So I decided I would do the roof skin on my 1970 cutlass myself cause I ain't rich. The roof itself fits better than I thought however I am unsure about where it meets the a-pillars. I thought I would see what you guys think.

 

I guess I need to word it different, If you look at the ruler you can see the roof skin doesn't line up with the a-pillar. I can't get the roof to sit any lower, any thoughts would be great.

 

Could you add some more pictures but back a little? I'm not sure I'm picturing the right area. Do you think you need to splice in some metal to make the roof skin meet up with the surface of the pillar?

John

 

The other side.

 

You could add a little metal to the roof to bring it down a bit more. Have you popped the windshield back in for a test to see how it sits?

 

I've got a couple 4 door parts cars. I could cut out the top of the posts near the roof if you want to have pieces to splice in. But I agree with droptopron, you should do a trial fit with your glass to make sure everything is lining up as it should.


John

 

The part I'm worried about is the transition between the roof and the pillars not the gap. I'm Thinking if I leave it like this There will be a bump where it meets. It's hard to tell but the roof skin is about 1/8th inch higher than the pillars when running the ruler up the pillars.

 

Are you sure the A-pillars didn't move at all when you cut the old skin off? In any case, this transition is not that great on factory cars. In the photo looking up the A-pillar, it appears that the pinchweld area on the new roof panel is a little too tall. Any chance you can compare it to the old part? And yes, test-fitting the glass before final welding is mandatory.

 

I am not sure if the pillars moved at all but I will be testing the fitment of the window before any welding. On the old roof there wasn't much of this area left so its pretty much no help. I want to make sure it is right before I do anything permanent that's why I have not rushed to put it on.

 

As I noted, this joint looks like crap from the factory. I just went out and looked at my 69 442 (currently in primer). This is a former vinyl top car, so there wasn't great care taken to finish the body under the vinyl, but the roof-to-A pillar joint on that car (with the seam sealer removed) looks disturbingly like the joint in your pictures, including the gap. Since I'm not reinstalling the vinyl, I guess I have to work on this...

 

You wouldn't be able to shoot a couple pics would you?

 

Does anyone have any pics of this?

 

Your looking for photos of this joint, correct?

 

Here's a few pictures. Three of these are parts cars, so I'll look for some coarse sandpaper to find out whats under the paint. If I can do that I'll send more photos of the results.

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Thank you for the pics.

 

Thats the way my 72 looks also.. my body guy said they just did some creative lead work at the factory. Remember, they aren't perfect from the factory.. fit and finish wasn't as important as production was.

 

Yes, it looks like a pretty good sized patch of lead or whatever the alloy was they used. When you look at the photos you can see the shiny steel on the two ends, and the dull alloy in the middle. John

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Not many people using lead these days. I would consider a 2 part epoxy--like jb weld--built up and then just skim coated with body filler. Epoxy provides strength and fills in also. It sands down no problem. If you have not tried the POR 15 body filler I highly recommend it. No pin holes and really nice to work with.

 

When did they stop using lead? Just asking cause mine had body filler, was that stock?