Need some advise on getting this roof back in shape, what to do next ? I chopped this truck as my first chop and then had a roof cave in on it, took a joist down into the roof. http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a25/swade41/Truck Chop/ Before After I pushed out the roof towards the opposite angle the joist pushed in with a crude porta power (floor jack with a 2 X 6) and banged with a hammer. It came out mostly but the doors are pinched at the front the top is not flush with top of door like on the left side ][/URL] it also used to have even door gaps all the way around, some are tight while others are loose left rear is the biggest,left front is ok and right side how can I get this back, cut for relief or pound and push ?
I'd say you may have to cut it to relieve the pressure. With that much stretching going on beating it back into shape will cause major oil canning. As far as where to make the cuts, I would say at the peak of the creases. Looks to be a project no matter how you go about fixing it. Ever think of making it a roadster?
It's possible the whole cab is warped some from that whack. Can you find a stocker someplace and measure some dimensions to compare with? There's no sense trying to fix it by aligning the top and then find the cowl's moved a little or something.
Can I start by saying thumbnails SUCK My PC keeps knocking me offline trying to open them. Anyways, I can't see what sort of stretching you may have done to the skin...maybe nothing to worry about. But the reason to reply is I have a very old but well known body work book from around WW2. There is a great section in there about your exact problem. They show like a 37 Mopar 4dr that was a roll-over crash with door gap issues just like yours. They showed the guy using an early porta-power with big rubber cushions on either end. Then he used them diagonally in the door openings to rack it back to the correct gaps. I'd be tempted to try that before cutting. Problem will be to find a way to push without caving in the door opening metal. Give it some thought first.
I wish just sanding could fix this thing ==================================================================== So if I'm pinched along the windshield and doors, rolled inwards on right rear top and pushed gaps below belt line on rear of left door, where do I start pushing ? The right rear top definatly needs to come out to be flush with door top Should I cut that area or push diagonal from left bottom towards right top ?
Hey, If I'm readin' your photos correctly, the direct point of impact was to the right of center of the crown of the roof. The direct damage, the ridge & colapsed buckle to the right of the window opening is still holding a good portion of the damage from returning to its' predamaged shape. This is also holding the rt. Cant rail from returning to alignment at the door opening. I'd start by pushing up the damage from the header panel area back , and from the left/drivers side area, and then rough out the direct damaged colapsed buckle at the back of the roof. CUT NO RELEIF SLITS INTO THIS ROOF! All of this damage will return to its' former shape "if" properly bumped out. Once you have pushed and bumped up the damage in the roof panel, you may have to push the rt. Cant rail up and over to acheive a good door gap again. You may also have to help up the drip rail & cant rail, while under pressure ,with a bfh, a spoon or block of wood. A shrinking disc or a torch, hammer and dolly will take care of any stretching that may have been caused buy the beam or your bumping the roof up. Good thing this isn't a double paneled roof on this cab! Swankey Devils C.C. "It's time for another Tea Party!''
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DD4DF%7E1.9B5/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:536871559 0 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> Now that you have pushed out the initial impact of the damage, what you need to do now is determine what else moved. You’ll need to start measuring to make this determination and note your results. Where I would start measuring is your door openings for length and for squareness. After doing that you’ll need to do the same by cross measuring the cab. When you have damage, like what happened to your cab, it doesn’t just move in one place; it will move in different directions.<o></o> <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o></o> Call me if you would like and we could develop a strategy or game plan. After this is done, you'll have a better idea what needs to be done to fix it. <o></o>
Good chat I had with you today, I set aside a couple hours tonight to try out the ideas with the borrowed porta power. I spent the couple hours trying to get the porta power to stop leaking everywhere instead and trying not to toss it out into the street. I'll post up some results when I get a replacement.
I was able to borrow another porta-power and started pushing, I started at the top from side to side then went diagonal in the door opening. It came out some with the diagonal push the best because the door now has a gap around the windsheild area and doesn't rub. The top did come out some too and I think maybe the door is sprung out at the top rear. It did have way more filler in it than I thought it would, so I might end up cutting that out and replacing it if no one has a direction to go in next. hint....hint...lol The door gap on the other side did not change at all, I did go diagonal from left rear to right front on that and got nothing.
Hey, The roof's commin' a long well! I'd grind out a good deal of that plastic filler, in fact I'd grind out the whole top of the roof panel. Plastic filler is very strong, and can prevent metal from returning to where the metal needs to go to straighten the roof. This is especially true of low and semi crowned panels. Once the plastic is ground out, you can see what needs further bumping and dinging. This could well explain why the door gap on the left isn't there yet! Swankey Devils C.C. " It's time for another Tea Party ! "
I was trying to find a picture before paint to get an idea of what I had prior and this one is about the best at showing anything.
In this photo it acutaly makes the crown of the left side sharper than that of the right. I wonder if that was the reason for the extra filler ?
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