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1971 Charger, rusted out roof! Need advice!

I think I just pryed gently and slowly with my bare fingers.
 
Last edited:
SUP DUDES!!!!!!!
Update!
Unfortunately, while cleaning up the donor roof skin, I discovered that this piece of sheet metal is not in 100% perfect condition. The back window channel has some rust perferation, and on the drivers side the piece was cut off the C-pllar with a torch, and the back left corner of the roof skin got torched off by accident.
Here are the rust holes on the back channel:

And the lopped-off corner:


NOW! I had the foresight to hold on to the rearmost section of the original roof skin that wasn't covered by the Landau Vinyl Top. That metal was PERFECT. So, I measured carefully and cut this section off the original skin:


I'm just worried... I'm no pro-welder! But I am practicing, and have a decent Lincoln with shielding gas. What worries my is the length of this weld, and the fact that it's a butt-weld.... Do you think I could pull this off without warping anything?

And what would be the best plan of attack? I was thinking, cut the donor skin so that the patch panel fits it, then weld the donor skin to the car and attach the patch panel from there. The thinking her is that with the majority of the skin welded to the car, the piece will be more rigid and I can better maintain the proper shape of the roof.

Thanks for any input!
 
My only input will be to use only what is needed. Cut the new piece to repair the damaged area. I would not want to weld all the way across the roof line! Just got in from the shop, cut and welded a small patch into my son's Barracuda fender. The smaller the better for me.

IMG_1721.jpg
 
71 charger

71 RT 092.jpg Hi, Great job! I did notice green front bumper. Is the car a rubber bumper optioned car? Can you post fender tag? My old Charger
 
It's a chrome fender that the PO had painted over. I like the way it looks.

The patch piece I cut close enough the the rear channel that is has pretty good rigidity...
 
Good job so far. Just take 'er slow. Measure twice, cut once. Butt welds are a pain. Practice a bit before you start on the real piece. Having a copper spoon tool behind the butt weld helps to not blow holes through the metal. When you go to weld the skin back onto the inner structure, make sure you tap down the spot weld holes tight to the structure underneath so there is no gap between them. Welds become very ugly when there is a small gap between the two pieces you are trying to weld together. Good Luck! Scott.
 
Thanks Scott, I really appreciate the encouraging words. It really, really helps!

I'm gonna try to get in the garage tomorrow and do some more practice butt welds, using some extra scrap i have from my old roof skin. That way I'll be able to figure out the right heat/wire speed combo. You guys think .023" wire would be good for this? And, any more advise on a butt weld of this length?
 
See that example that gdrill shows? You want tacks like that, then do them again in between those welds, and keep going until it's all solid. Don't try to pull any stunts like laying down ½" long beads to save time. Keep every subsequent weld far apart from the previous one, that way there'll be no heat build up in any area.
 
jenkins71 said:
Thanks Scott, I really appreciate the encouraging words. It really, really helps!
I'm gonna try to get in the garage tomorrow and do some more practice butt welds, using some extra scrap i have from my old roof skin. That way I'll be able to figure out the right heat/wire speed combo. You guys think .023" wire would be good for this? And, any more advise on a butt weld of this length?
Click to expand...
Yes, I use 0.23 when I am doing sheet metal butt welds. Use the tack method like photon440 says - it takes forever, but its the way to go.
 
Cool, I don't mind it taking a long time if that's what it takes. Thanks for the tip!

- - - Updated - - -

I was planning on using the little square butt-weld clamps that have a wing nut on the top. They leave a thin gap--would that be ok?
 
Hi....any more pictures of your roof skin job? We have to do the same thing in a couple weeks ... what did you use to remove the lead? Butane?
 

The removal of the lead was easy. I melted the majority of the lead out with a propane torch. I found it helpful to position a big metal putty knife before the lead joint to have something for the lead to flow onto when it become molten. The lead won't stick to anything else, so once it instantly cools on the putty knife, you can just dump the droppings into a bucket.
 
Thanks for sharing! I suspect That I'll be doing the same thing in the future...at least on the pillars anyways.
 
Currently taking a break from this roof repair job while I tackle a couple other Charger projects, including final engine assembly and painting of the engine bay.

I'm nervous about that big butt weld!
 
Still right where I left it in my last post. I got too wrapped up in this specific Charger project and began stressing it too much, so I moved back to prepping the engine bay for paint and working on stuff I need to finish engine assembly.
Also, haven't been in the garage much the past week or so due to te frigid cold and a busy work schedule. But I'll be back at it soon. Just picked up my balanced rotating assembly for the 440 yesterday!
Updates will come as they happen. Thanks for the interest!
 
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