Need Help with Vinyl Roof Disease on '72 Scamp

That's a good point about the vinyl. I'm considering putting vinyl over the roof just to make it look respectable. If I did that I'd like to go with something that won't just make the issue worse.

1969VADart said

You mentioned that the roof frame was in bad shape underneath. What exactly was wrong with it? I can imagine it is covered in rust, but I would doubt it is damaged from the rust; probably just heavy surface rust. I realized after I went through the trouble with my roof swap that the frame underneath was fine and I could have salvaged it by media blasting it "clean." Then I could have probably just done a roof skin swap. My complicated process was the result of working with a rat rod guy who just wanted to chop **** up.

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That's how I thought it would be, but once I cut back the skin a bit I realized that the front frame above the windshield was unusable. The bottom half was still intact, but upper part of it where it is welded to the skin was actually rusted completely through in several places. There is no way to weld new stuff to that. I suspect that the pillars have to be replaced also, so... I'll probably end up just copying you!

As for making it a convertible, I don't think there's a quick or easy way to go about it. From my understanding, rocker panels and torque boxes were the only factory differences, but I'd definitely want at least subframe connectors also. All the body guys I've talked to spoke about making an "x" shaped frame under the car. I don't know if that's necessary but it sure sounds like a good idea.