70-72 roof to a 73

[KYRedbeard]

I have a 73 Dart Swinger. The roof/top is roached from the vinyl top. It's rusted near the front and back glass. I'm trying to figure out if a 1970-72 roof can be cut and welded on to my 73 without any issues. Hoping for a plug and play.

 

[dowboy1970]

I do not see a problem with it!

Wait for more direction as I am not certain.

 

[72bluNblu]

If it's just the roof skin you're talking about, any 2 door hardtop Dart roof skin will work, '67-76. If you're also talking about the inner structure as well then there are some differences- seat belt anchors, headliner bow mounts, minor stuff for the interior/trim mounting but the overall dimensions are the same.

2-door post cars and 4 doors are different.

Removing the roof skin means drilling out about 200 spot welds, ~50 per side, and then of course putting all of those back to install the skin again

 

[gdrill]

Yes, there are a lot of spots, but it is the easiest panel you will ever install. It only fits in one spot. I just did a 71 RR and was happily surprised.

I used a die grinder to remove from the car that mattered to not damage the drip rail and just drilled through the donor.

 

[KYRedbeard]

It's a 2 for hard top. I'm not replacing only skin. It'll be all of it. Inner and outter.

 

[moparmarks]

The inner structure for the headliner bows is different for 70 versa 71-2 and then again for 73-up.

 

[72bluNblu]

It's a 2 for hard top. I'm not replacing only skin. It'll be all of it. Inner and outter.

Ok. If you stick to 70-72 then you should have an anchor for the shoulder belt, I’m not exactly sure what year that came in but 70-72 had them.

And the inner structure would have the mounting holes for headliner bows, but you could still use a cardboard headliner like the 73+ cars as well. Or the ABS aftermarket headliners.

There may be other cosmetic differences in the inner structure but nothing that should cause you any significant issues, if you can weld the whole top on then you should be able to handle any stamping differences.

The A-pillars won’t be super fun depending on where you cut them because of their multi-layer construction, just pay attention to where you do the cutting and make sure all of the layers are welded properly. The C-pillar construction is easier and shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[KYRedbeard]

Thats what I needed to know. I appreciate all the help.