Help Me!!!!!!

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71dodge

71dodge

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i have a 1971 dodge dart swiger and i just pulled off the viynl top and the whole roof is rotted what do i do? the middle is ok but by the window in the back and the windsheild are horrible how do i fix this, how much will it cost help!
 
71dodge said:
i have a 1971 dodge dart swiger and i just pulled off the viynl top and the whole roof is rotted what do i do? the middle is ok but by the window in the back and the windsheild are horrible how do i fix this, how much will it cost help!
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Depends how bad it is. If there is too much rot through all around the edges sometimes it's easier to find a good roof and splice on. Sorry, I don't think there's an easy fix for this one.
 
i think crackedback has a roof for you if you need it. check with him....
 
I HATE vinyl tops. I thought they looked cool back in the day, but what was I thinking??? Certainly not long term durability issues. Had problems with both the 73 and the Demon.

The 73 just needed to be reskinned. If you have problems down below the roof seam, cut down into the fender on the donor car until there is enough properly formed sheet metal.

On the Demon, even the windshield structural pieces were toast. Needed to replace the entire roof. It is a PITA. That little piece of metal held up by my finger in the first photo covered a rust hole about the size of a quarter. The red line in the last photo is where we cut the donor top to fit properly. If ever there was a time to "measure twice, cut once" this was it! There is virtually no tolerance to play with.

The cost is going to depend on what you pay for the roof from the donor car and how much for the body work. I did the rough-in leaving only some finish sanding and grinding for the painter on the 73. On the Demon, I made the initial roof cuts on both my car and the donor. I also donated some grunt time to my painter (We've known each other a while.) both on the car and doing some maintenance on his confuser system. I paid $100 for each roof, and an extra $100 to my painter for putting the Demon back together. Your experience will probably vary.

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If you have not done this kind of work before you are looking at a body shop trip. It will be expensive (probably a couple thousand at least).

All the rot needs to be cut out and replaced. Pics would give us an idea if it would be better to replace the entire roof or not.
 
Hey, 2 Darts, don't know what you hit that finger with but I feel for you, bro. I whacked my thumb with a 2 lb hammer one time. Thumbnail turned dark red then dark blue then black. Then it came off. Yay.
 
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