need some roof replacement techniques
well I hade a big come back for this but I deleted it for the sake of argument but I will say you have to show Me............Artie
I've only replaced one top, on my 70 charger with bracing, measuring,measuring again, and again, cutting, welding,eating lunch grinding reinstalling both front and back glass it took 6 hours. just my 2 cents
More power to you guys then. I didn't mean to suggest that it can't be done that way, or even that skilled folks couldn't do it quickly. But regardless, its more work. If you can do the whole top like that in a day, I'd be willing to bet you could skin it in half that time.
Plus, there's a different skill level involved. Skinning the roof barely requires welding skills. If you can work a drill and have a vague idea of how a MIG welder works you can skin the roof without issue. Taking the top requires accurate measurements, accurate cutting, and much better welding skills. If done right and everything lines up, I guess I can see how it could be done in a day by a competent tradesman.
But there's a lot more things to go wrong. Even small errors in measuring or cutting can make this job a lot harder. And if you're that person that can sorta run a MIG welder, it doesn't take much to move it beyond your skill set. If the body or roof gets tweaked, the cuts don't line up with the donor piece, or you blow some holes in the sheet metal with the welder, the whole process will take a lot longer.
So maybe I should clarify. For the hobbyist, at least in my opinion, the skin is far easier, and much less risky to accomplish. Even if you do screw it up, you've probably only ruined a roof skin. If the body sags while your swapping the whole top, you're in a bad way.