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1971 Charger, rusted out roof! Need advice!

Dennis H said:
WTH? Did the factory put vinyl over raw unprimed metal?
Click to expand...

I think they primed the roof but they did not paint the areas that would be covered by the vinyl. And as we all know, leaving primed metal open to the weather without sealing it up with paint is not much better than just leaving it bare. Six to one - half dozen to the other, but no matter how you cut it... They eff'ed us big time with shortcuts like that.

To the original poster, yeah you can reskin the roof. It's going to be an involved deal for sure but not unlike other makes and models so you're lucky there... Lots of info out there on how to do it properly.
 
Man, that is nasty looking. Hopefully it is just the outer skin needing replacement. I think Dennis is on to something with the factory forgetting to prime under the top. There has been a lot worse repairs made by guys on this site. Get that outer layer off and see what you have underneath.
 
Taking the outer skin off was simplicity itself! Just a lot of time spent to drill out the spot welds. Boy am I glad I didn't pay a body shop for THOSE hours!
The frame is solid as hell underneath.
Follow the pictures....





 
Wow.

How did you get the spot welds free from inside the drip rails?
 
I bought 4 spot-weld cutters bit from Harbor Freight. I ended up only using 3 of them. They are $5 each.

For the drip-rail area, first hit the gutter with a wire wheel to expose all the spot welds. Once you get it nice and shiny they will become easily visible. Then you take a center punch and a nice heavy hammer and make a decent sized dimple in the middle of each spot weld. This is important as the spot-weld cutter wants to walk, BAD. Then you just drill out each spot weld, right down the line.

I've never replaced a body panel before, but with the frame underneath it, the roof skin seems remarkably simply and I think I might do the whole repair myself! I never dreamed of being able to do something like this.
 
I bought a Blair spot welt cutter (supposed to be the best), but it is slightly too big to fit between the drip rail and the roof.

I couldn't really even get a sufficiently sized drill bit in there.
 
on a 71 Charger, the Harbor Freight one worked like a charm. Buy a few. They cut a 3/8" circle. It was truly a breeze, just time consuming.
 
Good deal that the framework is in such great shape. With my luck, that would have turned out differently lol.
 
Just an update-- I finally finished skinning the donor roof panel off its frame (it was cut off the donor car at the pillars). After lots of careful drilling, the spotwelds were all gone at the roof skin just lifted off! What a thing of beauty that was.
Even more beautiful was the fit of the panel on my car! Fits like a glove!




- - - Updated - - -

I have NEVER done any significant kind of bodywork before, just shmearing a little bondo and occasionally patching a hole with sheet metal and pop-rivets. I haven't had any guidance other than on this website. What I'm trying to say is that YOU CAN DO IT if I DID IT! Granted, it's not over yet. Still gotta weld.
 
Keep it up that's the way I learned just do it can get any worse then from when I started. My first attempt at metal fab wasn't to bad deff not perfect but since then I've done quite a few diff cars and have gotten much better ,now that I've mastered that my next thing is paint I'll try my hand at that , anyways it's looking good sweet car you have there glad it's getting fixed .most people write those off as soon as the roof go's bad good luck
 
The roof was basically the only real rust on the car... And I'm learning now that the roof skins, at least on a 71-74 B-body, is probably one of the easiest panels to replace.
 
Nice job man!!!! To bad your not out west or I would hire you to do the skin on my brothers 74 C-body! LOL
 
Thanks guys! I'M SUPER EXCITED!!!!!! Killin these wintertime blues!!!!
 
Very cool. My son and I will be tackling the same task on his 68 Barracuda. You're right about this sight, it has lots of info and even more moral support!
 
I gotta say, as a novice at this it is refreshing to see someone try something like this while people tell you "no it can't be done". Makes me want to dive right in and try things on my car I normally would hire someone for! Thanks for posting.
 
How did you get the drip rail trim off without ruining it? We have to do the same with my car ...it has a old aftermarket sunroof in it
 
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