71 Sport Fury PH29 Roof Skin advice

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Well, my son and I finally got to the point to remove his vinyl top. Was hopeful that it wouldn't be too bad, but not good. Looking for some options you all may have done to address the types of issues we are seeing. @FURYGT here are the photos we were talking about last week.

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I would get a good roof from a donor car. I changed the roof on my son's 74 Barracuda and his was not as bad as yours. If you can weld, it was not too bad a job. Trying to fix what you have will be a never-ending battle. If your plans are to just use it for a while and get rid of it, you could clean it up the best that you can and epoxy the holes.
 
You will need a good donner car to repair this. Premo fab skills need here otherwise. If sub structure rust is found the donner car can supply those parts.
 
Well, my son and I finally got to the point to remove his vinyl top. Was hopeful that it wouldn't be too bad, but not good. Looking for some options you all may have done to address the types of issues we are seeing. @FURYGT here are the photos we were talking about last week.

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That’s pretty bad. You would be better off buying a parts car with a 29 style roof that never had a vinyl roof. Before you tackle the roof, I would do a thorough inspection of the car for additional rust damage. I would be shocked if the trunk floor was not Swiss cheese. This way you can determine whether it’s best to purchase a donor car or to purchase another car in better condition and use this one as a parts donor. Very sorry to see that much rust.
 
MIght look inside the car, too, as mentioned. In the C-pillar internal areas, the turnk pan, and rear floor pans. Everywhere the water from above could have gotten to on its way toward the ground. Taking out the interior will be necessary.

As the roof is a structural part of the body, all of that "gone metal" means the body is weaker. Any project to replace the roof would mean the body has to be supported (on a flat floor!) on about 8 jackstands. Two under each side of the rocker panels, two for the front stub-frame, and two for the rear body/bumper crossmember. That would keep the body from collapsing when the top section is removed from it.

There might be some attraction to the existing car, but the reality, to me, is that the car you have can be a donor car for another car whose engine and transmission have been removed from it. A car with a better roof and hopefully never had a vinyl top covering on it.

Just some respectful thoughts,
CBODY67
 
That’s pretty bad. You would be better off buying a parts car with a 29 style roof that never had a vinyl roof. Before you tackle the roof, I would do a thorough inspection of the car for additional rust damage. I would be shocked if the trunk floor was not Swiss cheese. This way you can determine whether it’s best to purchase a donor car or to purchase another car in better condition and use this one as a parts donor. Very sorry to see that much rust.
^This^

There are times where you just have to walk away and find a better car. I'm not saying this is the case here, just suggesting a step back to look at the big picture.
 
I had a 1970 Sport Fury 29-body, vinyl top, perforated roof. Mine became a donor for my 1970 Fury Convertible.
Look for structural problems like rot in rear subframe
This leads
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to this near rear bumper bracket
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or this
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Front subframe had rust too at trans x-member and front corners
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I pretty much knew mine was a parts car before I bought it. 1/3 of trunk floor was rotted. Subframe that was not rusted thru still weakened by heavy rust.
Hope your luck is better than mine!
 
It could be possible that the vinyl top being left on kept some of the water out. If the rest of the car is not that bad, I would do a roof swap. It looks like you would need the roof and the panel behind the roof too. I was never a fan of vinyl tops and never bought any of my cars with them. If you have decent welding skills and can do a little bodywork it is not that bad. You would need to remove the front and rear windshields and measure everything to make sure all the tolerances are correct. I measured mine multiple times and made a diagram (easy for me, I am a retired illustrator). There are also several YouTube videos you can watch. Whatever you decide, good luck.
 
Thanks for all the replies. You all have confirmed my thoughts about addressing this. My thoughts have been donor car to either replace current top and rear quarter; or, use his current car as the donor.

Surprisingly, floor and substructure are in very good condition. Trunk pan is in very good condition as well. However, trunk extensions are toast and severe rust to lower portion (lower 3-4 inches) of rear quarter panel.

A friend and I have been scouring the inter-web and social media to find a donor with no luck thus far.

Thanks again for all the information
 
Thanks for all the replies. You all have confirmed my thoughts about addressing this. My thoughts have been donor car to either replace current top and rear quarter; or, use his current car as the donor.

Surprisingly, floor and substructure are in very good condition. Trunk pan is in very good condition as well. However, trunk extensions are toast and severe rust to lower portion (lower 3-4 inches) of rear quarter panel.

A friend and I have been scouring the inter-web and social media to find a donor with no luck thus far.

Thanks again for all the information
Keep at it. There is alot of these furys that could be great donors, even a 4dr hardtop fury would work.
 
So I might be able to help out after all I should be picking this one up soon. I'll get some good pics of the back window area after I get it home.

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Really? Is that the same roof as a 2dr hardtop? Just curious, not doubting.
Year's ago same situation 2dr car looking for a roof skin. I looked through the part's book and everything i found had the same part number 2dr to 4dr on the roof skin numbers.
 
Why wouldn't it be?

Year's ago same situation 2dr car looking for a roof skin. I looked through the part's book and everything i found had the same part number 2dr to 4dr on the roof skin numbers.
This answers my question as I was all set to open up the parts manual. Off the cuff I would have said they aren't the same.

I'm gonna file this under "something new I learned today".
 
So I might be able to help out after all I should be picking this one up soon. I'll get some good pics of the back window area after I get it home.

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Thanks and let me know what you find. Definitively at a point pushing my knowledge base. Have several friends locally who are very experienced and willing to assist my son.
 
If the pics you've posted show all of the problem areas, I think replacing the roof is a much bigger ordeal than patching the existing one.
But you need to get the glass out and get the metal wire-brushed (heavily?) to see what you have, before you decide which path.
As others have said, you need to see what the understructure looks like.
In some areas there are 3 layers of metal welded together (keep that in mind for later).

Right now, everything fits and is in spec and all reference points are intact.

For replacing the roof - are we doing just the skin? If so, there's likely 100 spotwelds that need drilled on the donor. That's not trivial. You could air-chisel or use a diegrinder on the receiver car. And again, sometimes 3 layers to deal with if swapping roofs.

If you replace the whole roof, there is potential to get it slightly out of location, such that F&R glass doesn't fit properly and side glass doesn't seal well. All measurements must be done *before* you cut the roof off your car, too. There's no going back to check something you forgot.

Consider the linear inches of weld you'll be doing. With patches, it's just that perimeter of each patch. Yes, your patches will be larger than the holes when you cut to clean metal. But if replacing the whole roof, you are now welding significantly more - more warpage?

IMO you'll possibly need more metalworking skills to replace it than to repair it.

There are rear window corner patches for B-bodies at AutoMetalDirect (AMD). They surely aren't a direct fit, but they might be helpful in the corners. (look at all the rear glass patches they offer, too)


And, nobody has mentioned the cost of a donor roof. And - shipping a roof is truck freight, or Greyhound or Fastenal, and it's on an oversized skid. That won't be cheap, either.
They will also cut it thru the pillars - you'll be doing all the spotweld cleanup at your house.
 
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