1998 V70 windshield surround rust question Topic is solved

Post by **scot850** » 10 Dec 2016, 19:27

I young guy dropped off a possible new 'project' for me today so I could give it a thorough going over to see what needs done and if I want to take it on. I knew it has a 'salvage' status due to a LH fender bump that damaged the fender, front bumper and a bit of the hood edge. At this age it is enough to write a car off. The guy has replaced the LH fender and supplied a replacement front bumper cover.

The other issues he highlighted are a water leak into the cabin at the front and a weeping heater core. Now I looked at the car a week ago and the windshield was sound but now it has a crack that looks like it started at the top edge which is unusual from what we typically get here in the windshield breakage capital of North America (possibly!!). When I cleaned all the worst of the grot off the top of the roof I found this along the top edge of the windshield. I have see minor rust on P80's but never this amount. I can't test the sunroof drains until the battery has thawed (yes totally frozen!!).

Have any of you guys who live in the rust belt seen this often? Not sure if it is worth repairing as the body repairs have already reached around $1000 (my estimate) with the $300 salvage inspection. Car has an unknown PCV history and timing belt, and that is before I look closer at it!

: LH side of windshield top edge

: LH side toward the middle point

: RH side top outer edge

: RH side toward the center

I had a problem with the 98 V70XC with a water leak and it was caused by a badly fitted windshield and was fixed before it rusted like this. I'm not sure this is fixable. Windshield has to come out to be replaced and no good window replacement shop would fit a new windshield without this rust being addressed first.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Neil.

Post by **kahl** » 10 Dec 2016, 21:41

Find another project....quickly!

Post by **cn90** » 10 Dec 2016, 21:56

I hate rust.
Personally, I'd let go b/c body work requires so much time/work, it is unreal; it makes the head gasket job look easy!

That was an example of neglect. My 1998 S70 GLT lives in snow belt (like that car) and shows zero rust, simply b/c I take care of it meticucously.
Any open paint is patched right away. I sprayed the car with water whenever I have a chance in the winter (above 32F).
This rinses the salt off as soon as possible.
In the Spring, I sprayed the chassis to wash the salt that deposits on the subframe.

Post by **scot850** » 11 Dec 2016, 09:34

That is my feeling too. I hate rust, it has killed too many of my cars over the years. I have highlighted this to the owner. He re-builds salvaged vehicles for a living and says he has a good body shop for repairs, but I'm not convinced they would do more than rub it down and give it a flash of paint and the rust will return in a few months maybe a year. It's a shame as otherwise the car has no rust on it, a manual trans and is a T-5 with a strong engine.

I have added up the costs in my head and already the body repairs are in the $1000 + range.

Thanks for the sanity check.

Neil.

skloon · Post by **skloon** » 11 Dec 2016, 11:04

That is the rust you see I fear there is a lot more on the pinch weld- it could be okay with grinding out and painting but I suspect there may be some holes hiding- If you have never had an Alberta salvage inspection be aware that oil leaks, older tires, sandblasted headlight lenses and other things will fail the car and cost extra $$

Post by **erikv11** » 11 Dec 2016, 13:01

scot850 wrote: ... Have any of you guys who live in the rust belt seen this often? ....

Negative.

OK I actually live outside the rust belt, that refers strictly to eastern Iowa and states east, but we do get a lot of salt on the highways in the winter.

Anyway I see a lot of p80 cars here, and almost no one does anything special to prevent rust (Volvo did a lot of that for us), yet the cars rarely have more than a patch of rust. Except maybe under the rocker panels, that's the worst place and one most people don't even know about. Anyway I have never seen anything that bad on the windshield. I wonder if you see a lot more sand up there, and this car has a lot of highway miles. How is the area around the grill, out of curiosity?

I'd be curious to know how it compares with what people have seen in looking at several p80s within the actual rust belt states.

Post by **scot850** » 11 Dec 2016, 23:00

Just a quick note, the owner of the car agreed the only way to fix it is to cut out the rust. He reckoned he could have it done for about $600, by cutting it out and replacing it with a section cut out from another car he has being parted out. Problem is the bodywork costs with this repair along with the other repairs to the front bumper and LH fender, add this to the $300 inspection fee and the $1000 he wants for the car the costs are in the $2500 after the salvage inspection before I even look at timing belt replacement and anything else I find. That value is about what a good one is worth, and I haven't looked closely at any other issues like the failed tailgate gas lifts, the scored front rotors and the no key fobs.

Shame but no sense in it. Thanks for the sanity check guys!

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 12 Dec 2016, 08:46

Rust is roughly 5x worse than it looks. That body work estimate is hideously underpriced - 10 hours to cut out, install, grind prime and paint a roof section? I would say 40 hours minimum.

This one is an easy walkaway as a car to reach driving status. There are still plenty of V70 manuals out there.

Post by **scot850** » 12 Dec 2016, 11:16

I am not looking for a manual, actually I don't care which type of trans it has, and I'd actually prefer an auto. I have decided to walk away from the car as I already did the math and it doesn't make any sense as a project car due to the rust damage. Even if the cost were $600 it is already over the value limit in the market without this repair. But thanks again guys for keeping my enthusiasm in check!

As to there are plenty of cars out there, I have been looking for nearly 3 months for a short term test bed/project to test a huge pile of electrical parts I have and cannot find an V/C/S 70 of any version from 98-00 that makes any sense. The very few that have come up have body damage, head gasket failures or other major problems that to repair would be more than the car is ever worth! Remember I already have one of those!

I'll just have to keep looking, but it is a shame as other wise the car had potential.

Thanks,

Neil.

Post by **sleddriver** » 12 Dec 2016, 11:58

Reminds me of my first car back in college: A rusty 72? 73? avocado green Camero. The windshield surround was so bad, I had to pull it, remove, then treat the rust, then rebuild large sections with Bondo! Then drive to the shop with my scuba goggles on to have the windshield fitted!! Talk about a first-purchase-beater......learned a lot wrenching on that one. Like why Bondo was invented in the first place.