Roof Dilemma

First post but I've been lurking here for a while. I recently picked up a '67 Belvedere II 4 bbl 318, 727, 8 3/4 car. The car is straight with some minor surface rust here and there, about what you'd expect from a car that has spent quite a few years in the elements. Haven't been able to fully assess the floors but there is nothing shockingly apparent going on with them. Trunk and frame rails are fine. For a bit over a grand, I really can't complain :beavisnbutthead:


It's a vinyl top car and at some point it had been replaced. I knew there was rust under it but didn't know to what degree until I ripped the headliner/pad out. There are several spots where there are small holes rusted through. I'd say about half the roof has rust (judging from the inside). I haven't taken the vinyl off yet so I'm not sure how it looks from the outside...I'm sure it probably looks like the whole roof from there. I am fairly sure if I had it all blasted I would be left with a swiss-cheesed panel.

I am kind of at a crossroads with what I want to do with it from here. I guess there are a couple options -

-Find a parts car or salvage yard car with a solid donor roof skin and replace the current one on my car. AFAIK reproduction roof skins for this year are not available.

-Scrap the current car completely and source another complete Belvedere/satellite body to use and go from there. :angry2:

-Blast/grind away current rust and repair using metal patches and reinforced filler etc.


This is not a show car restoration or anything...just a Mopar muscle driver. Will likely never be in a show...just weekends and tooling around town...not a huge expensive project. I'd just like to hear some of y'alls opinions on my situation. Lotta knowledgeable people running around here :eusa_pray:


Thanks!
Jake

PS- I know :worthless_thread: - maybe I can get some in the next couple of days.

Sounds like a convertable is in your future:icon_hang:









:munky2:Just kiddin',you will have to remove the v/top and see.Do you have the means to fab & repair as needed,or do you have to pay someone to do it??

Welcome

OOOOOOOOPS:idea1:Welome aboard:sleepy2:

Convertible...I know right!

As far as the work, it would probably be half and half. I could do the cutting and prep if I was to replace the skin, then likely take it to someone to have the new metal fitted and tacked on. If I was to repair what's currently there, I'd likely take it to someone who knows what they are doing. I don't have much experience with "heavily involved" bodywork.

Hell, if your gonna put another vinyl top on it, do the repairs yourself, who's going to pull the headliner to see if you did a perfect job. Remember, mopar put vinyl tops on Superbirds and Daytonas cause the roof was so hacked they didn't want the public to see it, and it was cheaper for a vinyl top than to do a perfect roof. I say go for it, you dont have anything to lose, and you might learn something along the way.

No way would I scap the car in that condition and price over a shaky roof. Bring what you have there down to bare metal and see where you stand. If it is totally swiss cheese, you're better off replacing the roof skin than trying to patch in or weld in metal all over the place. That could turn into a nightmare in itself. Thin metal and heat don't get along very well.

Since the cars future does not include debut's at Brimfield's or Barrett, some light patch work and some weld in hole plugging may do the trick, especially if vinyl's going back on.
Personally if it was my car I could probably put up with a bit of patching and real light filler under the vinyl, but out of control Frankenstein patchwork along will a gallon or two of filler on top of the swiss cheese would bug me till I eventually swapped out the roof.

Just my 2 cents........Welcome and good luck what ever way you go.

I agree with Propwash, tear it down to the bare metal and see what you have. I just disposed of a 66 with a minty roof! It shouldn't be too hard to locate a roof skin...keep us posted!

Thanks for the responses guys! Makes me feel better about the situation already. I'll probably start tearing off the vinyl this weekend if I can get the car into my garage (need to find one more tire to roll it).

I've already found a guy that could possibly have a donor roof skin. If I choose to go that route, I guess I'd just cut the entire roof off at the pillars then bring it home to start the task of taking time every night to cut the spot welds off to remove the skin.

QUOTE: I guess I'd just cut the entire roof off at the pillars then bring it home to start the task of taking time every night to cut the spot welds off to remove the skin.

I did the same thing. A long, tedious, time consuming job. First off, I recommend the Blair spot weld cutters, best I've used. I used a spring-loaded centering punch to start the holes. Other folks just recommend using a small drill bit to give yourself a pilot hole. Six of one..... The job was NOT fun, but it was rewarding. Easily close to two hundred welds. And then.....theres still the other roof! In hindsight, having someone who knew what they were doing, I should have had the car tied together with steel, and then just cut the pillars. Replacing the whole roof in one shot. Eh, you live, you learn.

Fill it,sand it paint it....Then add your new vinyl top...DONE!!!!At least thats what I,d do...I almost put a vinyl top on my 67...My wife talked me out of it...I wish i,d done it!!!
What you can,t see will not hurt you!!
Petty Blue 67 gtx

I agree with 1badgtx, don't spend severel working days and hundreds of dollars on something you can fix on a days work and under 100 bucks! The car will still look great and it will live another 45 years!

Make sure all the rust is gone before any filling, painting or re-roofing with vinyl is done! I like the look of the vinyl roof on the 66/67's!

Didn't get around to working on the top this weekend; but the car is in the carport now! I am beginning to think that i might just get all the rust out and then fill it then throw a new top on it. I think the benefits to doing the roof skin swap are probably limited for what this car's purpose is. It's just an ordinary run of the mill Belvedere that will just be a fun car to drive on nice days (not to say that it won't get a big block :icon_rabbit: )

Anyways, here are a couple quick phone camera pics from the day I got it.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs771.ash1/166152_10100193437361820_4903342_59998073_6879469_ n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs078.snc6/168851_10100193433938680_4903342_59998004_3562554_ n.jpg

SWEET MAACO PAINT JOB! Car was originally white. :laughing6:

This is not my car, but the colour combo I had on my first 66 satellite many moons ago, loved the cream yellow and black vinyl roof...

I think eventually I will put it back to the factory white with black top and interior...but have no problem driving it how it is for a while haha.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168106_10100194557696660_4903342_60040051_5735612_ n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1387.snc4/163933_10100193774251690_4903342_60008270_2438462_ n.jpg

Well, the vinyl is all the way off the car and I have uncovered a horrific mess; holes everywhere and generally unsalvageable.

I have sourced a '66 parts car that I can get for about $900 (has a bunch of stuff I can use in addition to the rust-free roof). I've also gotten in touch with a local mopar-specializing body guy that is going to take a look and give an opinion whether I could do the skin or need to do the entire roof at the pillars.

Ahhh, that stinks! Hopefully the interior roof core isn't shot...

Happy drilling partner.....Blair makes one hell of a good spot weld cutter bit.

It only cost about 400$ to have your roof removed and the doner installed. Its better to let the body shop remove your old roof.

$400 bucks would be an absolutly smoking deal.... Most shops wouldn't even consider it for two or three times as much. Considering both windows need to come out, seals removed, trim removed, lead melted out, blasted clean pillar's/gutters and then on to the hundred or more spot welds to drill out and then blasted again. Not to mention removing headliner/interior to avoid damage in the process as well as possibly some bracework. Then it's off to welding the new one in and body work to follow.

Not to say you couldn't find a deal like that, but wow.....I like doing everything myself, but I would even consider taking it somewhere if it was that cheap and they actually did good work.

Not questioning your statement Patrick, just saying that would be an amazing price considering most body shops bill out at $85-100 bucks an hour now a days.

I'm probably going to have someone else do it, whether he is doing the skin or entire roof. I'm not experienced with this stuff and I feel this is too critical of a body repair to learn on. Far too great a chance of mangling some stuff and ending up in a worse predicament than I'm in right now.

I've bought the parts car so i've committed myself to going forward with this. I'm going to go take a look at some of the work done by the guy recommended to me, then likely let him take it from there, if satisfied. I just have to keep reminding myself, that even with the parts car and projected cost of the new roof, I'll still be below $4k into the project

Welcome JSnake. I agree with Propwash that if you can get a bodyshop to do a deal that cheap then go for it because the roof is an integral part of the body and should be done either professionally or with alot of help from a professional, Nothing personal ok, yet with that deal you should grb it. Good luck

I think it was another poster that said it could be done for $400, not me. Unless you knew someone, I don't think you could find someone to do it for that little. I too would be a little wary about quality of work when someone was doing it for $400. The guy that I am talking to thinks it will be about a $1,000, which I think is a good,fair price. It is not a commercial body shop, but an older man that has a shop with all the goodies and does Mopar restorations.

If its just mainly pin holes and your going to revinyl it why not lay down fiberglass cloth, smooth it out with a sander and reapply a new top. Its the outer skin thats rusted not the framing underneath that.

I wish it was mainly pinholes! :rofl: It's a little more extensive. After discovering how bad the roof really is, I'm just surprised that the floors aren't worse. Only holes are right around where the driver and passengers feet would be.