'68 Satellite Roof skin replacement

[Harlow]

Well I got home with my new roof skin about 2 hours ago. I haven't started much on it yet, besides working on getting all the sealer out of the rear window channel. Its in great shape. I forgot to get pictures of the top side, so all I have is pictures of the bottom side. It has some surface rust on the inside, but the outside is nearly rust free. It cam off of a red satellite. The goal is to have the new roof skin on my car by the end of the weekend. I'll keep posting pictures of my progress.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I not sure about a satellite, but a 69 Charger top with the power sunroof option is held together by 509 spotwelds DAMHIK 

[Harlow]

I was looking at it today and it looks like a LOT less than 509. It looked like 20 or 30 on each side of the roof (longways)

[Daytona R/T SE]

Well, the sunroof part of the project probably has 200 spotwelds all to itself. But you have to separate the skin from the inner bracing on the donor roof and alot of those areas are double thick...you're in for a lot of drilling, GrassHopper    But in the end it's really not that tough... It's just work   

[Harlow]

Where did you buy your spot weld cutter bit? Or did you just use a regular drill bit? I'm hoping to have my old roof off of the car and the donor skin prepped by tomorrow. I think if I can get all that done I should be on track to having the donor skin on the car and sealed with por 15 by Sunday. And then after that the new top goes on and I'm ready to go.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I used a combination of drill bits, cutoff wheels, airchisel and a spotweld cutter from eastwood to separate my new skin from it's inner bracing. And the same to get the old top off my car. Some spots you just can't drill the weld out-you have to grind it out. It takes a good bit of time. I don't think I could do it in one weekend, but I work slow and I'm a picky SOB so everything has to be PERFECT.

Here's a tip: When you get your new top separated from it's inner bracing DO NOT try to pick it up and move it by yourself- it's flimsy! GET HELP ! or you'll have to FIX it before you can install it...DAMHIK 

[Harlow]

I'll have my dad to help me with removing all the glass and moving and clamping the roof. He just doesn't like the sanding a prepping stuff. Thats left for me. I'll also be using an adhesive made by Lord is called Fusor. It is used by a lot of auto body shops. I was skeptical at first, but its been tested and it was actually stronger than spot welding. They even did a test on a car that had a roof skin replacement.

[Harlow]

Well. You were right, its going to take me probably two more days than I thought. I was able to drill out all the spot welds in the rear window channel, but got held up getting all the sealer out of the drip rails. I was also able to melt the lead off of the pillars. I'm hoping to drill out the rest of the spot welds tomorrow. Then hopefully get my roof off on Monday and have the donor on my car on Tuesday. I couldn't start until almost eleven, because I had to drive all the way across town to get a spot weld cutter. Heres some pictures.

[moparguy01]

ya mopar liked using eleventy billion spot welds to hold its sheet metal together.  Just be patient and you'll get it taken care of. 

[Charger1973]

Nice its good to see someone with enough balls to take on a job like that with no prior experience.   

[Harlow]

Nice its good to see someone with enough balls to take on a job like that with no prior experience.   

Haha. I really had no other option. I don't have enough money to pay a shop 3 or 4 grand to do it. This really is the only major body work I've ever done...its kinda fun. The only part I HATE is getting rid off all the sealer that they put in the drip rails and rear window channel on these cars, other than that its not too bad.

2 questions:

1. When I take the old roof off how do you guys think I should keep the melted lead form dripping all over my car?
2. If I still have all the roof supports on my car and just take off the skin do I still need to worry about the car sagging?

[71_Charger_R/T]

Your doing great, It sounds like you've done some homework! The Fusor WILL work great in this application. As to your questions. No, You don't have to worry about your car sagging. If you were to remove the inner structure you would have an issue with that but none what so ever with just the skin. As for keeping the lead off the rest of your car, I'd soak some old towels in water and lay them below the seam above the area you want to keep the lead off of then take just a propane torch to the lead area. Lead melts at a relatively low temp so you don't need to pour the coals to it, just warm it up enough to move it out of place with a wire brush. When you go to glue the donor roof on with the Fusor, I'd get the slowest setting stuff you can so you have plenty of time to get everything just right! (I'd do a couple of dry-fits first to see where you are going to have tricky spots to deal with.) Your going to need to get as many clamps that will fit in the drip rails as you can lay your hands on. Good luck & keep up the good work! Keep us updated with pictures.

[Harlow]

Your doing great, It sounds like you've done some homework! The Fusor WILL work great in this application. As to your questions. No, You don't have to worry about your car sagging. If you were to remove the inner structure you would have an issue with that but none what so ever with just the skin. As for keeping the lead off the rest of your car, I'd soak some old towels in water and lay them below the seam above the area you want to keep the lead off of then take just a propane torch to the lead area. Lead melts at a relatively low temp so you don't need to pour the coals to it, just warm it up enough to move it out of place with a wire brush. When you go to glue the donor roof on with the Fusor, I'd get the slowest setting stuff you can so you have plenty of time to get everything just right! (I'd do a couple of dry-fits first to see where you are going to have tricky spots to deal with.) Your going to need to get as many clamps that will fit in the drip rails as you can lay your hands on. Good luck & keep up the good work! Keep us updated with pictures.

I got the slowest curing Fusor they carry. I think its 3 or 4 hours. They make one that cures in 20-30 minutes Thats a good idea about not heating the lead too much. I was heating it and just letting the molten lead drip onto the ground...it would be much cleaner if I just get it to where I can scrape it out. Do you guys think it will be fine if I just sand all the rust and then seal both sides with por 15? Or does it NEED to be primed?

[Harlow]

Alright. I'm getting closer. I've got the roof skin separate around all the edges. Now I just need to work the seams at the pillars some more and this thing should be off. I've got one quick question. In the picture I attached does it look like those rectangular notches cut into the roof skin are spot welded or actually welded on? I've held a torch to those spots and its not lead holding them on...what do you think it is? I may have to drill them out leaving holes in the donor skin.

[71_Charger_R/T]

Yes, Those are welds in the "notches". I would grind off the metal on the Quarters to leave the roof pristine.

[Harlow]

I finally got the roof skin separated...I'm now onto my second coat of paint stripper. It has 3 layers of paint on this thing with a coat of primer underneath the original color. It turned out pretty good. I'm hoping to get the donor sanded and prepped tomorrow and maybe start pulling the glass on my car. There were a little over 240 spot welds that needed to drilled out and 6 tack welds I had to take out with a dremel. Heres the pics when it first came off.

[jaak]

your doing a good job, harlow. It's nice to see someone tackle a project like this, by the way congrats on your car being in Mopar Muscle last month. please post more pics when done.

Jason

[Harlow]

Well I haven't been able to work on it as much as I had hoped. I've had 2-a-days for football and not much time. But I finished up the donor roof skin 2 days ago and spent all day getting all the sealer out of the drip rails on the old roof on getting the glass out of my car. A few more hours tomorrow morning and all the glass should be out. I'm hoping to also have my old roof skin off of my car tomorrow. Heres a picture I took tonight of the finished roof skin. It still needs a little sanding and some touching up.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I'm sure I missed a thread about this, but aren't you featured in the Young Guns section of the latest Mopar Muscle? 

[69bronzeT5]

I'm sure I missed a thread about this, but aren't you featured in the Young Guns section of the latest Mopar Muscle? 

[Harlow]

I'm sure I missed a thread about this, but aren't you featured in the Young Guns section of the latest Mopar Muscle? 

Yep

[The70RT]

I'm sure I missed a thread about this, but aren't you featured in the Young Guns section of the latest Mopar Muscle? 

Yep

Good job son

[Harlow]

This morning I got all the glass out and also wire wheeled the drip rails, window channels and lead seams. I decided to try using a wire wheel on the lead seams. It worked really well. The only problem is it was really messy...there were lead filings everywhere. Do I need to worry about lead poisoning with filings like that? Heres a few pics of my progress. After a little break its time to start drilling.

[Harlow]

Will it be alright if I use a filler on the pillar seams? Will I need to seal it or will just primer be alright?

[JimShine]

Be sure to wear a mask when wheeling that lead!

Yeah, you can fill the seams. Use Metal to Metal or any other aluminum based body filler.

[Charger-Bodie]

Be sure to wear a mask when wheeling that lead!

Yeah, you can fill the seams. Use Metal to Metal or any other aluminum based body filler.

[Harlow]

Thanks for the info guys. I don't think I'll wire wheel the other two pillars, it made WAY too much mess...I'll post some progress pics this weekend.

[Harlow]

Alright. Its still not tacked on. I've got a question for you guys. I know a guy that builds hot rods that lives right across the street from one of my friends. I went over and talked to him to see if he had a spot welder. He said he didn't but that he thought he could just mig weld it... What do you guys think of that? I guess he would just weld it across the seam along the drip rails and pillars... I'm gonna clamp the roof down and bring it over on saturday so he can take a look at it.

[The70RT]

Alright. Its still not tacked on. I've got a question for you guys. I know a guy that builds hot rods that lives right across the street from one of my friends. I went over and talked to him to see if he had a spot welder. He said he didn't but that he thought he could just mig weld it... What do you guys think of that? I guess he would just weld it across the seam along the drip rails and pillars... I'm gonna clamp the roof down and bring it over on saturday so he can take a look at it.

Most use a mig.

[AutoRust]

A MIG will be then adequate for what you are doing. Keep the heat range low, and move around from area to area to keep heat from building up.
Good Luck with your project.