How to repair rusty gutter on cargo van?

[elf]

I have an 1990 Mitsubishi cargo van that has rust damage in the side gutters. The main spot I'm worried about is a 3" section where the bottom of the gutter is completely rusted through. There are no leaks in the van. What is the best way to fix the gutter? Do I grind it as free of rust as I can, then seal it (with what?) and then epoxy? I don't have access to any welding etc equiptment.

Sorry if this isn't the ideal newsgroup to ask this sort of question, but I've not had any luck elsewhere and am hoping this isn't too terribly OT for this group, where I've had help with on physical things before.

[Joseph Meehan]

Grind/sand the rust to clean metal. Then prime and paint with automotive materials. Don't try to use anything else and don't use the stuff in the little spray cans available at the autoparts store. You need to go to a automotive paint store. You also need some pro quality spray equipment and skill, if you want it to look good. Of course if you don't care what it looks like why bother or just grind it a little and prime and spray with the almost match almost good stuff from the autoparts store.

[ameijers]

His question was how to patch the hole, not how to make it look pretty. (and this is OT in that home gutters fail in a similar fashion, and are about as hard to patch.)

If it was a work van, I'd try foil tape from a body shop on the outside, and flow the hole full of JB weld or silicone from the inside. Proper repair would be to braze in metal, but that would require stripping interior headliner to prevent fire. Like all rust repairs, whatever you do WILL fail again, but hopefully it will be after the engine/tranny croak, and the thing is at the breakers yard.

aem sends...

[Joseph Meehan]

[elf]

Thanks to the both of you. I just got some of the JB weld stuff - I guess it's a sort of epoxy? Yes looks is not the priority, it'll be ok if it's imperfect.

As far as the hole in the gutter goes, it's bigger than I thought. It's about 3" long, but confined to the bottom of the gutter. What I mean is that the outer rim of the gutter is intact, but of course it's not supposed to be hanging out there by itself for 3". I was wondering - maybe I should lay a little strip of metal at the bottom of the gutter to span the gap to the solid parts, and flood the area with the JB weld stuff. Or will this just lessen the integrity of the JB Weld?

Also, one or both of you suggested that I grind then prime then patch. I was thinking that perhaps I should grind then patch then prime. On the notion that JB Weld might like it better if it can bond directly to metal. What do you think?

[Joseph Meehan]

Yes.