I am new..so bear with me.. I have read all of the past posts about rusty roofs. I removed the vinyl from my 73 type LT and found that most of the metal was completely gone. It came off with the vinyl. I temporarily patched it with Fiberglass but want to replace the metal. A couple folks said that they have replaced the roof and it al turned out well. Did you just replace the skin or did you cut the A and B pillers and replace the inner and outer roof? I have found a good roof but don't know what I need to replace. The inner roof metal id fine on my 73. Ant advise whould ne appreciated..

Roger

I hear your pain. I also have a 73 and had the same problem. I found a roof and was going to do it but decided to check with a welder first. He said that I should have had a body shop that specializes in this type of work do it. He stated that welders like to use their own cuts rather than matching up someone else's. If you still choose to go forth he suggested that you cut off the pillars at the bottom where they connect to the body and just below the lead welds on the left and right upper portion of the back window. I decided that it was not worth it and decided to fill the larger holes with cement epoxy and then use POR-15 on the whole surface. So far so good but I am just getting ready to primer so I am hoping for the best.

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73' Camaro with 94' LT1 and 400 Turbo

NEVER talk to or have a welder work on any sheet metal. EVEN if they weld sheet metal for a living. Auto body repair is NOT what a welder does. Believe me, I speak from experiance, few people can ruin a car more than a welder in over his head.

First off, you could cut the whole roof off if you needed to. You would make templates and transfer the cuts to both roofs. After cutting you would insert a piece of metal around then insides of the posts and plug weld them in, then slip the roof over these inserts and weld it up. This is not for the beginer.

Replaceing just the skin is much easier. After removeing all the trim and glass, melt out the lead on the posts (you can find where it is by sanding the paint off). If you clean the metal with a 3M stiping disc, you will see all the welds in a nice row. You then "unbolt" them by drilling them out. You don't drill through the piece under the skin, just the skin. Now you do the sam thing on the doner roof, except you drill from underneath. This way you drill through the bottom piece but not the skin. I say this because plug welding through all those holes is a royal pain, so you now can drill the size and about you want.

That gives you the idea of how, if you really want to do this, just post here or email me and I will walk you though it. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

[This message has been edited by MARTINSR (edited 07-02-2001).]

Thanks for the advise!!! It looks like cutting pillars is not a good idea. Several body shops warned against it because it would weakin the structure. One last question... If I drill out the welds at the A and B pillar and the original seams... how does the skin come off around the windshield, back window and over the door glass? Is that also spot welded? Thanks again for the help. This site is great... Roger

Yes, the roof is spot welded all the way across the front and rear, these welds also have to be cut apart. Just remove the skin, not any inner structural metal. You can cut the major area out, then go back and do the final trimming. Just go slow and pay attention to what you are cutting.
Ron

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95 Z28 Convertible M6
70 Chevelle SS 396,
66 Nova SS 327-350HP M20

Once the winshield and back glass are removed (and cleaned up) its easy to see how the roof is attached there.

Thanks again folks!! I just looked at the donar car roof and now I see how it all comes off. It looks like when they built the car, it started out as a skeleton sub-structure and the roof was just spot welded all around the windshield and rear window. It also looks like it was just folded uner the lip where the top of the door window would meet the roof, sortof like a door skin. I am going to give it a try next weekend... I'll take some photos and let you know how the coming off part works. Putting it on will take a few beers!!!! Thanks again. There is no where else I could have gotten this info!!!! You are great!!

If you can pick up a spot weld driller for your drill, it would help a lot. But I have used a regular 3/8" bit for years. Just look at each weld as a bolt that you have to unbolt. Center punch them and drill right in the middle removing ALL of the weld. I use a gasket scraper to seperate the panels and it seams to work great. Just take one weld at a time and DON'T RUSH IT, you can cut the metal all to He** or you can take your time and seperate them like unbolting a part, it's your choice. It is very easy, taking your time to remove and taking your time to clian for good welds is what makes the difference.

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

Save the beers for AFTER its on. http://www.camaros.net/forum/biggrin.gif

Well... I probably made it worse... I found a 73 Type LT body and had the idea of buying it for the roof for my other type LT... When we got to see the car, I bought it and now am going to keep it and build it too. It is a 73 but it has a 72 cowl tag. Everything matches so it may be one of the 1st 73's. Not sure.. I posted the question on the tag message board... The car is complete except foe eng/trans. It has all the type LT stuff but has a 72 console and shifter. It is an auto, ps, pb and ac car. The roof is solid but it needs floor pans and interior work. It also has a posi rear and the original ralley wheels. I paid $300 for the whole car... guess I did good. It's another project though...

Now I am starting to question my method of living with a rusty roof. I am currently using the POR-15, bondo method. After reading this forum I am thinking of the skin replacement method. I have a donor roof but I think it is from a 74' or 75'. I was going to have an ex-GM Dealer body man do my welding. He suggested the cut pillar method and doing the whole roof. I like the skin idea and may lean towards it. What could I expect cost wise to have my windshield and rear window removed and put back in? Oh, and one more question--the spot welds for the back are also located under the lead on the rear side pillars?

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73' Camaro
91' GMC Truck

Since I first asked the question... I was armed with a lot of info that I took to several body shops. Know I know how the car was built (most modern shops don't know this) and I asked the big question.... How do you cut and weld a new roof on.... Several said they would not recommend it because it would not be stron enough for a role over and they would not accept the liability... another said that unless a jig was made to hold the front and rear door jams together... the car would bend in the middle and the doors would never line up again (made sense to me.. but he was the only one who mentioned it..) 4 shops said they would recommend doing it the way the factory did... only replace the skin. That is the way I am going to go. We have a u-pull-it nar us and they always have 70-81 Camros and Firebirds. I am going to cut the a and b pillars off donar car then take my time removing the skin in my garage. Everyone says... take your time and I believe it..