So I've been waiting to update until I got this completed. When I got the car the top had been stripped down and rattle canned. It had developed some surface rust. So before any research on how to do it, I decided to take it down to bare metal. I started with flapper disc,wire wheels etc.. I didn't know about how excess heat distorts metal,and bad. In short,I jacked the top up.( This fubar actually led me to this forum) Those are low spots. Some 1/2 in deep.
After accepting my failure, I decided to fix the floor as practice to replace the roof. Also decided to never go in blind again. I now research and form a solid plan. They don't make hard top skins so I searched for a parts car. I found a rusted out 85 with a good roof for 500$. It came with spare qtrs,rockers, 8.8 with trick chassis kit. After stripping the car of any value, I cut the top off at the pillars about 12 in down. I went to oreillys for brake pads but found some stripper that had methylene chloride in it. So I bought it and used it on the top.
Then I started removing the the skin off my car,very carefully. I wanted to see how it was attached so I removed it like I was saving it. Spot weld cutters for the spot welds and a cutoff wheel for the beads. I used a semi worn down grinding stone to remove the drip rail roof metal until it was free from the car.
I sanded everything smooth at all the mounting points. Then I broke out the clean n strip wheels. There was a bit of pitting(no holes after poking around) on the driver front windshield area after stripping. So I treated with ospho prior to paint. I just used the rustoleum professional paint.
At that point I start on the replacement skin. I used big drill bits to drill thru the spot welds. Some had to be wollered out and beat with seam splitters. There are welds to deal with at all the pillars. I just cut it on the topside off the weld. You can see the first cut isn't enough. So I just moved up until I seen the space between the 2 pieces. Repeat on all 4 corners. There's a wad of welds on the b pillar. I cut it just above the welds, don't cut above the indention and you'll be able to weld it up like they did.
Then I marked all the spot welds on the drip rail and drilled 1/8" holes all the way through. The spot welds are 3/8" long so I shot for the middle. I cut off the outside edge with my cutoff wheel. Leaving a place to get my seam splitters (actually used a 5 way knife since the splitters were too big) in between the panels.
I had to use a 36 grit roloc to grind away the support metal and leave the roof skin. With the oblong welds i didn't see another way. The name of the game is patience. Only got 1 shot. I also used a hacksaw blade to cut thru the foam that holds the skin to the supports.
So now its loose but I need help to pick it up and set it on the car. So my sister helped me put the skin on the car. I did everything else alone but I wouldn't advise pick that floppy thing up alone. Once it was up there I started fitting it. Honestly it pretty much dropped into place. I had to bullpin the top middle qtr window holes and clamp it so they lined up. Before I removed the original top I took measurements from the top of the windshield to a fixed(and marked) point. Also the qtr and rear windows were measured. So I just broke out my book and made sure it matched. I put the qtr windows in to make sure it wasn't sitting to 1 side or the other.
Clamping it down along the way. It was alot of welding. Since I had to open the holes so much to remove, they were a PITA to plug weld up. Here to hold the metal tight, I drilled 1/8" holes and used small zip screws to hold it tight. I have clecos but this is better imo.
The pass side had a small bit of rust on the window. So I just cut a section of window frame from the junk roof and grafted it in. Only removing whats absolutely necessary.
The drip rail was tricky you need vice grips that'll fit down in the rail like the ones on the driver side rail in the picture below.
Then go along spot welding your holes, but be careful not to blow through the bottom. If you don't get the metal tight it'll blow holes in the roof skin.
I haven't decided exactly how to finish the pillar to roof seams. They were filled with lead but I'm not using it again. I've seen people fill it all with weld, cap it off with metal or a combo of both. I could use tiger hair or all metal. I'm gonna do a little research and decide later what to do. With my dad coming up from Florida,my sons basketball and having to be a part time teacher I haven't had alot of time to work on the car. My son goes back Monday unless they push it back again. So I'm hoping to put a few solid weeks in(brake and fuel lines, 8.8 install and disc brake and parking brake setup) before I go back to work full time.
I also have another room with all the trim and interior pieces in my sisters garage has my 8.8,headliner,fenders and a set of glass.
