New project - fixing a second generation Nissan Xterra

New project is in the works, and it is not moto related - a second generation 2005 Nissan Xterra in need of some TLC.

This has been my daily driver for the past several years, and it has proven to be a mostly reliable vehicle. Actually, aside from routing maintenance all I had to do to it was a few sensors, U-joints, and suspension. But now, as it is creeping to its 12th year and close to 130k on the clock, it needs some TLC.

Living in New England where the weather is harsh, salt on roads aplenty, and dirt / gravel paths on many a trip, the rocks chips finally turned into some surface rust. I decided to tackle those before they became a major issue.

The first one I decided to work on was on the roof, right above the windshield.

But when I looked closer, I found that there was another rust spot, this one under the roof rack mount.
As much fun and function the factory roof rack / basket combo provides, it also creates the perfect environment for debris and dirt to get trapped under, slowly wearing at paint as one drives. Well, that is where I thought the issue originated. But when I started taking the roof rack off, I found it originated elsewhere, courtesy of Nissan - the rivet nuts that hold the rack to the roof.

A quick google search came back with several Xterra owners having issues with the mounts. Long story short, Nissan uses riven nuts and 6mm bolts to mount the rack. The riven nuts (all but 4) are not welded to the roof, but held in lace by friction, which should work, in theory.  In reality, seven of the 28 bolts on mine just spun - Nissan also uses a generous amount of Loctite on the bolts, and the torgue required to break the bond is more than the nuts can hold.

Well, I drilled two out, and the rest just came off the roof right through the sheet metal, leaving behind jagged mushroomed holes. Fun, right? Nope, but solution was easy enough. New riven nuts from Nissan, a small hammer and a punch, and some patient tapping to get the mushroomed metal back into shape.

After I inserted my new rivet nuts, I checked on all the rest, re-tightening them.  Sure enough, all of them needed an extra full turn and a bit to seat properly.

Once done, I took care of the rust spots (no rust through) by sanding to bare metal, using SEM Rust-Mort (an acid rust converter) in case I missed a vein in the metal, Metal to Metal filler, Primer, and scuffed the entire roof.

Since I often haul things on the roof rack, I wanted a tougher surface than OEM Paint. I decided on truck bedliner for the entire roof, including the rain channels. Out of all the bedliner kits out there, I selected U-Pol Raptor Liner because of its UV resistance, it's flexibility, durability, and the option to roll it onto the roof (I hate using Schutz spray guns on anything not vertical, and the space between the roof and ceiling was not ideal for spraying anyway). Raptor Liner is a 2 part urethane, so it cures properly and is tough. It also contains zero ground rubber, unlike Herculiner.

I ended up doing three coats (rolled) with Wooster Foam rollers because I wanted a smoother texture than the plastic loop rollers offer. The Wooster held up fine (I called them first to see if it could handle the solvents) for one entire coat, at which point I was switching it anyway. The roof was wiped clean with Prep-all, scuffed with 150 grit sandpaper, and wiped again. All the rivet nuts edges received extra dabbing with a paintbrush around the perimeter to ensure a tight seal. 

Next, I'll be fixing surface rust on fenders (rock chips) and applying the same liner there.