Honey, the just tree fell on your new truck...

[garypr1]

Sorry I haven’t updated for a long time on the progress of puttin this thing back together.

In the end my freakin homeowners (liberty mutual) didn’t pay anything because there’s an “exclusion” for personal autos (they assume you're covered by the auto insurance). And, since I didn’t have the comp on the auto policy (because I didn’t have the truck appraised when I bought it 39 days before this happened), there was no coverage there either. Oh yea, at least the tree is dead and gone!

And so after much thought I decided to have the roof repaired as opposed to replacing the cab. (though the majority of you said to change out the cab) I decided this because I don’t have the time or the place to do the work myself and if I paid someone to do it, it would cost more than doing the repair (not so sure this is true any more). The thing I struggled with was could it be repaired "correctly" (what ever that means), who could do it, and how much would it cost?

Then began the search for someone to do the job. I talked to several shops but it was tough because none of them would come out and see the truck (and no trailer to drag it around) A lot of shops just seem to be parts changers and aren’t really interested in this kind of a job unless its insurance work. Bill at Vintage Chevy in Fremont highly recommended Steve Silva Auto Body in Fremont (and Steve did come over to look at it!) In the end I went with Steve.

I bought a 72 Cheyenne Super cab top from Bill at Vintage Chevy. Steve and his body man Craig pulled the roof back to its original shape as much as possible. The outer skin was then cut and removed at the rear seam and in front of the windshield header. Then the inner skin along with the header was then removed, leaving the front pillars intact. The pillars were straightened and welded (mainly the right side) and the re-assembly with the donor top was done pretty much in reverse. First the outer skin of the donor roof was removed and then the inner along with the header. The inner skin and header were set in place, aligned, removed, rust proofed, reset, and then welded. Then the outer skin was welded on. (I’m sure I’m missing some critical details here)

Since the rear of the cab wasn’t significantly damaged (only a very small pucker just below the paint line near the corners) this method seemed less invasive than chopping the cab top along the centerline of the rear window. Probably more expensive to do it this way in the end (I don’t want to talk about it) but I think ultimately it was the best way to do it considering my circumstances. Amazingly the only other damage anywhere was to front left corner of the hood which was also repaired.

So at this point it’s the paint's on and ready for wet sanding. The new windshield should arrive tomorrow and then its just a matter of reassembly which isn't much. Looks like me an the dog should be cruzin by the end of the year (or just as soon as I get it appraised and on my insurance policy).