Advice needed on upper A pillar rust

[bigfoot_ev]

I haven't done any body work before but I'm willing to take the time and effort if it makes sense. I have some rust bubbling up on the passenger A pillar of a 2003 Eurovan. By no surprise, this only happened after getting my windshield replaced a number of years ago using the Safelite home visit.

The advice I'm looking for is if it makes sense to repair this without removing the windshield. In other words, will the rust come back in short order because I'm not getting to the root of the problem? Or, is time, effort, and money better spent pulling the windshield, fixing the rust, and having a new windshield put in (a couple of rock chips in existing windshield)?

Here's what it looks like

[viiking]

Rust rarely starts under the paintwork without external damage. I would highly suspect that the rust has started under the windscreen seal and the bubbling you see is the spreading rust from that initial rust.

If it were me I would at least remove the external bubbling rust to see what you have, but expect that the corrosion is much worse under the seal.

I believe that you will need to remove the windscreen and cut out the rust and weld in new steel and treat that area well before putting back the windscreen.

Even rust treating and filling with bog will probably result in the rust returning in a short time.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[VW_Jimbo]

Pull the windshield. Let’s see how bad it is.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[bigfoot_ev]

Thanks for the advice. Not exactly what I was hoping to hear since I've never tackled removing a windshield either. I guess there's always a first time. Actually, after googling and reading and watching it doesn't sound that bad. It seems my choices for getting through the urethane using some HF tool are either cutting it out or sawing it out. I'm leaning toward sawing it out unless others have a better idea.

[bomberbob]

I had bubbles like that on my Jetta. I pulled the windshield because it was cracked and had to be replaced. There were rust holes under the windshield seal. It was pretty ugly.
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1968 Beetle (storage)
1990 Jetta GLI megasquirted, burning E85 (currently in heavy maintenance)
2004 Jetta turbo GLI
Marion, Iowa

[67ctbug]

You can have a glass company just remove the glass then come back and reinstall it.
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'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[Kafer_Mike]

[bigfoot_ev]

[bigfoot_ev]

I finally got the windshield removed. I needed one more fall camping trip first. I'm just starting on going after the rust around the windshield. While removing the old adhesive I noticed a crack in the A pillar to roof seam. I dug out the sealer and found rust in the seam. I was able to get to bare metal for what I could reach.

I can't reach all the rust to remove it. What is not clear in this photo is that down in the crack I also see some rust. What would people recommend on how to treat this?

[VW_Jimbo]

Ospho!

Get it on and in the crack. Let it run down inside, because you know the water did!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[bigfoot_ev]

I like the idea of letting ospho running in and down. My only concern is that I understand I need to neutralize ospho before I apply my primer. That ultimately means washing the area with water or a dawn and water solution. Do I just hit it with a heat gun after that to make sure its nice and dry and not worry about what water may have gotten into the crack? That's hoping the ospho is dry and doing its job inside the crack.

[VW_Jimbo]