Hey guys, I started this repair back in October 2019 but unfortunately was unable to finish it until today. Life got kind of weird for me and I didn't have access to this car for a year but it's finally back on track to getting finished. This job is what made me realize that I will never buy another 80's t top car, hard top cars only from now on. I've owned this car since 2013 and was my first car when I was in highschool. This car has been with me thru thick and thin and I don't think I could ever get rid of it.

My T top channels like most of these cars had severe rot going on all over. what started off as a simple t top seal replacement turned into some pretty in depth metal replacement. Figured I'd post what I had to go through in case it helps someone in the future.

#1 Assessing the damage

This was the worst section of the front channel, as you can tell in the pic it rotted the inside face of the t top section as well

Here's the front channel partially ripped up, showing the damage under neath

Here's the back channel also partially ripped up


#2 Channels completely removed

This is the front without the channel, the metal underneath also needed to be replaced

Same goes for the back

#3 First patch on front section

I removed the bad sheet metal from the picture prior to this, cleaned up the metal under neath, and cut out the rotted metal on the front roof section itself

Here's the replacement patch I made for that section, I unfortunately don't have pictures but I used a shrinker and stretcher set I got from harbor freight to match the curve, rounded the edge over to match the curve of the roof

Here's that panel welded in, I did some hammer and smoothing work after this but don't have any pictures. I also sprayed down some weld-thru primer


This is how I shaped the sheet metal going under the front t top channel, did the same for the back channel as well

You can see the shrinking marks on the panel, a couple more tweaks after this and it fit well

different view of the other side

Here it is welded in and coated with more weld thru primer

 

Starting the back


here's the nasty spot on the back cut out

Here's the new patch in place, gaps weren't as tight as you'd hope but oh well

new patch welded in, welds aren't pretty but body shop patch welds are only ever pretty once you warp the panel from heat

patch panel blended in

Now this is where I messed up, I was in such a rush that I didn't take any decent photos of the replacement channels themselves. I got them from "Auto Fabrication & Design". He's made them for other members on this forum as well and he is solid guy, super fast work, great quality, great communication. If you search his business name you should find him on google or facebook


Here's the only couple pictures I have with the new channels welded in. As you can see the car is in a different garage now. I finally have it back in my possession to work on

Additional angle. the car needed a decent amount more filler than is pictured here

After three years, the t top section is finally sealed with epoxy primer


I may keep updating this thread as the car gets completed. The next big hurdle will be finishing the t top section paint and getting the gaskets in. For the past two years I've had to make sure this car stayed in some form of enclosure due to it not having a sealable roof, all while never even having access to the car due to family issues.

 

Nice work!

 

thank you