My first Mopar/Questions?

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BigWhi

BigWhi

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So I'm picking up my first project car Sunday, which happens to be a 1971 Scamp. I'm super excited and anxious to get started on her. The car has already been taken apart and ready to start bodywork and painting. So now for my question. The car had a vinyl top and with that came plenty of rust underneath. I have only seen one hole which happens to be right in the center where the windshield meets the vinyl. It's a pretty good size hole and I can post some pictures of it when I get it all home. What is a good way to remedy this problem? I do not want to go back with a vinyl top and I don't want to really half *** it and make more problems for my self down the road. I'm decent with fiberglass but I don't think that's the right route. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure there are prob more spots that need repaired on the roof, just haven't seen them yet. With the exception of the passenger side floor board and roof the car is rust free.

EDIT Pictures:
 
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well, welding in metal is the correct way to repair it - congrats on the Scamp!! :thumbsup: - of course we want to see some pics!!
 
ScampMike said:
well, welding in metal is the correct way to repair it -
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I definitely agree with that. Once you can closely examine the rest of the roof (especially in the rear at the roof/quarter panel seams and rear window, you should have a better idea of what you're facing. You might be looking at a roof re-skin.

True story: Around 87 I bought a 69 Charger that the vinyl top had been removed. The roof had what appeared to be surface rust on it. I very carefully media blasted it and found where the seams had been was nothing but Swiss cheese. No replacement roof and because I needed the car on Monday since it was my new daily driver, I ended up using a liberal amount of Tiger Hair on the seam areas, filling all the holes in. Got it smooth, primed and a couple coats of paint on it. This was going to be just temporary until the roof could be replaced. I ended up parting the car out in 96 as the underside rust just made it not safe to drive. That roof repair job was still holding up, no leaks and still looked good.
 
65 Dartman said:
I definitely agree with that. Once you can closely examine the rest of the roof (especially in the rear at the roof/quarter panel seams and rear window, you should have a better idea of what you're facing. You might be looking at a roof re-skin.

True story: Around 87 I bought a 69 Charger that the vinyl top had been removed. The roof had what appeared to be surface rust on it. I very carefully media blasted it and found where the seams had been was nothing but Swiss cheese. No replacement roof and because I needed the car on Monday since it was my new daily driver, I ended up using a liberal amount of Tiger Hair on the seam areas, filling all the holes in. Got it smooth, primed and a couple coats of paint on it. This was going to be just temporary until the roof could be replaced. I ended up parting the car out in 96 as the underside rust just made it not safe to drive. That roof repair job was still holding up, no leaks and still looked good.
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Thank you guys for the response. I will be sure to update with pics soon. Any idea on a budget way to media blast? I am starting from scratch so I don't even have an air compressor but my friend does. It's kinda funny because I don't even own a set of wrenches. This is going to be learn/buy as you go haha.
 
You can use a pot of media or baking soda and a gravity feed gun or a suction gun out of a bag. You'll need a big *** compressor as its just an open hose at the end. Use a mask and do it outside. Sand is not real safe without a full head cover and respirator. You may just be able to drive it to a blaster and drive it home. May be cheaper than blast media. Compressor and gun.
 
pishta said:
You can use a pot of media or baking soda and a gravity feed gun or a suction gun out of a bag. You'll need a big *** compressor as its just an open hose at the end. Use a mask and do it outside. Sand is not real safe without a full head cover and respirator. You may just be able to drive it to a blaster and drive it home. May be cheaper than blast media. Compressor and gun.
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I just got in touch with a guy here in town that does media blasting and we are going to try and work something out on the price. I'll post some pictures of it when that's done as well.
 
I would suggest a new roof skin is probably the best way to address your problem. Take it from someone who repaired a roof a very hard way. If you have one hole in the roof you probably have some other places where the metal is going to be very thin. While it is tedious, a new roof skin is certainly a good long-term solution.
 
I would agree with both options depending on how extensive the rust turns out to be. If it is just a couple small spots like we have just last week dealt with on our 71 valiant which as you know is the plymouth version of the scamp. We replaced what was bad, to me a better option than peeling off the roof skin, especially for a guy with no tools or skill in that area. The roof on my 1/4 vinyl javelin is completely rotted away, so we picked up a parts shell to peel the skin from one to replace the other. As no one makes roof skins for amc cars. So get the car home, remove the vinyl and evaluate from there. Our valiant was only rotted where the seams met.
 
Unfortunatly the roof is worse than I thought. I am going to go the roof skin route but I am having trouble even finding one. Does anyone have an idea where I could look?
 
Not sure where you are located but in Sandy Oregon there is wildcat wrecking yard. They do ship. Also there are a few 71 plymouth valiant parts shells for sale in my area.
 
Penstarpurist said:
Not sure where you are located but in Sandy Oregon there is wildcat wrecking yard. They do ship. Also there are a few 71 plymouth valiant parts shells for sale in my area.
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I'm all the way in Arkansas. I just got intouch with a restoration garage in town and he is going to give me an estimate. Fingers crossed that I get this done for around 2k which is my motor budget. I need to get this done before I start moving forward with anything else.
 
If they come back with a crazy price that doesn't fit your budget, definitely check out wildcat wrecking yard. All they do is mopar, not always the cheapest price in town depending on your needs. But always a great source for must have parts. I have to do a roof swap on my javelin, I picked up a whole parts shell for $200. And watching a few YouTube videos, I think it's a doable task. We did a ton of sheetmetal replacing on our bb duster project. A decent harbor freight wire feed goes along way. We are going to get the plug welder next for the roof replacement. Of course it helps my son is top of his welding class. But I think you could handle it, that's what a grinder is for if you mess up.
 
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