Stop me before I ruin this roof!

[Neal Zimmerman]

OK I am working on a 65 coronet 2 door post. It was a beautiful rust free car but some idiot put a sunroof in it at some time. Roof had to go. I found a roof at Wildcat Mopars wrecking here in Oregon,, but it is not mint. It looks ok underneath except where the headliner bows rubbed, and one area under the roof strut crossmember. There are a dozen really deep pits in these areas where you can tell that half of the ( 19-20 gauge??) sheetmetal is eaten through. This was , yes, probably from the car being outdoors in a wrecking yard with headliner still in place and drawing and holding moisture. Rainy winters here. My first thought is to drill out the pits with about an 1/8 drill bit and weld the holes shut.
Will this work or am I going to loose tension in the roof? I know how to heat shrink pretty well so I thought maybe I could tighten it back up if it got sloppy.
Please no "rust convert it and paint it" responses. The pits are way too deep and I would like to keep this car for my lifetime.
neal

 

[BLK 68 R/T]

I would cut out the entire affected area and patch in a new piece. They make heat sink compound that you can put around the weld area to minimize warping. Also you can do small tack welds in different spots on the patch, allowing each one to cool before doing another one until eventually the entire weld is filled in.

 

[threewood]

I think the affected areas are larger than just the pits. I agree with BLK 68 that a patch is probably best. Go slow to minimize any warping.

 

[eldubb440]

you can clean the pits out with phosphoric acid......... it's not a rust converter

naval jelly, ospho, ect

home depot sells this

remove the rust, neutralize properly, epoxy prime........ and a little filler on top

 

[Crowbar]

I agree with eldubb440 You will have way less work involved and will be just as good in the end result Plus if you were to cut it out you might as well keep the top that’s on it and put a filler piece Good Luck RC

 

[gdrill]

I recently did a roof skin on a 71 satellite. Extremely easy if you do any welding body work at all. It only fits in the right spot. It can't be crooked. Spot welds are easy to grind off, carefully on the project, drill through on the donor.

 

[Viper2005]

Don’t over think it.
What Eldubb440 said is exactly what I’d do.

 

[j-c-c-62]

I am not clear here, are "the pits" on the underside or on the outside?
If underside, sorry, I would treat, and coat and leave alone. Outside, I would not drill and fill, I would carefully and very very slowly patch.
IMO the pits are only too deep if light sandblasting makes holes.

 

[snakeyes]

photos of the roof would be a good idea for us to view your problem

 

[MCODECUDA]

Just remember one thing. A 4-door uses the same roof skin as a 2-door.