I need some advice! What are my options for filling the huge hole in the roof of my car? How hard is it to put a metal piece in there and completely make the hole go away? Are there companies that make the compound curved sheetmetal piece, or do I gotta find somebody who knows how to work an english wheel here in Billings, Montana?? Nobody in town's got one that I know of. Should I just put the canvas top and wooden bows back on it? Somebody tell me what they did to theirs and how they like it if ya don't mind! I'm also gonna chop the top on it next winter I think. Is it best to leave it alone until after I hack it up, or do it before? Also, I see pictures of rat rods in magazines with sanded bare metal finish, and it doesn't appear to be getting any rustier.......how can I do that??
If you are going to chop it, I wouldn't go through all the work of filling the hole now. I was going to suggest going to a junk yard and cutting the roof off something similar and just using the center section for the curves...if you take your time looking you can find something really close. many of the CLEAN metal finished cars that you see in the mags that are drivers have been clearcoated or have some kind of lubricant smeared on the metal to prevent or slow the rusting process like Gibbs brand or something like that
Yep that is a part that needs to be wheeled and not a easy one at that do not use another piece of a roof out of another car if you want it smooth. and after its welded in that is alot of straightening the best way to wheel that seam with a roof roller pm me if you want the measurements from **** to this if you have never run a wheel this could be a very frustrating first try but you will need to find out where the shape starts and stops side to side and front to back and then make a shape template to fit you new part to and you will need to find someone with a big wheel to do that mine is 28 inches deep but the part would still have to be flipped to get the whole panel does any of this help??? Pat www.CustomRidesbuiltmine.com
The only reason I say not to use the middle of a roof out of another car is becuase what looks close at the junk yard may be way off sitting on the car and if you weld it on you have to try to chase some shape into the original roof or flatten the new piece i tried it once and it really ****ed had nice shape upto the new piece then a hump and then nice shape agen took so damn long to make it look nice.
I don't know what body style you have. I had a 36 Dodge 4 dr. (same basic body as the Plymouth). It came with the factory bolt in steel insert. My guess is a body carry-over from the cloth insert type to get a few more years out of the basic shell design. You might do a little diggin and come up with one.
Its a home made wheel but you would need to wheel till you hit the frame of the machine then turn the part around and start right where you left off not allways as easy as it sounds. Pat www.CustomRidesBuiltmine.com
I've used the junkyard roof method several times with great results.......the problem any more is finding any donor cars to take the roof panels from. 60's cars seem to work the best....
35 ply filled tops don't have any crown just rolled edge that you can do with a hammer form. I think 36 does have some crown. Last minute change to offer a safety all steel body. You can find promo videos on the web from old news reels. If you get a donor look for something with a very low crown. good luck
More power to ya RMR&C but man it took me along time to get the mine right it was a 66 implala roof but glad it was my car i probably had 30 hours in it but i did a 36 ford sedan made the piece and welded it in straightened it in about half the time. Pat www.CustomRidesBuiltmine.com
Thanks for the pointers guys! Having never worked with a wheel, honestly, it scares the bejeebus outta me....I'm workin with a '36 2 door sedan and it's a rather large hole! Is there any possibility of buying a curved panel already made? Does anybody make roof panels like that?
well the best i can thing i can think of is find a car with it done and pay them to take a pattern off of it Pat www.CustomRidesbuiltmine.com
Chris, The 36 Dodge has a factory steel bolt in insert (as mentioned earlier). The bodies are the same between 36 Dodge and 36 Plymouth, except for this insert and holes along the body sides for trim (on the Dodge). That being said, I have made the bolt in insert on my 36 coupe. I made mine on an english wheel, and have a stronger inner structure. I also have a 4-dr. parts car with the insert in it. I don't know if your 2-dr. and the 4-dr. are the same dimensions or not (we could compare length and width measurements). Hope that helps, Bob
Bob, that's exactly what I want to put in my car. I'll get measurements either tonight or tomorrow and let you know how big the hole in my car is. I would be tickled if your 4 door insert would fit and even more tickled if you'll sell it to me! Thanks! Chris
Chris, We had a pretty windy storm here in the northeast, and the tarp blew off my parts car. So, while I was out straightening up the tarp and downed limbs, I measured the roof insert. I measured approximately 51 1/2" lengthwise at the center, and about 41 1/2" wide at the rear and tapering to the front about 39" wide. These are approximate because of the calk/gasketing in the channel makes it tough to know the finite edge of the insert without digging it out and breaking the seal. I am told that the gasketing is about 1/4" wide. Hope that helps, Bob
...OR you might look for a roof from a van or station wagon that has the grooves in it, and use that...
It boils down to 3 things at least,skill level,cash,patience. a newly rolled 18 guage piece will be the best buuuuuut,money is the big player in that game. Whatever you do ,good luck. Jerry: Look at my avatar,I don`t intend to fill that big hole.
The Jalopy Journal
