[glhx]

do you pinch the metal before you weld it. a strip of 16 gauge welded to the back of my door would be kind of thin . wouldnt it? id like to know more about this as i plan on doing it

[MARTINSR]

When this thread started I was saying how reinforcement of the body wasn't necissary while doing a roof skin. We are talking JUST the skin. If you are cutting the roof off at the posts you need some reinforcement many times and it is good measure to just count on it.

But with just a skin it isn't a big deal, that roof is little more than a "paint holder". I bring this up again because we have a Honda Accord in the shop that someone decided to jump on. Here is a shot with the roof skin removed, no bracing will be done. Now, if you open and shut the door the side "vibrates" quite a bit. But it won't move unless you wanted it to.

Brian

[IMG][/IMG]

[baddbob]

Brian, I see quite a few of the newer designs have a replacment roof skin with the header and bows already glued to the skin so it's replaced as an assembly. Is that Honda designed this way or did the damage require the header and bows to be replaced as well?

Thinking about that Dart roof skin I really think I would use adhesive on the drip rail seams. I remember doing some of those skins with similar desgn and sometimes the gutter plug welds are a pita to do cleanly.

[ericnova72]

14 gage sheet is the same thickness as 20 gage folded over on itself.
14 gage=.075", 16 gage=.060", 18 gage=.048" 20 gage=.036", 22 gage=.030"

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by baddbob

Brian, I see quite a few of the newer designs have a replacment roof skin with the header and bows already glued to the skin so it's replaced as an assembly. Is that Honda designed this way or did the damage require the header and bows to be replaced as well?

Thinking about that Dart roof skin I really think I would use adhesive on the drip rail seams. I remember doing some of those skins with similar desgn and sometimes the gutter plug welds are a pita to do cleanly.

Yep Bob, it is an assembly complete with the sun roof supports. And yes bonding the skin at the gutters is a great way to go. Lots of cars are now done this way in fact. I did a Saturn SL2 and it had four spot welds, one in each corner, that was it, the rest was adhesive.

Brian

[glhx]

This is the first time ive heard of gluing a roof onto a car. How do you do it? What do you use?
where do you get it?
Is it better than spot welding?

[MARTINSR]

Completely bonding it on isn't the way to go in my opinion, even though there are some cars built that way. Well, save for a spot weld in each corner. But bonding along the sides in the drip rails is a very good way to go, it is even sealing the seam for you.

You can get it at any autobody paint and supply store. Or on line of course at a number of locations like autobodystore.com.

Brian

[glhx]

how do you apply this seam sealer. if i spot weld the 4 corners of the roof on then i cant seal it. Ive never done anything like this before. Do i need any weldable primer?

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by glhx

how do you apply this seam sealer. if i spot weld the 4 corners of the roof on then i cant seal it. Ive never done anything like this before. Do i need any weldable primer?

"Seam sealer" we haven't mentioned seam sealer. We are talking about "Structual adhesive". And you would weld over the front and rear windows. It is the side over the gutters where it is very difficult to weld (many times, with your car, I am not familier) you could use the adhesive.

Brian

[glhx]

how is the adhesive applied. do you spot the roof in the four corners and then put the adhesive over the seam? or do you adhere the roof first and leave the glue out of the area to be spot welded and then spot weld after the roof is glued

[MARTINSR]

You grind the surfaces where the panels meet. You then apply the adhesive to both surfaces, brushing it out to cover all bare metal. You then place the roof where it belongs and clamp it in place. When the adhesive had cured you do your welding.

Brian

[glhx]

how far away from where i spot weld do i end the adhesive. the weld will heat affect a certain area and ruin the bond. does the glue need to stay away from this spot welded area? if so, How far? Thank you for your patience, time, and advice. It is really appreciated

[MARTINSR]

As I remember about an inch and a half. But if you think about it, does that really matter? If you were to put the adhesive up to an inch away and that last half inch is effected by the heat and looses it's integrety or if you stop at an inch and a half you have no bonding there anyway! The thing is, the spot welds are usually about an inch and a half to two inches apart. So if the glue begins where a spot weld would have, that is pretty much right on.

There are adhesives that you weld THRU with a STRSW (Squeeze Type Resistance Spot Welder) and you don't even worry about it. But when MIG welding you need to leave a little room.

You want the metal ground ONLY where the adhesive is going to be.

Brian

[glhx]

Now that ive secured a roof for my car, the roof i have has some problems. I have oil canning in a very large area of the roof. I think a tree fell on the car at some point. The oil canning is about a foot and a half in diameter. It isnt a deep dent. I might push it up from the bottom 1/8 of an inch. How do I get this dent out without using filler

[F&J]

A body worker would want to see it in person first.



A vague answer is that it may be slightly stretched. Look it over real close with lighting at different angles, looking for tell-tale "smile" shaped creases on the outer edges of where the low spot is. You need good light to gently dolly those out while applying slight pressure upwards on the low area.

If it still oilcans (or feels weak) when all the smiles are gone, I think you will need to shrink the metal. That's almost impossible to give advice on without seeing it in person. IMO.