Its winter time in the NW which means it is time to take my 51 chevy off the road. Plans for the winter include a Mustang II front end, new Master cylinder, steering column and I planned to paint the roof (it had some bubbling) and the window rubber needed replacing on the windshield. Yesterday I started pulling the front end off. all went well ready to start dis***embly of the front susp. once I pull the motor/trans I did not want to finish removing the front susp until the new kit arrived I thought I would start to strip the roof and since I had my buddy Kustombuick over (and he knows how to remove the stainless) we got started on the drip rails and side window stainless. Figured I would grab the wheel and remove some paint around the bubbles to take a look first to go was the drip rail stainless Things turned ugly really quickly. Previous owner decided bondo was a good way to fill rust.. there is rust on both sides thou the P***enger side is worse. THis was a Az car, it looks like it is rusting inside out, looks like dust got packed inside the lip and got some moisture... So now I have several options. Kustombuick suggested I start looking for another roof since it is unknown how bad the rust is inside (I still need to remove the interior trim and headliner to see how much worse it is) or I need to find a convertible set up from another car and do like Bobk and make it a convertible. (my preference). If someone knows of a rust bucket convert available or the complete top mechanism from a 49-52 chevy let me know. For now I will focus on getting the front susp installed and get it mechanically running again. before worrying about what I will do with the roof.
No chop, if I end up fixing it, I might do a pancake on the roof to take some crown out of it.. prefer to convert to a drop top at this point. by the time I buy another roof or hardtop I will be in deep not counting the $$ to have a shop swapped it over ( this is more than I can handle with my talents) might be better to find a sold hardtop project car and swap over all my parts..
Really not that bad to fix. I fixed a 56 Ford f100 what had similar problem. Just may do it in sections.
Yeah that's gonna **** but fairly easy repairs as far as skill goes. You would be doing more fab work if you went convertible. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
WOW that ****'s the big green weenie. When we did mine we removed all of the gl*** and then we cut the Apillars cut the A pillars about 8 inches down from the top of the header and then cut the top off from the B pillar back at the top of that character line right below the door handle all the way back and through the trunk opening leaving the inside panels intact at the quarter windows. This caused us to loose the trunk spring attachment so we ended up using struts. It was made a lot easier by the fact that we had a complete 51 chevy convertible donor car. We then cut the A pillars on the doner car at 6 inches down from the header and attached them to the A pillars studs on the 52 making sure that the W/shield angle remained the same and was the same height on both sides thus giving us a 2 inch chop. When we put the top mechanism in there were bolt holes in the 52 so we could just bolt it in. We then sectioned 2 inches out of the top mechanism just above the bolt holes. Nest step was to put the top frame up and see how much of the side rails had to be lengthened to have the header bar fit onto the W/shield header. As I remember we had to lengthen it 1 & 1/2 inches. It is very important to make sure that the top side rails are excatly the same length before final welding so that the top will sit square when in the up position. Don't ask how I know that please. Anything else you need regarding this, let me know. I have never seen rust like that on any car out here in the rust belt, that is horrible. BB
That don't look all that bad from the outside, an excuse to get the Mig welder you always wanted! replacement sheet s****s can be had from any local body shop, a hood or door skin will give you all you need.. Nice thing is, all your patches will be flat. Don't give up on it yet. You can do this!!
Don't get too freaked out.... Yes, that looks like ****, but it is easily fixable. First, find ALL the rust. Hopefully, what you see is all you have, but have a close looks at the inner structure. If the inner is rusty, repair that first. Then, make a hockey stick looking patch panel and slowly, carefully weld that ****er in there...grind, skim coat, paint and you are done. Seriously..a spot like that feels like a punch in the gut, but it is not that bad..I promise. Well within your skill level. Or, you could pack that ****er full of Bondo... (just kidding...) Love that car, by the way. See ya, -Abone.
welding in new metal would be the cheapest ,, even if it were farmed out,, but it isnt that bad,, just scary at first
I think the inner structure is what has been worried most. we can see there is rust in there, just not sure how bad yet. I need to remove the headliner and stainless and see what I find from the back side. Since most of the panels are only slightly curved it might not be that bad, the driverside has a spot up in the front corner (that will be a compound curve and small). Hell maybe some chicken wire, bondo and a fresh coat of primer, good for another few years..
You're painting the roof one way or another, if the choice is letting the car sit due to the cost of farming out the repair, or buying some fibergl*** resin, gobbing it up, and keep drivin ? Do what you gotta do to keep it on the road. I think the rust can be repaired fairly easily, id hate to see a poor repair but id hate to see the car sit for years also
I tend to agree with the others that suggest to weld in patch pieces to fix the rust on your existing roof. ***uming you do not find the convert parts, that would be a real nice way to do it.
Tinbender the rest of the car is actually in solid shape (except behind one lower gravel sheild where they typically rust. Rockets and floors are nice as were the firewall and trunk. I have found a ton of dirt/ sand (typical of sand storms in the Az area) in places. The car is a buildable car. If I repair the roof, it will be done the right way, (no half ***ing it). No chopping (maybe take some crown out of it) as I do not like the look of most chopped hardtops (except 53/54's) plus I am not building a Custom (or was not) it is supposed to be more 60's hotrod/ racers and those should not be chopped. I am sure I will cut the openings up larger, treat the inner structures and weld patches back in if the whole roof does not come off. Just ****s finding it this bad. the money to fix this was supposed to go into my new motor.
The biggest pain in the *** there is that you have to remove your interior to do the welding. Other than that, not that big of a deal to weld it all up. Especially if you have a TIG welder or a 110v MIG. (I have to be extra careful on sheet metal because my welder is 220v)
IIRC hardtops do not have the convertble frame braces, so a conversion is a frame off proposition. Otherwise the thing will flex and the panel gaps will never stay right. I agree best bet is to just patch up the holes a little at a time, or use it as an excuse to alter the roof.
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