My 68 Camaro has rusted through where the back window lays on the lip. The problem is that it is not just in the corners. There are holes in various places all around the frame or whatever it is called. I have called around trying to find the whole 'ledge' the window lays in but not to be found. Do you have any clues to where I might possibly find this? The body shop I took my car to has had it since April 2006 and has made absolutely ZERO progress on it so I am planning on trying body work myself. Don't be surprised if I happen to turn into a regular here. I have purchased several books and am looking at a reasonable MIG welder purchase. I have a stick welder but everything I have read suggests using MIG. I know I will need lots of help to do this so please be patient. I am on total disability and absolutely cannot affords the 'high-end' body shops...even though I would like to. Thank you.

Yep, do it your self. That channel is famous for rust. I noticed it starting to 'go away' 35 years ago. I cleaned it up. Didn't even have to remove the rear window because I caught it early. Then sealed the steel with JB Weld. Then to fix the problem and also eliminate the annoying water trickle from what's trapped in the channel after washing, I was lucky to have the glass installed high in the recess. That meant I could make two miniature 'funnels' out of 1/4" copper pipe. I just flared the end of a short piece of pipe, drilled holes in the outside-bottom of the channel (where water sits) and blended them in to the steel with JB Weld. Now I've got a pair of leaks into the trunk, right? No worries. A short piece of vinyl tubing slips onto the pipes from the inside of the trunk. Then out two slightly smaller holes drilled into the top of the wheel wells. Works great and stood the test of time. Sorry about your disability. Me too.

The "ledge" you're talking about isn't a one-piece deal like a window frame. The sides are part of the quarter panels, the top is part of the roof panel, the bottom is part of the panel that's between the window and trunk. In turn, those ledges are pinch welded to other sheet metal ledges that are part of the inner structure. Cut out the rot and mig weld in some solid metal patches, grind smooth and paint, that's what I'd do.

I like the flared copper tube idea. I was trying to figure out how I am gonna get int he trunk and weld little metal tubes in there and make them water proof. I think this way sounds a lot better.

Thank you for the replies. I am going to take my best shot at it and see what happens. The real damage is already done so I guess I can't make it worse. I will keep you posted.

We had rusted pits and small sections in our front and back window channels on the '69. We would clean the area with a wire wheel and either MIG the pits or cut in a new section of metal that would just fit the hole. We would then keep it in place flush with the surrounding metal with 2 magnets, MIG, and grind smooth.
jogasz28

Heres a little on bending sheet metal, maybe you could use kind of small pieces and fit them in a little at a time, anyway for whats it worth.


http://www.2manitowoc.com/sheetmetal.html

Rob

I never even thought about putting it in in sections. That should be fairly easy using the 'bending trick'. Thank you.

I think that bending these pieces may be little more involved than what is shown in the photos. The channel/angles around the rear window (at least on the upper and lower portions) are compound contour (meaning curved in two directions). The photos show a straight brake-formed part. Once formed, the angle will not form to the car contour like it does when it's a simple flat piece (without one leg collapsing). You would need to fab a contoured block that matches the area that you are replacing and then hammer the flange around this block. Not easy but then again not impossible. I bet if someone could come up with a good wood form board for this area then it may be useful to several people.
I believe that the easiest way to fab these would be to make templates of the vertical section (the section that is adjacent to the outer skin panel) and then make a separate template for the recessed area (the area that the window sits on) and then weld them together. I am doing this in some local areas around my rear and front window (especially the corners). I'm using a MIG so I'm installing (tacking) the recessed piece first and then tacking in the vertical section and then going back and slowly filling in the missing areas. Grind it down and then I'm done. If you have a TIG (or are very patient with the MIG) then it may be easier to weld the two pieces together to make the channel and then place it in the area that you removed. It just seemed a little easier to place them in separate and go from there. I've completed the upper section and I'll try to finish the lower section this weekend. Either way....good luck.

I just removed the rear glass from my 67 and have some damage there as well. I may replace the filler panel below the glass, but I'm going to try repairing it first.
I like Bill's idea of welding the two pieces in indidvidually. It will be slow and painstaking with the MIG, but seems quicker than replacing the whole panel. All of my rust is in the bottom corners so I think I can get behind the repair areas with some copper backing to help with the burn through.
I just ordered some of the "20 Gauge" wire from Harris that's supposed to work well for this type of work. Hope it's as good as others have indicated.

Wayne