Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

Different set of tools for this type of work..............20220320_133129.jpg
Next bunch of lows next to the highs..........20220320_145151.jpg
Still some highs & lows but the worst of the ripples are close20220320_145944.jpg20220320_150004.jpg
The biggest "cave in" area is much better in depth & less oil canning!
The top gap is where the roof curves off..........20220320_150041.jpg
 
Good to hear!
When you take the studs off, clamp a Vise-Grip on the head and rotate the stud. Less chance of pulling steel away with the stud...
 
I've lost count of how many times I've pinched my fingers on a slide hammer...

The trick to using the slide hammer is pull only enough to move the metal. Some guys try to muscle their way through it, and end up with little hills of sheet metal everywhere they attached a stud.

You might find (I pretty much guarantee it) that you'll have to slap down the crowned steel in order to keep or tighten everything back into shape. A spoon works wonders, but a clean piece of leaf spring works almost as well.
 
OK, 69er, I did know that, but on the first bunch I used too much heat & a couple that the stud didn't break I did make some holes, I'd say I've done 200 or so in 3 days, I have some welding to do maybe 6 holes so far, I'll get a pic of the last rust hole top of windshield frame, will do the holes when I do that!

Resto, I'm trying to be gentle & do a lot of studs, after I pull off a batch I put the next batch between those spots, I've been tapping on the crowns as I keep tension on the pin, a spoon I don't have, I'll have to ask My friend if he has one, I'll go take a look on eastwood & see what they have?
 
Got in a few rounds on the big dents, the tin canning on the drivers rear roof tightened up nicely, it's a little tighter around the dents, but I've created a really touchy one just behind the crown up front, I'll keep working the big ones & hope that tightens up20220321_154502.jpg20220321_154515.jpg
There is defiantly improvement, still LOTS of work to do on it!
 
Think I'm getting close on the roof, got lucky & tried putting a pin with some metal on it(a used one) & put it over one of the holes I popped with a longer heat cycle, then broke the stud off & ground down the head & wa la the hole was filled, so I did the rest of those, then out came the lump hammer & I tried to straighten up the innner roof supports, got em pretty close.20220322_172906.jpg20220322_172923.jpg
So now I'm looking at the two areas that are still oil canning a little, with great trepidation I started banging outward with the rounded top of the lump hammer, holy crapoli it worked on the real sensitive canning spot, so I tried a little in the big dent area, I think that helped some.20220322_172719.jpg
still off a bit, but much smaller area & less gap, again the top gap is where the roof curves away.
Gonna wait till my friend can get over & see if he thinks I can do more bettererererer or if it's putty time? 20220322_172641.jpg
So each time I've been out I've been taking off another area of por 15, when that's all off I'll go to the less aggressive cleaning wheels to finish it up.20220322_172959.jpg
 
Now a couple of questions, what do I use between the supports & the skin , Pretty much whatever gunk they used is long gone?

Now for seam sealer, they did the cars mostly from the inside, I have that all done, I look at the bottom & you have all that overlapping metal exposed to the elements, would I hurt anything by seam sealing those seams from the bottom too?
 
imo a panel glue is what you would use on the roof supports..as i "think" its the closest thing to what was originaly in there..ditto for the hood and trunk lid

on the inside vs outside seams..me personaly ive done them both and liked the result enough to consider it my own goto..most of the time, id like to know what resto has to say on it..around here however you dont need that kind of coverage to protect a rig, anything that rusts fast or easy i prefer to full seal, so that leaves old mopars out of the "need" group but alfa's and other old euro stuff seal it with every chemical you can and then seal the seams then seal the seals!

on the nails, ive done enough of those on thin metal to have given up even twisting them off..i just cant trust it..so...i nip the studs off with pliers and then grind the heads down with a 36grit wheel

if you have a harbor frieght neer by check out their hammer n dolley set..with the amount you use them..they will probably serve you just fine...the hammers are..questionable at best bit the dolleys are useualy good enough, check the sets before you buy them for "seams" on the finished surface..so long as you get either a seamless set or can grind em nice..then they will do...hell most auto parts stores either have em or can get em....even amazon would be good...at the end of the day its just shaped blocks of steel

the ONLY reason i dont like leaf spring is the vibrations i seem to get vs the "dead" ...hell ive been using a chunk of modified RR track to shape things over and even use it as a dolley on big ass areas
 
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The roof braces were most likely originally isolated from the roof skin by a rubber-like mat bonded to the underside of the roof skin. The roof skin was never bonded in any way to the braces. With the temperature extremes a roof skin goes through, the contraction and expansion of thin steel over a bonded joint would lead to massive wrinkles and distortions constantly.
However, I've seen low-expansion foam spray used to good success. I mean the automotive-intended foam, not the stuff for the window and door frames in your house. ;)

Never having used a pulling stud to fill holes, I can't comment on that... save to say, there is a reason I've never done it.

Seam sealing... on the inside? Always use the best urethane seam sealer you can find. Always. It's best, in my opinion, to apply it over an epoxy-primed joint.
I can give you some tricks to get it looking like the factory-ugly that was originally there. :)
 
Got back from mom's rehab around 3, my intention was to stay out till dark & get the rest of the roof clean, well I ended up going back to 24 grit to get the thick por15 off, then stopped around 4:30 for a quick bite, went back out started on the 36 grit & by 5 it started raining, well bare metal & water do not mix, so I pulled the tarp over & dried off the few drips that got on & then cleaned up for the day! the top front I got the 3m wheel working a bit, have to do all the rest after I get most of the black off.20220323_164528.jpg20220323_164544.jpg
What I hope is the last of the rust repairs needed , the window channel & what was a pin hole 14 years ago, I'll have to cut out a small section there!20220323_150755.jpg20220323_150857.jpgThat's up a few inches from the bad channel above the drivers door.
 
Got most of the roof pretty clean, started working on the drip rails & front window channel, found a few more pin holes in the roof along the drip rails, glad I found those before I finished the other patches, now I can do it all at once.
Still trying to figure how clean is clean enough already.20220325_180140.jpg20220325_180038.jpg20220325_180023.jpg20220325_180015.jpg
rust is fast, a spot I missed drying yesterday 20220325_151652.jpg
Just under the rust hole I found a screw in post & it looks like a previous repair around it?
Another screw in same spot other side, but no sign of other work? the rest of the factory studs are there. 20220325_175941.jpg
 
pinholes in drip rails are the one thing that terrify me as i KNOW that rust started inside the framework and rusted its way out...which means theres other issues that need to be adressed.....its the reason my 58 ford will end up with its entire roof swapped out...
 
It's not uncommon to see a variation in reveal clips retainers. I did an original-paint '70 Duster a while back that had one entire side with the clips retained by studs along the top, and the other side had screws.
Most I've seen were with screws, though.

Drip rail rust... One of the toughest things to completely eliminate. The double layers of steel, multiple deep spot welds, and a natural place for water to creep in and stay makes it tricky.
Unless the steel is spotlessly clean to begin with, I do nothing less than sandblasting to a white finish, then a good coat of epoxy primer immediately after, even if it has to be done with a brush. A brush-coat is preferred, really, as you can brush it in where a spray might not penetrate.
 
Yep. as I state later every time I clean a little more the rust area up front gets a little bigger, today I took a pic & worked it in all the holes & pulled out all the rusty metal, then the leaf blower got out a bit more,shot from every angle I could rustolium primer in the holes, from inside into the crack in the framing & managed to get it to run down inside the drivers post & out the bottom by the door, now I know I may have only covered a small percentage of the metal but at least I got some, at the top I'm pretty sure I got everything within a few inches of the holes, maybe wasted effort but about all I can do in there?
 
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