T-top conversion....hmmmm....
- Thread starter FE3X CLONE
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Is there a reason you cut the roof instead of cutting at the joint where the 1/4 panel is attached?
the reason I asked is that I would think it would be easier if it was cut or the spot welds drilled out where the roof and 1/4 panel are joined and it wouldn't be noticeable welding it back together cause that section is covered with bondo anyway. For me it's a b*tch to butt weld sheet metal together, it's hard not to warp the metal even while I drench it with a wet rag when spot welding.
well i fabbed/welded a "full-convertible top"(73) to my "half-convertible top"(86)k5 blazer, welding in the front "interlocking windsheild frame"from the 73 to the 86 and cutting off the rear "cab mounts/posts from the 86, and capping them of with "formed pieces" of sheet metal from the quarters on the 73 donor. wasnt bad at all with argon/co2 and .023 wire feed,i just tacked, jumping from pillar to pillar while my cousin held the frame in place,for the actual stiching,i took it to my cuz (master welder,w/30 years expertise and who also teaches welding shop at the local cc)and he got my pillars looking "factory"!!! cant even tell.im waiting on a pm response from the man himself"speedbuff" for some pointers,in which he mentioned "the 2 roof panels slid under one another"and that he used a sealant for the majority of the roof section.im gonna be performing this on a recent SS hardtop i aquired, so if for some reason this does not come together like but cheeks ill take note,confirm what i did wrong and how i can remedy it on my next attempt(being i have another "full rust-free t-roof" cut from another SS donor i parted out awhile back,and another one(t-roof) ill be picking up tomarrow)all in all no biggie,as i paid 30.00 for this rust-free t-roofat a local pic-n-pull that a girlfriend of mines works the cashier :wink: and it will be satisfying to (IF nessasary!!! 
)"learn from my mistakes"and be able to add my 2 cents to this thread for others to perform this mod,and as they say "practice makes perfect","aint NOTHING to but too DO it!!!,and if youre SCARED go to CHURCH!!!! 
)"learn from my mistakes"and be able to add my 2 cents to this thread for others to perform this mod,and as they say "practice makes perfect","aint NOTHING to but too DO it!!!,and if youre SCARED go to CHURCH!!!! Sorry I have't checked this post for a while .I agree with the post that states warping the outer roof skin will be a big problem.Please bear in mind mine is a vinyl top car with a padded top .the reason I proceded this way is because it saved me tons of time .The roof panel is only welded on the sides by the quarter windows the rest is attached with panel adhesive as used in the car plants today.All that needs to be done is to gently grind the mating surfaces down to bare metal and mix the epoxy and presto !!!! I am a mechanic by trade and learned my body skills (which are rather limited from my father who worked for mercedes benz as head of their body department in europe for years ) That being said my background is all gm started working at a dealership in 1985 and worked in various ones till 2010 when the downsizing occured .With each method of installing a roof panel come different problems .If I were doing a non vinyl top car I would have cut the roof at the quarter pamels but since mine was a vinyl car and I want to retain that feature I thought i would do it this way .structually the car will be sound as all factory bracing is retained only the roof panel is held at the rear edge with "glue " My reason for that is as stated to prevent warpage .If I were to do it over the only change I would make is where i fastened the a pillars together .I would would cut them further down because where they are welded to a reinforcement on the inside outer edge of the pillar would be the easiest place to join them together .Instead of doing that, I looked for factory holes to retain trim etc and cut directly across them for reference .This worked very well .This method of transplant eliminates cutting out the rear glass and messing with all the reinforcements in the roof .the reinforcements on the inside of the roof aquite different .The rear of the t bar has a massive brace that we left attached to the t panel and slid under the existing hard top roof while the outer t roof panel slid over the existing hard top panel.I hope that makes sense .if you go back and look at the pictures taken from the outside of the car you can see the t panel roof complete with the attachment points for thr vinyl roof mouldings are at the top .Looking from the inside the brace that runs across the inside of the car from b pillar to b pillar is the t roof unit .The roof panel you look at from the inside is the hardtop panel and the overlap is hidden by the big troof inner brace that adds strength to the roof in case of a" roll over " The title of this thread T-top conversion hmmmm.... does definatly apply I will post some more pics when i am further along on the car .Winter is comming here in canada and that really slows progress along
I was just reading all the posts again and looking at the pics provided by L.A.X .I noticed that your roof was cut with an air chissel .I would not recommend that it damages the metal too much we cut ours with a reciprocating saw and that way there is no buckling or warpage from the pressure of the chissel .BY CUTTING AS STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE !!!WE ALSO GOT A NICE STRAIGHT EDGE AND THIS IS THE KEY.Hopefully you can trim yours back with a jig saw and a piece of masking tape and get a decent edge to work with .Sorry I should have mentioned that in my earlier posts .Use a die grinder to remove the edge where you cut with the saw to make it nice and smooth then use the die grinder with a small abraisive disk to remove the paint anprimer from the mating surface .I can not overstress KEEP YOUR GRINDER MOVING AND DON'T CREATE LOCAL HOT SPOTS AS THE METAL WILL EVEN WARP FROM THAT !!!!!!.My end result was a perfect fit .As far as finishing a hardtop roof with filler using my method I thing would be very difficult eventhough you only have to get rid of an imperfection the thickness of a piece of sheetmetal.I think metall body filler would be a must ! but i would still have my doubts its a very big area that sees lots of heat from the sun. Should have takin more pics I guess
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