Hi John:
I am in the long process of replacing the vinyl roof on my 69 LeBaron 2 door. I was aware of some rust at the front of the roof, but did not think that there was any around the window frame or anywhere else.
It turns out that there was quite a bit of rust around the front window frame, especially at the trim clip screws and both A pillars were rusted out near the top under the seam in the vinyl roof. Also, the factory body filler at both seams at the top of the C pillars was somewhat flaky and too easy to remove with some rust undernearth. I also had rust under the rear window insert all the way across the back with several parts rusted through.
The trim clips screw into the window frame. You cannot get behind for bolts. Just about every one of my clips was rusted beyond reuse with a variable size rust hole asociated with each. I am surprised that the trim did not come out by itself. Probably held on by rust
I would suggest doing what I did which is remove the roof and front and rear windows and get out the grinder and remove all rust you can find. It is not especially hard or time consuming since you are working with a relatively small area. Get the right tools.
I used the epoxy type body fillers to fill everything around the front window frame after a good metal prep. I think that these are easier to use in this type of small area irregular application and better than "Bondo". I know that steel is best followed by lead, but I think that this will work. I re-bondoed the seams at the top of the C pillars and steel panelled and bondoed the area under the rear insert.
Note that if you replace the vinyl roof you should remove the glass window from the rear fiberglass insert. The vinyl roof goes on before the windows are installed. This is probably a good idea anyway since it appears that a leak at a bad seal in my back window led to the rust under the insert. There was some headliner material caught in the rubber sealing of the back window at a bottom corner, I am guessing from the factory.
If you do not want to do the repairs yourself, you could at least do the rust removal. This would take care of much of the work and remove ambiguity about how much actually needed to be repaired when you take it to the repair shop.
BTW: I have found some trim clips at the local General Store which I think will work. I do not have any originals to compare them to! They are in a "WeePack" and something like 6 or 8 for $2. It seems expensive for what they are, but for these cars is actually incredible cheap.
Game 3 of the World series is on right now. I am rooting for St. Louis
These cars throw more curve balls than a World Series starter
Good luck
