64 panel rusted out drip rail, roof replacment??

[jayharrell]

Well a buddy of mine has his 64 panel truck with the roof rusted out about 2 inches from back of the door frame to the back of the door frame. Just a big opening all along the top of the windshied. The PO had tried to patch it up, used maybe 5 gallons of bondo, but it didn't help.

Well my question is how stuipid is it to transplant a roof from a doner 65 swb chevy over to this panel truck?? Seems like alot of work. I know it'll be tricky.

Any tips, tricks?? Should we just cut the Pillars off and reweld them in from there??

[jonzcustomshop]

I would cut the pillars, and then run a nice hammer weld across the top of the roof.
you could probably do the pillars, and if you don't have the hammerwelding skills, find an old bodyman to do the seam across the roof.
the key with the hammerweld seam is to leave no, or close to no gap. the less rod he has to use the better.
when I had a guy do my elcamino, we overlapped the two pieces of metal, and then ran a saber saw through both of them. I left a seam about this big--l l

[jayharrell]

hammerweld?? i'm puzzled. never heard of it.

[truckn']

no doubt jon, share the knowledge, please

[jonzcustomshop]

Hammer welding is old tech..
oxy acetelene weld the seam, use a hammer and dolley to smash the bead flat, and take care of high/low spots while the metal is still hot.
If done right you can get away with almost no filler, and a seamless panel.
this is a good method to use on a wide flat panel, because you can use the heat and the ammer to shrink and stretch the metal as it tries to warp.
IT takes alot of practice to get good.

when the guy was doing my elcamino roof, he had an inch of seam left to fill, and he showed me where the roof was "oil canning " in one spot.
he filled the seam , and hammer and dollied in a few spots, and then showed me the roof- it is tight as a drum!

you could mig, or tig the seam, tig would be a good choice, because you could control the heat.
mig will work, you just have more grinding, and filler, and mig welds tend to be brittle.
I can't afford a tig, and I mig almost all of my stuff, but If I have the cash I hire the guy to do the complicated welds for me.

[ClassicAutoResto]

If you have a mig, run a series of tack welds 2 inches apart, then come back in between those welds with tack welds, etc, etc until the seam is closed. Almost no heat buildup, so minimal to no warpage. Practice on test pieces of metal to get the feel if you aren't used to it. Jerry

[TimE]

Originally Posted by jonzcustomshop

Hammer welding is old tech..
oxy acetelene weld the seam, use a hammer and dolley to smash the bead flat, and take care of high/low spots while the metal is still hot.
If done right you can get away with almost no filler, and a seamless panel.
this is a good method to use on a wide flat panel, because you can use the heat and the ammer to shrink and stretch the metal as it tries to warp.
IT takes alot of practice to get good.

Several years ago I helped a friend of mine stretch the fenders on his '67 Camaro Pro Street car. We used a mig for the welding and then did the hammer/dolly thing. This worked real well on his car. He used a minimal amount of filler to get it perfect and then painted the car black in his shop. It looked like glass.

[truckn']

you know I saw a thread where a guy was using like an small acetylene torch and some kind of filler rod, is he brazing instead of welding or am I missing something?

[ClassicAutoResto]

Originally Posted by truckn'

you know I saw a thread where a guy was using like an small acetylene torch and some kind of filler rod, is he brazing instead of welding or am I missing something?

If it was a brass rod, he was brazing. If a metal rod he was oxy-welding.

[Imperial Kustom]

Hammer welding a TIG seam is also very do-able. MIG seams are just so hard. I cant afford a TIG machine either. So I MIG and then take care of the warpage the old fashioned way: get out the torch and rosebuds, hammers and dollies and LOTS of water.

[jayharrell]

The PO brazed the patch in. I'm only got an el cheepo flux core wire welder. But i do have a hammer dolly set.

The biggest concer was putting a short bed roof on a panel. Thats one big seam. Guess i'll just take my time and weld a stagared inch at a time.