Freaked Out By Roof Rust

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That's why I don't like vinyl tops. Even I've fixed a roof, I don't put one back on the car.
Too bad it's not something you feel you can tackle if you like the car.
I think some people find satisfaction in saving a certain car and keeping it for themselves.
There isn't any money in fixing most A bodies in that shape.
 
Maybe we can talk sometime.

I am not far and do that type of metal work.

In the meantime, here are some more pictures of the car with the vinyl top now off. The bondo is where we temporarily filled some holes. Most of the holes were pinhole size (2-3 mm). The largest hole might have been 1/4" in diameter. The trunk bay area looks solid. The floor pans are also solid; we checked them from inside the car and under the car. Had to get the car up in the air to replace the gas tank, and the frame also appears to be in good shape. I would hate to have to cut this car loose, but I can't really afford to spring for another car (as a donor) either.











 
Holes or not, pitted metal that bad will all but disengrate when you clean, prep, for restoration.
If you like the car save it. maybe their`s a yard local to you that has donor metal and roof. good luck:happy1:
 
well, I really want to see you fix this car ......so here is what I have in mind.

me and my cousin are cutting up a 68 dart to fix our other cars....one quarter was already removed and I am going to use this car to "clip" a wrecked Demon I have.......

me or my cousin will not need the roof........

so if you have time....the time it will take me to remove the roof ....I still want the other quarter so it will be drilled out at the seam

I offer this roof to you for shipping......I have no idea how much it would be to ship from Colorado to you ....but you would be ahead on the part cost.

I am in southeastern Colorado and quite frankly cars don't really rust here (you can see the green one on page one is my worst one) and I know you guys don't have that luxury out east and I feel bad and im willing to help if I can.

so here is some of the part if you cant find anything closer and it sounds like you have an installer in the works ....so good luck and please save that dart, a 69 dart is a great car and well deserving of some effort.
 

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RaniDart, that is an awesome offer. I am not sure how you could get an estimate to ship it to me (my zip code is 22408), but don't let that car (particularly the roof) get away until I figure out for sure if that is what I am doing. Unfortunately, the body needs repair all the way along the back line where the vinyl trim was and onto the sides where the c-pillars are, which is a little bit into the areas you are taking for your quarters. But having the bulk of the roof section would get me a long ways. If I can line up someone who might be able to do the roof swap, I will let you know. Thanks again for the offer to help. Not many people would be willing to go that far.

well, I really want to see you fix this car ......so here is what I have in mind.

me and my cousin are cutting up a 68 dart to fix our other cars....one quarter was already removed and I am going to use this car to "clip" a wrecked Demon I have.......

me or my cousin will not need the roof........

so if you have time....the time it will take me to remove the roof ....I still want the other quarter so it will be drilled out at the seam

I offer this roof to you for shipping......I have no idea how much it would be to ship from Colorado to you ....but you would be ahead on the part cost.

I am in southeastern Colorado and quite frankly cars don't really rust here (you can see the green one on page one is my worst one) and I know you guys don't have that luxury out east and I feel bad and im willing to help if I can.

so here is some of the part if you cant find anything closer and it sounds like you have an installer in the works ....so good luck and please save that dart, a 69 dart is a great car and well deserving of some effort.
 
Get the rear window surround as much as you could off that car. The trunk to window filler is available if there isn't enough with the roof. We just did one for $1000 with paint and the vinyl installed. no glass installed. had a glass Co. do it and customer paid that bill. But your headliner needs to be done before glass installation.
 
Probably cheaper to find a good roof locally than try and ship it, not like a Dart is a rare car. I had to do one on my `72 Barracuda when the sandblaster thought he was doing me a favor by blasting the roof when I specifically told him not to. It was nice and clean but wavier than the ocean! It`s actually a fairly easy job as far as panel replacement goes as it pretty much falls into place, it`s just time consuming cutting all the spot welds and re-welding and grinding the replacement.
 
Oldmanmopar, where would the cuts have to be made on the a-pillars of the car? You can see how much Rani already cut for the one quarter panel. Does that leave enough to work with?

Get the rear window surround as much as you could off that car. The trunk to window filler is available if there isn't enough with the roof. We just did one for $1000 with paint and the vinyl installed. no glass installed. had a glass Co. do it and customer paid that bill. But your headliner needs to be done before glass installation.
 
Absolutely, but starting somewhere shouldn't be removing the roof and both quarters, especially for a beginner.

And... I don't see GTS on the fenders.

$2000 Solid West Coast body + $1200 shipping = Saving thousands of dollars and a huge amount of time.

You will also have a better car in the end.

Agreed %1000
 
Nice offer on the roof. Glad it's not a pair of tail lights. lol
 
i'd try to fix it...and i'm no expert either.you do get some satisfaction outta saving a car,and that ones cool.
 
My vote is with everyone else get the roof from another car and see if you can fix it then your on the road new paint and vinyl top and if you do nothing you can part out what's left of the car. Good Luck
 
Aren't "23" body roofs the same from 67 all the way to 76?

Surely there's one closer.

Of course the labor of drilling the spot welds might be worth the cost of shipping.

x2 on "what did you expect?"

I'm in the same boat on a 72 400-4 barrel Charger-
Replace the roof (and quarters) or part it for the black interior, hidden headlights and 3.23 SG 8 3/4.
 
My two cents.... Dive in head first...Step outside your comfort zone..What do you have to lose? Go back and find my restoration thread. My Duster was probably worse than that when I got it and I had never done any body work before.. I found a donor roof in a local yard for $100 and went to town drilling out the spot welds...Removed the skin from both roofs.. Yes it was a royal pain but it was soooo worth it when I got the new roof on the car. Then I got a wire welder and went to town. Of course when it came to the finish work i I paid a body man and it turned out great and you would never know the car was a total rust bucket. Just by finding a donor roof and trying to remove the skins you will not be out much money.. I so wish you where close because I would sure give you a hand.. Good luck..
 
So I finally got around to pulling the vinyl top off the Dart this weekend and now I am freaked out. I guess I was not expecting the disaster that I found. The first picture just gives you an idea of what it looked like before. The roof metal is pitted badly and there are a number of holes all over the roof.



From this before profile the bumps along the roof ridge ended up being a sign of terrible rust.



And the holes in this picture turned into even more holes once this lower section of vinyl came off.



I will try to get some pictures of the actual roof condition posted later. Now I am not sure what to do. I have been told to cut my losses and dump the car (I really don't want to do that). Skim the roof and put on another vinyl top to cover the disaster and let it ride for awhile (I know that is not the best option). I know that replacing/re-skinning the roof is the right way, but that is far beyond my capabilities. And I have searched the area high and low for a donor car, but can't find anything. I read through a number of the "rusted roof" threads from the past, but that spooked me even more. Really need some advice on how you guys would proceed and maybe how you tackled this situation in the past.

Yep roof skin, dutchman panel , 2 full rear quarters, 2 outer wheel wells, 2 trunk extensions. If the trunk floor is good which i couldent imagine it is, probably just replace the spare tire well since those are almost always ate up.

I passed on a 71 dart V8 that was slightly better than this one in the roof rust department. Still had to put a full floor in my 67 cuda though. As this stuff gets older and older unless you live in a dry climate this is what you are gonna find especially with vinyl tops. My cuda never had one, i dont intend to put one on it.

I agree with ink on this one, either you buckle.down and learn how to do the rust repair, or find a cleaner body to work with. If you have somebody willing to do the job nearby, ask if you can help do the job with them so you can learn. I am self taught on auto body and rust repair. I did this out of necessity, i couldent afford to pay someone to do it for me.

Good luck on your project. I hope it turns out well for you, some.advice tho, dont put the vinyl top back on once its all fixed.

Matt
 
Before deciding I would check the rest of the car over good. Frame rails, T-Bar mounts, floors, inner fenders. If you need to replace any other sheet metal you may as well start with a different car. Not to mention add the price of tools and supplies in. Right now your looking at over 2K in sheet metal. another $1000 in welding tools.

My Duster came from Cali about 3 years ago. No rot, just some surface rust. The car was $2000, shipping was $1500. Nothing better then starting with rot free metal.
 
I had holes in my sail panels that a cat could crawl through . Decided I wanted the car , so I went to work on the roof and saved it . But I've been a body man for years . Had a lot of help along the way , changing the roof and fixing the upper quarters , but it was worth it if for no other reason , my neighbors said it couldn't be done . I love proving people wrong more than I do fixing things that are beyond fixing .
 
Going to check a couple of salvage yards in the next few days. I was told about the possibility of a Dart sitting in one of those yards. What model years could be a direct swap if I was going to swap out the roof skins (and other parts...fenders, quarters, etc.)? I have a buddy who is expert with a welder who is committed to helping me swap the top if I can find a good roof.
 
On my '73 , I found a painted top '75 , but couldn't ever get it to fit right after I took it off . So , I re-installed the old top back on it , and fixed the top where the vinyl and the moonroof were damaged . Most '68 - 74 should be the same , never did figure out why the '75 wouldn't line up .
 
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