I didnt get much reply over 2 days in body and paint forums, so I figure to try the ef section only. Long story short. I smashed into a cow. Cow's head damaged my roof. I read up wes v write up how to do it and everything. With me little experience into body work and everything, I managed to get the roof off nicely. My question is do I spot weld the roof on and then use some type of glue or glue it down and then spot weld around it? I just want to do it right at the 1st time. Also somebody told me that I can use this type of glue, panel bonding is soo strong that I wouldn't need to spot weld it back in.

here some pictures of the damage and during the process.

here when i had some fun with a friggin cow.


till got them hairs on there! Yum tasty!


It been sitting an year after the wreck, because I couldnt find a si shell. Car is striped as of now, Because I figure to do a complete overhaul with shaving engine bay and tucking and everything else at once.






donor car and roof.






I got it just sittin on the project car, needing to know what to do 1st.

 

Usually you get it right where you want it (using some body clamps)then use a whole bunch of clamps or just self taping screws. Then go around and spot weld it. You can take the screws back out & weld over those spots. Then you use body sealer...it's a caulk used for 2 adjoining metals.

thats the simple of it anyways....still have to grind down the spot welds b4 sealer & primer b4 sealer

 

but what is this glue panel bonding? is that a sealer?

 

i heard it's possible to use seam sealer and rivits. strong enough to hold an airplane together.

 

yeah same idea, i was going to use panel bonding adhesive and screws to hold it in place. There this webpage I googled up on talk about panel bonding. Scroll down until it says adhesive bonding, this is the method I'm going to be using. Will it work the same way?

http://www.goodwrench.com/gmgo...t.pdf

edit: i have this glue similar to lord fusor glue.


Modified by 4DRmafia at 3:48 PM 7/15/2008

 

this is the stuff i used and it strong as hell! 22,000psi before it breaks apart!

i used the 40 minute one to give me alot of time to align the roof and everything.



I love this [freak]ing thing

 

You have the hard part done already. I would weld the new roof back in myself...

 

we need pics of this. good thread.

 

ok heres how u need to do it poperly.
1. posistion the room where it needs to be. unibodys tend to flex when stress is taken off. i.e. the roof and part of the pillars have been removed. work with it. there are tools called slip jacks the look like pipe calmps and have a ratcheting property to extend or retract. comes in handy if the body flexed.

2. after the roof has been placed and clamped use vise-grips to hold every thing in place while the slip jacks are still in place.

3. Use a MIG welder and tack the joining panels. heres were a lil practice comes in handy. U CAN NOT run straight beads u will warp the metel to **** and it will screw all ur hard work up. the best way is called stitch welding. check in the welding forum and ask around or google it. a stitch weld will look like tack welds bunched together. ill try and find a pic for ya to look at later.

4. after that its all down hill the hard part is over. now is where u may clean all the welds up and smooth everything out.. u can use a good quality plastic filler AKA bondo and fill ur hihgs and lows where u have greond down ur welds.

5. after u do that i would suggest searching for an epoxy primer. if u do not know how to use a spray gun i would suggest finding a body shop to do this step. this epoxy primer will seall all the bare metal inside and out to prevent rust..strongl recomend if u live a wet or salty enviroment.

6. after that u may apply primer and paint. and thats about it. if u have any questions or about products drop me an IM i will help point u in the right direction. i work in the collision repair industry so im pretty familiar with what u are going through.

 

what kind of primer should i use before laying sealer ? etch primer?