Windscreen Replacement - Drainge Holes

[Az Flux]

I pulled out my windscreen of my '88 L Wagon because of leaking issues and found a lot of rust, especially around the bottom corners.

I sanded and wire brushed most of the rust off and patched up the corners. But now I'm worried I might have created a bigger problem, are there suppose to be drainage holes in the corners? There were jagged holes in the corners and I figured they were caused by the rust and patched over them. But now I'm thinking they could be the drainage holes, made worse by the rust.

So, should I be drilling some new holes before the windscreen goes in?

Edited February 8, 2013 by Az Flux

[presslab]

There are no drainage holes in the windshield frame. There is a drain hole down lower on each side, the driver's side is next to the wiper arm hole.

[Az Flux]

Thanks for the info.

 

I took a look and found the drain holes, but I don't think the frame is draining properly. The lip at the bottom is too high, and not all the water is making it over. After a while the water builds up and spreads across the whole lower area of the frame and just sits there. I guess that is why the corners rusted out before.

 

Is there any way to fix that? I'm wary about drilling holes because I don't know what's under it. I don't want to be draining water into the dash or anything.

[presslab]

I had windshield rust too. It was all around the whole frame, most likely caused by someone cutting into the paint while replacing the windshield.

 

The bottom was pretty rusted out, so this is what I did: I took off all the rust and old paint with a wire wheel. Then I put "rust converter" on all the bare metal and let it "convert" the rust. Then I painted everything with POR-15 - this was thick enough to fill the pinholes I had in the lower corners. Finally I installed the windshield with liberal adhesive on the lower edge to fill up the frame.

 

It's been a couple years and I don't see any rust yet.

 

If you drill a hole there you could get a leak - there is an intake vent that goes right into the car just below the corners of the windshield. I had a leak that turned out to be the plastic shroud below the windshield. Water would follow a seam and then sneak under the plastic shroud. If I was parked uphill the water would drip right into that vent and get the floor all wet. Some sealant between the plastic and the body solved that problem.

[Az Flux]

That's basically my plan =)

I got some KBS coating stuff, which is almost the exact same as Por 15 (and all we have over here). I'm hoping tomorrow is a nice day and I can paint it. It's either been wet and rainy or too humid lately. Since it's waterproof, I'm hoping it protects the frame well, but using extra adhesive is a good idea to help keep the water out.

Holes would definitely be a problem. Before I took the old windscreen out, I had to park the car facing down a slope otherwise it would leak. But then it got too bad and started leaking no matter what.

Thanks for your replies. Hopefully if I stick with what I'm doing, it will work well.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Az Flux