I have a 78 F150 that is in great shape. I bought it from a guy who used it in the woods and on his tree nursery. He had it for 20 years and had it painted recently before I bought it. It had some rust coming through on the top corner of the roof on the cab by the front of the door near the windshield. I want to get it repaired, but I don't want to grind and fill because I know it will come back. I can't find any metal for this spot anywhere!! I have looked everywhere online. I spoke to someone at Maaco, and he said that they could probably get a replacement roof. Is this true? I haven't spoken to anyone but him who has said this. Other body guys have even told me that if they fabricated a piece of metal to replace the bad spot after they cut it out, that it too would eventually rust. Anybody have any info to help me out?

 

Yeah you can get a replacement roof.....from a donor truck. And depending on where you are at that could be next to impossible. The best places to look for one is out west or southwest. As far as cutting out and replacing with a fabricated piece, you can do it and if done properly it should last a very long time. The first and most important step it to make sure you get back to clean metal (no rust) As long as you do that you will be in good shape. Then before you weld the patch into place, use a weldable primer for a little extra protection between the metal and then drop the head liner (if there is one) and undercoat the area, in fact I would do as much as possible as long as there is no rust anywhere else.

Oh, and stay away from Macco....they have no idea what they are doing in the first place.

 

Thanks for the info. I think I will just have someone cut out the rust and put in a new piece. I talked to a guy over the weekend, and he seemed like he knew what was up, and I have heard that his work on rust issues was great. Thanks for the help.