoleum for an appropriate primer just over the top of the rust converter primer. The Raptor Liner products are compatible with the just about anything so it is not as much of a concern


For reference i have down three major projects using Kitty hair.

1980 Dodge motorhome whose entire windshield frame was rotted out. Work done in the early 1990's is still in one piece and solid. If it were to be painted there would be some minor touchup required but nothing major.

1997 Ford E-350, This was a CA van purchased new, but developed rot because of the filler shrinkage that occurs allowing dirt to collect in the gutters. I was pretty shocked at the areas where the roof had rusted through and a few places where the gutter had rusted through. This finally explained why my carpet in the back would get wet when it rained.

This work was done in 2014 and is a permanent solution although the van was totaled in 2022.

2000 Ford E-350 EB Hightop/Wheelchair van . The top had been leaking and the screws that held the top to the roof of the van were leaking causing all the screw holes to rot out. I have bonded the fiberglass roof to the van roof by filling in from the roof gutter to the bottom of the fiberglass roof. I buried all of the stainless replacement screws and will cover the entire roof (down to the gutters) in a Raptoliner.

 

[dbhost]

So started collecting my goodies for the job. However the mart of walls screwed up and sent me a can of regular bondo, minus the hardener tube of the plastic top to the can... Sending it back. Since I have to go in person, picking up the other Walmart is cheapest doo dads like the sandpaper, HVAC tape (Okay the Home Depot next to Walmart...), chip brushes and the like...

For temporary application I am just going to take some regular dark red / garnet Rustoleum and paint the repair for now. Better than what it is, not great...

Raptor Lining is planned but for the summer, after the engine swap on the F150 is complete... Have too many other projects to complete, and too much camping to do until then...