Fixing holes in roof

[Slow]

Found 3 1/4 inch holes on either side of the roof under some badly applied body filler. Only found them as it had orange rust leaking out the cracks in the filler.

Best way to go about fixing these? Or atleast so they dont let water in again. Looks dont really matter as its so high up you cant see the roof without being on ladders/in a building.

Tack weld little plates on from the inside then fill with filler again? Seam sealer plates on then fill with filler?

My skills wont stretch to cutting them out then making panels which follow the bodyline well enough to be on the surface without it taking me stupid amount of effort and time. Value isnt worth paying anyone real money to sort it out either.

[paintman]

If you leave the surface flat the filler will be so thin that simple expansion & contraction from sun will cause a circular crack to appear showing the edge of the hole.

Use a ball pein hammer - or a suitable panel beating hammer if you have them - to dish the hole inwards creating a depression.

Sand the area & fill as required before painting.
Put some paint on the inside of the roof to protect the metal edges & stop rust forming which may work its way up & force the filler out.

[Chris32345]

What is this on a van? Car? motorhome?
And what sort of age is it?



If it's an old van I'd just glue/silicone a plastic patch over the area to stop water getting in

[Slow]

Chris32345 said:

What is this on a van? Car? motorhome?
And what sort of age is it?



If it's an old van I'd just glue/silicone a plastic patch over the area to stop water getting in

2008 Ford F350. Already has other holes in it for light bar, roof has some dents and the holes.

[steveo3002]

depends how mad you want to go

easiest fix at home would be clean the rust up well so its nice and clean then carefully dish the hole do its a small dent , use fibre glass bridging paste to fill the hole/dent , then filler to smooth , seal and paint the inside of it too

[Scrump]

Back in the day a vinyl roof was used to cover up quick fixes to the holes in the roof on ex-police cars being sold on garage forecourts.

[SlimJim16v]

Easiest way, put some dome/mushroom head stainless bolts and nuts in them.
You can even get anodised alloy ones, which come in different colours, so can be the same colour as the roof.

[V8covin]

Get some pu sealer,put tape on the outside and apply the sealer from behind,remove tape after curing

[Slow]

Piece of metal cut to cover the holes then fiberglass over the whole lot should be watertight for a long time right?

Dont fancy taking down the headlining to try get at the underside, even if I did there appears to be another piece of metal below it so access from below would be hard.

[paintman]

Stainless steel & tigerseal or similar.

Stick it on & seal it in one go so no need for fibreglass or anything else - would look neater too!

[SlimJim16v]

Slow said:

Dont fancy taking down the headlining to try get at the underside, even if I did there appears to be another piece of metal below it so access from below would be hard.

Pop rivets?