Some good advice has already come my way from this forum about just getting a new roof instead of fooling with rust along the drip rail, but a tight budget has me thinking again, which is dangerous...

My truck has about a dozen small rust-through holes along the front of the roof, a good 1/2 inch above the drip rail. The drip rail itself is solid. The biggest hole in the roof metal is maybe 1/2 inch wide by about 1 1/2 inches long. Most of the holes range in size from pinholes up to about a 1/4 inch in diameter. I assume the rust came from inside moisture of some kind. Other than the dozen small holes, the roof is solid.

I don't have welding equipment yet and I don't think I could afford to hire the skilled work to weld in accurately contoured patch pieces.

So.....on risk of sounding really stupid ( ) here's my question:

I'm thinking about using a Dremel to accurately cut out all the rusty metal, pound small sections of clean sheetmetal to fit the inside contour of the roof, use some kind of epoxy (JP Weld?) to fix them in place, and finally, use a thin layer of standard filler to smooth the outer surface area. I figure the headliner should hide the bonded sheetmetal on the inside of the roof.

Am I setting myself up to fail here? Is there a better product out there for doing this kind of bonding work than good ol' JB Weld? How about a fiberglass patch kit? Should I forget about bonding and just get a welding shop to tack in the inside patch?

Or, should I sit on my hands and save money until I can afford a big welding job?

ROB

 

personally i would fix it right the first time but thats not alway an option for everyone

 

At the risk of causing some folk to throw up their hands in disgust, I'll venture an opinion for the extremely budget minded -

I doubt the shaped metal and bonded patch idea would work. If you don't have any real experience shaping metal, I doubt you'd be able to shape them well enough to fit properly. No offense intended - I'm assuming you're not an (many years) experienced body man.

However, I have a similar problem along the bottom rear of my cab and fully intend to use the fiber glass from the inside and thin layer of bondo from the outside approach. I just don't have the bucks to pay someone for the many hours it would take to repair it with metal the professional way.

But that's just me (and a very low budget that will never get much bigger)...

Later,

 

No offense taken....I'm a complete novice here and not afraid to admit it!

Nixer, agree with the "do it right the first time" mindset, and you're also right on about the realities of budget, or lack thereof.

Hopefully I'll get enough strong opinions both pro and con to help me make up my mind on what to do, or not to do. If it becomes clear that waiting is best, though, I can sure do that 'cuz it doesn't cost anything but time.

I could always just cut out the rust, paint it up, and let the dry Texas air flow right in across my forehead...

ROB

 

I got a similar problem with holes that were cut into the dash, one is about 2 1/8" in diameter (guage) as well as several drill holes of variaous size.

Part of me think I oughta expand the guage hole to accomodate a stereo system.

If you happen across any solutions / products please post them!

XXL-RG

 

Count on it! Even if I blow it and do something stupid.

I should really say, especially if I blow it and do something stupid.

ROB

 

OK Folks, Ready the Arrows.
There are some really good automotive type bonding agents available today. Most of the new vehicles use them, as well as the aircraft industry.
There have been several articles in the "rags" in the past year or so about using these products to install patch panels. Basically it's shape, bond, rivet, and smooth over with a filler.
I have a couple of patches to do on my truck that I will use this method.

Check out Eastwood Co for an example of the stuff.

 

hi guys, i have just bought a fiberglass turret skin for a rusty 56 cab, all i intend doing is cut around the drip rail, clean with a wire brush fitted to a 4" angle grinder, then use a two part epoxy similar to what they glue corvettes together with, some product dry rock hard, other have some degree of flexability, in your case i would use a rigid type and make sure it fillsaround the whole edge so if the filler gets moisture under it u can see the tell tail signs, as for forming the shape, why not go to a local wrecking yard and ask the blokes if u could cut a section of roof from a wreck with a similar curve, this will save some trouble.
the only other thing i could add is what ever u do, don't cut corners, imagine it was u buying this truck of some one else, what sort of job would u expect???
cya...gary

 

I used panel adhesive to glue my roof skin on. I did this in my auto body class under the guidance of an experienced body man. Panel adhesive will work fine as long as it isn't used on a structural member. When I patched my cowl vent seal recess, I cut a good piece out of my donor cab, placed it behind the bad areas and welded it in. After I clean up the welds, I'll fill it with a metal based epoxy. Check out my web site for some pictures.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Rob,
I will send you a PM with info on a guy in Boyd who has quite a few 53-56 trucks and may be able to help you out with a different roof.

As far as the adhesives go, there are some out there that would probably work very well for this. We use several two part epoxies from Hardman at work with very good results.

The TCC south campus offers two "auto restoration" sections during the summer where you can use all their equipment during the class periods. Classes are usually two days a week, from 6-10 p.m. and it runs 6 weeks for around $160. You bring your own project to work on and the instructor will help/advise/teach, if needed, or just leave you alone to work, as long as you follow a few safety rules. Good resource, especially if you don't have all the equipment at home.

Good Luck!
Kent

 

Rob here's what I see is being overlooked..... The rust holes are coming through from the inside. To fix it right you MUST get in behind the holes and remove or kill ALL the rust. Any amount of patching, filling, fiberglassing, bondo, epoxy, or bubblegum will only look ok for a while then the rust blisters will come through your repair and fresh paint. Therefore if your on a tight budget and are wanting it to look good now and fix it right later when the money is available I would (and this is just me personally) prep and patch the holes with bondo and go with a cheapee paint job. This will look fine for a couple of years and when the rust starts to blister up under the paint wack the roof off and put on the good one you wanted to cut up for patches. Best of luck, Rich.

 

I think if I was in your shoes...
1. Cut out all of the bad areas, make sure you get to solid metal.
2. Coat the inside of the roof with POR15 or something to keep the rust from coming back or growing.
3. Fiberglass a patch in from the inside using a kit from any parts house.
4. Filler, sand shoot.

This is what was recommended to me on by floorboards. They weren't shot, but there were some pin holes. Seems to have worked great so far.


Mike
'54 F-100

 

My only concern would be the different expansion/contraction rates on fiberglass and sheet metal. You could possibly have issues with a thin cracked paint line around the patch somewhere down the road. I read somewhere that some of the folks who have glassed in aftermarket hood scoops on metal hoods have experienced this problem.

 

A hood will get alot hotter than a roof.

 

The TCC auto class sounds like a great plan...I've followed Kevin's website as he did the same thing with his 53. I'll look into it.

I'll definitely strip every sign of rust, inside and out. I've got some great little grinder bits on the Dremel to get into tight areas and take it down to shiny clean metal, as well as the cut off discs to remove the destroyed metal. I'll follow that up with a good cleaning, then some POR Metal Ready to zap the microrust left behind and etch, and finally shoot some Zero Rust black on the inside. I'll begin that work this coming week, because no matter what I do afterwards, it's a logical starting point.

Once I'm done with that, I plan to step back about 10 feet, take a fresh look at how big the holes appear, and then make up my mind among the following options:

1) Get a new roof (most popular advice), install it at next TCC auto class along with other projects.
2) Try to fabricate my own metal patch pieces to fit the inside radius, then use a two part epoxy designed for auto body work to glue them in place, and fill the outside with filler.
3) If my fabrication skills come up short (likely), and I can't get the patches to rest flush against the inside....I'll drive the truck to a body shop familiar with custom/rod type work and get a quote to fab some patches and weld them in the right way.
4) If they want the equivalent of my monthly home mortgage to do that, I'll probably end up at Auto Zone buying the fiberglass kit and knowing that the fix is only a temp solution.

I'll post some pics soon of what happens...

ROB