Rusty roof on a '93 with Crystal Lite option...

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:54 pm

Hey there folks,,

I have a '93 Super Exceed with the Crystal Lite Roof option. I absolutely love the roof and the power shades which still work amazingly enough....

I've been told that these particular roofs are prone to rust and mine is no exception. It's not really that bad right now. But it's there and not getting any better. I've shown it to my body man who's a personal friend and he's a bit perplexed by it all. He says it looks like it's rusting from the inside out and is not sure how to easily fix it. I know it's quite the dealieo underneath the headliner with the power shades and all. I really don't want to rip it out to fix it. I'm sure I'd never get it put back properly...

So is there an easier way?? What about sanding it down from the outside as beast as possible and then applying a bit of bondo or fibre glass and then painting it?? As you can see, I really don't have much of a clue about any of this stuff.....

Can anyone who's dealt with this issue help me glean some light on the situation?? Winters coming again. And I'm thinking I should try and fix this before it starts snowing in October...:

Thanks all, Philthy

macro · Post by **macro** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:59 pm

I also have a couple rust bubbles around the top of the windshield. Frickin salt spray!! In a couple weeks I'm taking mine in and getting as much fixed as possible and then bed liner-ing the roof. Hopefully that will prevent any more. I think in the 'Hermoine's makeover" thread Nick detailed what he did for rust prevention on his Crystal-Lite.

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:47 am

Thanks Macro,
I'll have a look at Hermoine's thread.

Cheers, Phil

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:58 am

Well, I just looked at a thread with pictures on how to remove everything from a crystal lite roof from the inside to get at the rust..... It's beyond my pay grade for sure. It would be easy for me to tear it all out of there. But impossible for me to figure out how to put it all back...

I think I'll try and keep it at bay from the outside and hope for the best....

yojimbo · Post by **yojimbo** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 10:20 am

You wont stop it from the outside. No way. You could possibly treat the outside and once its done spray something like acf-50 on the inside without a full strip and it might soak into it from the reverse and neutralise it. But if you do nothing it will just carry on.

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:30 am

I'm always the optimist. But I see what you're saying. I've never heard of acf-50.... But I'm getting the idea that I might be able remove some of the headliner and spray this stuff up into as much of the rusty roof as I can??

I'm open to anything that doesn't require too much mechanical ability. I a bit declined in that department. Anyway, thanks yojimbo. I'm going to google acf-50 and see what comes up

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:50 am

So a little homework done here already. And wow,, that acf-50 seems like pretty awesome stuff!!! At least if it works as they claim it does...... I think you would have to continually re treat the roof every year or two which kinda sucks. But it's certainly an alternative to doing the much more complex job of tearing everything out completely.

I'm going to see if I can source out some around here today

yojimbo · Post by **yojimbo** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 3:40 pm

HI Phil, hopefully you can find it, I am of course on the other side of the pond, but, acf-50 is one of the rust products that has really impressed me, and I have been trying to kill rust for over 2 decades now! I dont believe you will need to re-apply, the year thing is for it in harsh environments, when I was sealing my front panels I had them off and the metalwork brushed ready for application of the sealer, and was forced to have a pause, i used it to protect it in the interim, for a whole month it kept the rust at bay while exposed being rained on often, and no surface rust. i think in an unexposed area it will work for a very long time. Its also very thin so should creep into the metalwork well, far better than a rust treatment which merely covers the area. Worst case, it doesnt work and you can degrease the area and use something else, a lot of the 'sealers' need more aggressive removal.

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 7:34 am

Thanks yojimbo,
I watch a couple of YouTube videos on their website and thought it might do the job quite well. A little nozzle to get in to hard to reach places and you're good to go. They recommend re treatment but I think you're right. If it's an exposed surface that gets lots of weathering, then it would be necessary. Otherwise, no problem

Getting it might prove to be the most difficult thing. I'm quite certain it's not available in the city where I live. I saw on one website, they only sell it by the case load which is 13 cans...... I could start a rust proofing business with that much, lol

Sylquebec · Post by **Sylquebec** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:21 pm

did you stop the rust? what did you end up doing?
I'm in the same boat with rusty cristal light roof... there is like 25 little rusty bubble...
where is that rust coming from? leaky cristal light gasket and water get trap between the roof and headliner.
my l300 is so clean without this, not a single hit on surface rust underside. only fresh factory paint anywhere.[img]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201801 ... 3e8e1b.jpg[/img]

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Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:55 pm

The rust comes from the moisture from the passengers- it goes through the roof lining and condenses on the cold steel, and rusts it out. All roofs have some hidden channels and seams where the factory couldn't get much rustproofing in, but the crystal lite roof seems to have much more rust problems.

The only real cure is to remove the roof lining inside and fix all the rust you can see, rustproof everything else (especially in all the seams and hidden parts of the roof), and hope that you got everything. Trying to repair it from the outside is possible, but there's always some hidden rust that hasn't broken through the paint yet and you'll probably end up doing the job again and again.

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 3:05 pm

And as far as your question goes, no I haven't done anything to fix the roof. Surprisingly, it's not gotten all that much worse since I originally posted this a few years back. Now it's not because I'm lazy, I'm just afraid to tackle this massive job!! I love the Crystal Lite Roof option, but there's just no way I can tear it all out of there and do the fix properly. I'm simply too mechanically declined for this type of job.

I've been holding out and hoping I might find someone close enough to me that has experience with this repair. I'm happy to pay someone with the proper skills required. But I'm the only person in my home town of Peterborough that owns a Delica. I believe there area few more of us down around the Toronto area, but I don't think there's too many.

My friend who owns the body shop is happy to that part of the work, it's the getting to it that's the problem. I'm only 5' 6" , and I can't see the roof from this height. So for now, I'm going to pretend the rust is not there

bikerbobber · Post by **bikerbobber** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:28 am

And my girlfriend says I'm a procrastinator... Four years? Lol.
Glad to see it hasn't gotten any worse. I'm looking for A Delica, and would like the Crystal lite roof but this does worry me.

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