M109a3 Van body roof rust

[SMOKEWAGON66]

so i just got my M109a3 home last tuesday and after a thorough inspection, i found the top of the roof of the van body has some pretty serious rust/cancer along the roof support beams. im not that great with sheet metal but i dont know how difficult it will be to replace the supports. anyone have a similar problem or any advice for this? would be greatly appreciated.

 

[phil2968]

The supports are most likely ok. The sheet metal will be the problem and all those rivets! Check out this thread!
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce-modification-hot-rodding/43811-m109-camper-conversion.html

 

[maddawg308]

You're in for a lot of work. Here's how I would do it:

1. Take a grinder and grind down all the affected rivets in the area of the rust, removing the bond between the roof supports and the sheet metal.

2. USing a sheet metal nibbler, cut out the affected rusty sheet metal. A cutoff tool would work too, but would take a long time. Make the nibbler cut as straight/square a piece out of the metal when you cut it.

3. Use a MIG welder to tack in new sheet metal, and using a drill and a pop rivet gun, reattach the sheet metal to the roof supports. Hopefully, your roof supports are good enough shape.

4. Make sure you use rusty metal primer all throughout the project.

Hope my advice helps.

 

[DUG]

I had the same problem with mine. We had planned to put a bar in the back, but with the rusty roof we quickly switched plans. To repair the rust we unbolted the box from the frame, tied it off to a secure spot and drove away. Then we drove north to Hundy's and installed a clean M35A2 cargo bed. No more rust issues.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/34668-m109-box-removal-4.html

 

[Green_gator]

A couple of things to think about along with the rust. The insulation inside traps the water like a sponge and you may have rust issues on the inside of the interior panels. The water will pool at the bottom and creates rust along the walls at the floor and in the floor panel. Mine had some serious issues and I ended up pulling all the interior walls and the floor to repair. The good part was I quickly saw how badly the wiring inside had deteriorated and upgraded all of the electrical to modern wires and fixtures. Once you put new steel on and Maddawg gives a very good description of what need to be done look at putting the coating used on RV and mobile home roofs to seal the roof as the rivets will always be a weak spot. You can paint after the application.

 

[televisionman007]

thanks for reminding me ... i need to check my roof on my m109

 

[Michael]

That seems like a strange place for the box to rust. I would think the rest would be much worse by the time the top got that bad. You might be better off swapping the box for a better one.

 

[peecook]

i had very minor rust on mine, but i got all of the rust off and then primed it then covered it with Line-X. i also felt like this would seal up and cracks and keep thee water out. i have had zero water in the box.

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

little update: after some further ivestigation (with a prybar) ive discovered that the roof supports seem to be fine except for one..and that one just has some minor damage..some reinforcment will do fine...so all i have to do it re-skin the roof so it does'nt seem as daunting as it did before. im also in the process of sanding and painting...so soon it shall be at least all one good color instead of the KMart special house paint that whatever unit had this vehicle before brushed on with a toothbrush

 

[jasonjc]

Keep us posted on this. I will need to be doing the same and can us all the ideas I can find.