how to remove top of cab? (spot welds), 62 SWB

[fslay]

OK, this is kinda long, but I really need some help saving a '62 C10. I've really been working hard on my '62 short step by scraping oil and grease, priming and painting and such. The hardest part of the truck is going to be the cab. Near the top of the windshield, the cab has rusted through in several locations, but is currently saveable. It looks like the top panel itself (part over your head) should be spot-welded to the rest of the cab, presumably where the drip rails go around the top of cab. I have a spare top that I cut off another truck. If there was some way I could remove the top panel itself, I could easily get the plasma cutter in and repair the rot. I have no intention of severing the pillars completely and replacing the whole top for fear of not ever getting them back aligned properly. Does anyone know the locations of the factory spot-welds around the top of the cab for these trucks? Thanks in advance.

[jonzcustomshop]

You can find spot welds with a piece of sand paper.. they are usually every 1-2 inches apart.
I would seriously think about replacing the whole roof if you have a good replacement.
Here are some key steps:
weld an X brace inside the cab under your cuts, to keep the posts and door frames in alignment. there should be one for the w/s, both doors, and the rear window.
take a bunch of measurements before you cut.
when rewelding the posts I have used the "sleave" method:cut a portion of the old post down, and set it inside the post, plug weld it in place, and then set the top on, this gives you room to adjust the top up/down, then plug weld the other side, and weld the seam around the post.

This might seem like more, or more challenging work, but in the long run will be way easier than drilling 100+ spotwelds, and then doing rust repair.

[brandon283]

did u replace ur roof panel? im about to do the same on my 60. just wondering how it went if u did and what u did.

[62 mark]

i am i the same boat...i ended up drilling all the spotwelds..what a PITA!! i used a spotweld cutter. sandblasted the driprail and the spotwelds were easy to see. jonzcustomshop has good advise,i did mine this way mostly out of curiosity. i haven't finished yet so i don't have after photos.

[brandon283]

ok sweet, thanks for the picture too. i gotta replace the inner panel and peice above the windsheild too, should be interesting haha. doing that this weekend and next week, just got a cab with a mint roof . i might get a spotweld cutter..did it work pretty good? i usually just die grind the welds a bit then air chisel it apart,,but since i wanna save one panel that might be the way to go.

[collins10672]

i have a friend who did this same thing to his 64.his outer front panel over the windshield was rusted out.so he drilled the spot welds out of roof skin and removed it.replaced front visor panel.cleaned and painted the top of inner roof skin and replaced roof skin and recaulked around the gutter.if i were you and i'm not i would sandblast the new inner roof skin and visor panel and prime it with epoxy before i began reinstalling it.you do not want any surprises later on down the road.the reason for so much rust over the windshield is not really a poor design like most would think it is the manufacturing process GM used to build these trucks.the entire cab was welded together before priming it and the inner roof,inside rocker panels,inside cab supports,and etc. were never coated with anything and left in bare steel.no wonder there is so much rust in these trucks now after 45+ years.good luck with the roof skin and i know you can do it because i have seen it done in person myself.i think i would tackle one myself if needed.

[brandon283]

alright., i noticed that the cab must have been bare steel until the very last stages in teh factory..because the vin tag on the fron of the cab has bare metal behind and around it, because of poor masking. i thought that the yellow on my truck wasnt original because of this and sum runs, but i bought anohter cab with original paint and its the same thing. ..i always try to spray sum primer and paint in the insides of panels.

[Bugeyev8]

If you have a correct year roof with no rust...I would section the entire roof on, it is less work and will look like factory when you are done, I would section the pillars and across the rear window, just take your time and get things close and then take a little off till the doors and everything fit, take the time to brace the cab with an x, and across they will tend to sag if you don't and then you will have a real pain, I get things very close and then overlap the panels where possible...then scribe them and grind them to size, you want a gap to avoid warpage when you weld, If I were going to do it I would make cardboard templates of the window openings front and rear and use them as a rough guide, also keep the doors intact when you do this, it will make the whole thing easier to line up, you can do it !!!

Here are a few of what I did to mine, It was easier to repair what I had using another roof than section the entire roof because I only had a 66 roof that was rust free

How bad is your cab really?? do you have pics of the damage??

[brandon283]

i have pictures of it, just not on the computer yet, i will post them soon i guess..but by the time i do that i will probably have it done haha. i think i decided to just drill out the spot welds.. since i have to replace the inner panel and all.. i have a 60 chevy, and the cab is a 62. so its the same. my cab is pretty bad, but its repairable..u did a really nice job of yours by the way. i have to replace the whole panel tho.

[62 mark]

Yeah, if you decide to use a spotweld cutter.drill a small hole in the center of the welds,then you can just stick the pilot on the cutter in the hole and it wont walk all over. learned that by trial and error!

[brandon283]

Originally Posted by 62 mark

Yeah, if you decide to use a spotweld cutter.drill a small hole in the center of the welds,then you can just stick the pilot on the cutter in the hole and it wont walk all over. learned that by trial and error!

alright haha, im getting a spotweld cutter tomorow.

[Bugeyev8]

Harbor freight spot weld cutter work ok if you tighten the screw that holds tension on the spring loaded pilot, I used a few to do my repair , I made a small dimple with a tiny drill bit first and then went really slow with my drill, I did about 75 of them with 3 cutters, at 3$ each thats not so bad, I have the 75$ snap on kit...the Harbor Freight ones are better

[LILRED66]

In lieu of drilling a small hole through both panels, use a center punch, to keep the spot-weld cutter from walking.

[brandon283]

Originally Posted by LILRED66

In lieu of drilling a small hole through both panels, use a center punch, to keep the spot-weld cutter from walking.

so this spot weld cutter isnt as simple as just putting it into the drill chuck like a drill bit?

that was supposed to be a quote to the message b4.

[brawley]

I have a 63' cab, I thought was in good shape intil after having it soda blasted. water ate holes through the drip rails and into the front door pilars I found a good roof off another cab and wanted to do a swap- would it be easier to try and do a complete swap or just cut out sections off the donor cab and replace sections?? any body done this -have any pics?? thanks

[Bugeyev8]

the spot weld drill is simple to use, just if it walks on you....its a pain in the ass to get on track again, thats why I use a small dril to center the spot weld drill

here is the Harbor Freight one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95343

[brandon283]

Originally Posted by Bugeyev8

the spot weld drill is simple to use, just if it walks on you....its a pain in the ass to get on track again, thats why I use a small dril to center the spot weld drill

here is the Harbor Freight one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95343

ok , yeah thats how i thought they were.

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by brawley

I have a 63' cab, I thought was in good shape intil after having it soda blasted. water ate holes through the drip rails and into the front door pilars I found a good roof off another cab and wanted to do a swap- would it be easier to try and do a complete swap or just cut out sections off the donor cab and replace sections?? any body done this -have any pics?? thanks

I really think it would be easier to replace the roof....
you are talking 4 post welds, with a little bodywork to the inner panel, you could also cut the back down low, under the beltline, so you dont have to mess with cutting the inner panel..
as compared to cutting /drilling hundreds of spot welds...

If you haven't done spots before, they can be challenging.. sometimes they are elongated so that your cutter won't cut all the way through, and you probably know how hard it is to drill another hole right next to/on the hole you just drilled.
sometimes your cutter will catch and punch a hole right through both panels before you can react.

check out the end of my 60 build (in my sig V), I just chopped the roof, and used a different one in the process to get rid of the rusty original one... lots of good shots of the posts and what you would have to do to replace a roof... just ignore the part wher I welded it on 3 inches lower

[astrochimp]

Use a Automatic Center Punch

Amazon.com: General Tools 79 Steel Automatic...
If your spot weld cutter has replaceable blades, buy extra when buying tool.

[damnyankee36]

Originally Posted by 62 mark

Was that black pad between the panels? Maybe for vibration dampening?

[Bugeyev8]

Originally Posted by damnyankee36

Was that black pad between the panels? Maybe for vibration dampening?

I think it was there to absorb sound, but I can say...on my 62 driving about 80mph on the freeway in a high wind area..the roof bangs the inner and outer panels together, if that mat was not there I would imagine it would be alot worse

[62 mark]

Yes, it is sound deadening material,basically all they did back then was slap what looks like roofing tar and a piece of tar paper on,same stuff behind the gas tank. took me the better part of a day to scrape it all off before blasting. i think i will replace with that self sticking insulation i have seen.