Some guys use the roof metal from a van or old station wagon that has ribs in it for a ribbed look. I like them smooth, I filled the roof on my 30 Ford coupe, I just went down to a steel sales warehouse and bought a piece of sheetmetal about a sixteenth of an inch thick and cut it and shaped it and mig welded it in, hammered my welds down the best I could and smoothed things up with the grinder and a little Dyna-glass. For reinforceing you can use small square tubing on the inside your headliner will hide all of that. However you do it tack weld it in at first and then weld between the tacks at random switching sides etc, blow on it with air hose between welds and wait a few minutes for cooling in between to keep heat warp down. Just don"t try to rush it and you will be fine.
fill roof in 34 chev
i want to fill the roof in a 34 chev master coupe and would like to know of a good donor
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I always use a station wagon roof w/the reinforcing ribs. The Chev Caprice has a shape that will work great in your application.It has a almost identical crown.....let us know how you are progressing....Don
There is a guy in Melbourne, Australia, Glenn Percy that can be reached at <a href="http://www.users.bigpond.com/glenn_percy/a-sunroof.htm" target="_blank">www.users.bigpond.com/glenn_percy/a-sunroof.htm</a> He used a Nissan sun roof as a donor complete with electrics. Very cool. His web site also features an external gas tank lid and custom built tank. It's a web site worth visiting. His 30 Ford will be extraordinary when done.
My friend has a 32 ford that the roof is filled with the hood from a 57 chevy. The hood rockets were filled and it looks cool. I think the same results could be had using the hood from a 58-59 chevy truck. They have bulges in them like the 57 chevy car but they are already closed in on the front edge. You would not even need a good hood. Most of those hoods would rust along the front edge all you care about is the flat top of the hood itself. Providing it is solid and not all smashed up you could get your roof filler cheap
Duckman, I had the roof filled in my '34 standard 3 window coupe with a roof from a '78 Ford pick up. A good friend of mine with a lot of experience with chopping tops and filling roofs told me that a roof from an Oldsmobile Omega (around 1985) works really well with Chevy coupes of this style. He butt welds the joint using a TIG welder. Hope this helps you out.
Brian.
[ March 17, 2002: Message edited by: Brian Jones ]</p>
Brian.
[ March 17, 2002: Message edited by: Brian Jones ]</p>
Whatever you sheet metal you use must be crowned. All roofs have multipul radius, so you can find any number of doners. The trick of course is to find one that fits just right. Also in doing so you need to remove the doner roof sheet metal in a manor that will not disturb the smooth radius that you seek, therfore I would caution against using foriegn car sheet metal. It is usually not as thick or tempered the same as domestic stuff. You can make a few card board templets from your cars roof for comparison at the bone yard or even in a parking lot. Shave the card board down with a razor knife and a sanding block to get the radius fit you think looks right. Make more than one at one or two different angles across the roof of your car. Then go out and find a car that has the right shape. Sometimes your better off buying new sheetmetal than cutting a roof from a yard. It's not too expensive and you don't worry about warping the donner piece. Remember that a factory roof is glued to the cross bracing real good, so if your cutting a doner be prepaired to seperate the roof from the bracing with a sharp putty knife, a hack saw blade, or something. Pickup truck roofs may be a good place to start looking. think that look and
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