homerunchamp

Hey guys, anyone here ever thought about doing a roof swap on their 3rd gen? I am asking cause my T-top car roof sucks bad and had a huge rusted area between the rear glass and the T's. If no one ever has, maybe you wanna help me try? Heck whats the worst we can do, have to junk it? Pretty much screwed right now anyhow. Also if so anyone have a solid roof for a hard top or know where to find one? I am thinking the Schofield yard but dont know how I would get the entire roof removed there with out having the right tools. Dunno guys, maybe not a great idea but could be fun. Maybe a convertible, lol. Anyhow I know some of you have the welding equipment and knowledge to do this, maybe you can help a me out and learn something. L8RS guys!

Duck

The idea of changing a 3rdGen roof has occurred to me whenever I park near a big tree on a windy day ... what would I do if a huge tree limb caved in the roof of my IROC... Changing the roof by cutting the pillers would be a big job requiring a high level of expertise in several areas, welding being the major one. I'd rather go for cutting/replacing panels, instead of the whole roof. Just take your battery-powered Sawzall up to SB, whack off what you need and install it at the craft shop, where they should have a TIG or MIG welder. Then a few layers of epoxy glassmat should level it out... Sorry I can't offer more than advice, I have enough trouble doing just the basics day-to-day. IMO making this repair is a good way to keep the car on the road, especially if it's in otherwise good condition.

homerunchamp

Ed, yeah I was reading through some posts on this here from a couple years ago and that seems to be the concencus. Battery powered sawzall huh? How much does one of these run, or do youknow if they can be rented out from some place? That may be the idea. May be pretty tought still though as the piece I need is kind of large and not sure what would be the best way to attack it. Thanks for the advice, going to have to look into a sawzall I suppose.

Duck

Not sure if battery-powered versions are made, might have been wishful thinking on my part. The guys at the salvage yard will let you run a long extension cord for a conventional Sawzall, or they can pick up the car on a forklift and move it to the front [might have to bring in a box of donuts, like I did when I pulled a rear end a while back].

3rdGenBlackBird

I've cut through exhaust easily with battery powered recip saws, and with the right blade it should be able to hit most of the roof. I ripped out my headliner permanently and don't recall ever seeing anything very thick except for the edge. You'd need at least a couple fully charged batteries though.

Best bet, see if they have a basketcase in the yard that you can play around with a little. See what welds do to it. Might need some pizza (and beer) like Ed said for this, though.

Scott

homerunchamp

Well, I got ambitious today, not sure what got into me to tell the truth. Anyhow, decide to try and work with what I have first, and patch in some sheet metal in place of the rusted out crap I had. So afte only a couple of horus work it os not looking too bad at all, all things considered. I will be working on smoothing things out sometime this weekend, probably not tomorrow though. Going to take the kids to see Superman and have to make a trip to Toys R Us as well.
On another note, anyone have a set of Iroc loovers or Z28 blisters laying around? I have a line on a hood but no inserts. Lemme know.
L8RS!

Duck

What's your recommendation for a quality battery-powered recip saw? I'm inclined to prefer "bigger is better" for this type of tool. Thanks, Ed

3rdGenBlackBird

Yeah, bigger is definately better.

I don't know how much "quality" the ones I've used have, but the Craftsman 19.2V one is okay. My friends have mentioned similar comments. They start off pretty good but the battery just won't carry it through a whole lot. The newer 19.2V kits have 3 batteries so that should be good. Plus, having a less than optimal blade will show the power weakness even more.
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Any pics?

xklipze

i met this guy the other day, he approached me, he has a 86 camaro with functional t-tops for sale it runs too $500 he was asking.. he also owns some sort of machine shop where he could do the installation of a new roof...

reason we acomplished so much, was i told him in the future i would plan on maybe making the car t-tops.. but i dont have money now...

but if you are serious about such a thing.... anything is possible... he also told me, about how it would go down, he pointed out where the roof should be cut, and other such things, guy seemed like he knew what he was talking about... if your interested PM me...

anyone in oahu want to help me figure out whats wrong with my z28 ?

i been trying to fix it for 3 days now.. and i cant figure it out...

homerunchamp

Any pics?[/QUOTE]
Should have some pics soon once I can get back to the work again. The new hood is on, that was the east part. Now back to the roof. Have to get busy with the bondo to smooth it all out. Just hoping the bondo will not crack up there as I think that would be a pretty high flex area.
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anyone in oahu want to help me figure out whats wrong with my z28 ?

i been trying to fix it for 3 days now.. and i cant figure it out...[/QUOTE]

I think I have this roof covered at this point. So whats wrong with your Z28? What is it doing etc. Where are you located, Oahu is a decent size island.

oops, seen your other post. Sorry for the clutter guys!