Where to get a roof skin?

[Joshua Fruauff]

Just got a awesome deal on a 1982 gt. Runs like a champ. Biggest issue I face is during our last wonderful hurricane a tree limb fell on the roof. Bad enough in my opinion to have to have it cut out and another welded in. Sucks worse cause he had just painted the car. I have a few quotes on repair and repaint but I am trying to help source a new roof. Anyone have any idea where to look?

Thanks

 

[broncojunkie]

Do you have a pic of the damage?

 

[Joshua Fruauff]

Here you go. He said windshield doesnt leak in rain but under high pressure of carwash it did. I think most could be probably fixed that spot vy windshield is close. I rather pay to get it done right than a shit load of filler to level it out.

 

[broncojunkie]

Yep. You're definitely correct, that a roof skin is your best option. They're not being reproduced at this time, that I'm aware of, so a donor is your only option. The good news is that there are quite a few cars out there being parted out with good roofs. You can zip them off with a saws-all, after removing the windshield. The bad news is that separating the skin from the inner frame and fitting/welding to the car involves a lot of man hours. I'm not sure what all would be involved in replacing the entire roof structure as a unit (if it's even an option at all).

The c pillar roof skin overlaps, iirc, the quarter panel. There is a recessed seam there that was fille with lead. So it gets a little more complicated with that.

If the damage wasn't over such a large area, I would suggest repairing the existing metal... but that doesn't really seem feasible with the broad damage area.

 

[Joshua Fruauff]

Yeah. Ill probably just try to find one cut whole roof off as low as I can go and let body shop go from there. Figure if I leave skin on to help keep it straight.

I guessing just hitting local yards and see what I can find.

 

[broncojunkie]

I see a lot of them getting parted due to front frame rail/shock tower rust, along with rear torque boxes and floors. The roof areas are usually in good shape, with the exception of the sunroof cars. Plenty of those rusted from the inner structure due to poor design and clogged drain tubes.

My 82gt has an aftermarket sunroof. Nothing wrong with it other than I don't care for the look. So i found a t-top car being parted out. I have the entire roof structure but haven't had a chance to get started on it. All t-top foxes started their lives as hard tops. The middle section was cut out (somewhat crudely) and the t-top frame was riveted and sealed in place. No welding.

The doors were same as the convertible, but door glass was t-top specific. I have the rusted-out doors from the t-top donor (complete with glass) and a good set of vert doors. One of these days, I hope to start working on the conversion.

 

[Joshua Fruauff]

Am I correct that all 79-93 regular roofs are the same. I also heard some of the newer roofs 87-93 were treated better to help prevent rust. Is that ture?