Hey guy where you been? Hope all is well. After giving me so much help over the last year with my 72, now nearly complete, you've dropped off the radar screen. You used to post daily. Thanks 1 million times for all your help and support with the 72. The car is great thanks to you and others here on TC.


When you get the chance. I'd like your ideas/warnings/suggestions on removing and replacing the top on this 70 of mine. As sson as the weather breaks of course.

Thanks in advance guy

I have seen him hanging out at autobodystore.com message boards. Try pinging him over there, he's usually there most of the time if he's not around here. Just be patient though, he'll be back around.

Hey guys, I have a lot on my plate right now. I am here most every day, but just lurking. smile.gif

Rick, refresh my memory, what top are we talking about here, a vinyl, conv, metal? smile.gif

I think he is talking about the crushed roof one in his sig.

Great to hear from you and understand you're busy. This is a project that I'm going to start when the weather changes.

I have a 70 velle that was damaged in the tornado/down draft burst here last spring. The roof was crushed but the majority of the body is fine. The crushing also sread the front piller slightly as the drivers door has changed its position in respect to the door latch slightly. It still closes but you tell that the top of the cowl is under pressure.

I was able to purchase an entire roof cut off near the bottom of the windshield piller, and at the base of the sail. The rear of my original roof is still at full height and the rear window was not broken. I am planning on stripping the car for a full frame off. I will strip interior, clip, glass etc but planned on leaving the doors on until I get the roof in place and the alignment of that drivers door corrected. I also plan to replace both quarters on the car. Not so much rust (some) but the car belonged to a little old lady that lost her eye sight and ability to get in and out of her garage long before she gave up driving. Both sides are cremed full length but the floors are perfect. The car only has 40 some K on it. I will not remove the body, of course, until the roof and all the skin is replaced to keep it from racking.

I need some pointers on removing the top. Then replacing the top, then the quarters. I'm thinking that aligning the front posts, cutting enough out of the way of my new roof on the sails to mate the interior structure, then finish the removal of the quarters and install them. Again, the inners, floors, trunk etc. are great in the car that is why I decided to replace the skin rather than hunt down a whole new body.

BTW. I have mig and most of the tools I need. I am gong to purchase an air recip saw. I have a reg sawzall and a rotary air cutter. I have a torch but think it would create too much heat (warping stuff).

Rick, Funny you should post this today. I just finished welding the roof panel in on a 2002 Lexus LS430 that a tree fell on. It got the hood, decklid, roof including all cross braces and the right quarter. Anyway, it is a little different than your project being that the tree fell right down the center and didn't even damage the sides where the drip rails are.

I have did a number of top chops, and full top replacements so this should be a piece of cake for you. I would start with pushing or pulling, what ever it takes to get the posts to line up where you will be needing them to be cut. So, you can distroy anything in between, as long as the door opens and closes correctly and the gaps look good on the door, showing that the cowl is proper. Now, you "MAY" have to cut the front pillers to get the cowl to return where it belongs.

Let's start with that and then we can go on to making templates for cutting the roofs for the transplant! graemlins/waving.gif

Rick, I jumped the gun a little with my advice to straighten the cowl up. I forgot that you have the donor roof cut off already. You are going to want to start planning on where you are going to cut the old roof off at the front posts first. Being you have the roof cut off, you will have to make your template using points on the roof in the door jamb along the posts. If you were to "destroy anything in between" like I mentioned in the last post, you could destroy points necessary to make the template. So, you do need to try to make the cowl right at this time but you also have to keep in mind where you be cutting the posts.
How high up the posts is there damage? Can you correct the cowl and bottom of the posts, say up eight or ten inches?

On the quarters, if all they need is some plastic filler work, I would seriously think about repairing them instead of replacing. Just my opinion but I feel that you should repair a car in the "lease invasive" manner. Replacing quarters is big time invasive. That is just my opinion, but unless you have NOS quarters, you are better off saying with the original metal.

On the roof at the rear posts you may want to leave the inner structure of the posts in the car. Then remove the inner structure from the donor roof. I don't have a 70ish "A" body to look at but over the next weeks I will try to find one so I can have a better idea of what I can recommend.

Ok. I can get you some pics if thta will help. Again thanks. I'll look at the 1/4s. I know I have the usual hole in the corner of the rear windows, fixed that on my 72. Someone should make a mold and pop out both of those corners, they could get rich. There is some rust at the lower edge of the 1/4s behind the wheel. But the big issue is creases and down both sides, front fender/though door/ to end of 1/4s on both sides.

thanks again for your input. BTW this one got a maple tree limb 15 feet long by 8" plus dia dropped on the roof from the storm. It held up well considering.