dterry68

As most of you have read i am trying to fix up my 68 mustang and a big issue that i noticed a while ago was the roof. It is sunlit gold with a black vinyl roof and well of course it was out in the weather and the roof underneath the vinyl has rusted. I haven't took the vinyl off yet but i know there is a lot of damage i can hear the metal kinda crunch in some places and it sucks. I have heard of some ideas like finding a donor car and cutting the roof of it and transfering it or fiberglassing the roof. Anyone have an idea? When i tackle this problem i want to do it right and don't want any screw ups happening since of course it is a vidal point on the car.

2+2GT

Get back to us after you peel the vinyl. It might just be pitted, and a little flaky.

cfd2bc

I agree with 2+2. Get it off and see what you are up against. I had the same issues. "A" posts, drip rails and 8 inches of the top on the driver's side were gone. Not to mention many rust through holes. Mine was a surprise, and not a good one!

Check links for pictures.

Jeff

dterry68

ok will do. Just wanted to get an idea of what i might have to do. you can tell though its rusted pretty bad its bubbled up in places and it crunches when you put pressure on it in some places. There is some solid places though so not all is lost.

good12hav

Sounds like my roof...



I found a donor and had a shop replace it.

cam2790

just wondering, what was the cost of having a shop chop your top?

Tony R

I replaced mine on my 65 coupe and the donor was around 150. Then it was just my labor. Hate to think what a shop quote would be. It wasnt too hard. My biggest issue was that the donor roof was slightly bigger than my origional so I had some creative fabrication to fix it.

good12hav

The shop charged me $1150 and the donor was $300. I think it was reasonable.

dterry68

I've found a couple donor cars at reasonable prices and i know a guy that would do it for less than $500 so i just have to see how bad it is under there.

Adrenolin

My question here is why are you bothering to ask or call around for quotes and donors when you haven't even removed the vinyl yet to see how bad the roof is? You have no idea what your dealing with until you remove the vinyl and there is no harm in doing so. Just rip it off. The roof could be scaled with light rust that could be easily cleaned up yet still sound crunchy under the vinyl. You might find that its still mostly solid. Perhaps a few areas that could be patched without requiring the entire roof be cut off and replaced. It would be much easier and cheaper to patch a few sheetmetal areas then cutting away the structure.

btw.. removing the vinyl asap will do nothing but help the situation! It'll do 2 things. First it'll allow you to actually see just how bad it is 'after' its cleaned up a bit; secondly it will stop any moisture from being trapped and allow everything to dry out.

Replacing a roof is not something to be taken lightly or even considered until after close inspection. Its a big job and many things could go wrong. IMO anyone who tells you they could do this for less then 500.00 doesn't realize this and either they are going to loose a pile of money doing the work correctly or you'll get a very bad job done. I'd put money on the 2nd myself.

Rip the vinyl off, take a few pics and post them.