Roof skin install questions

[truckinman466]

I have a couple of questions on putting the roof skin on. #1 what do you put between the center support and the roof? #2 Has anyone used panel bond to attach it to the drip rails? 

[70 Challenger Lover]

I am getting close to this chore myself. I believe the proper thing is to put in a thick bead of sealant on the supports when laying it in. Once dry, it should not only seal but prevent rattling. As for the sides, front and back, it is my understanding the lips gets spot welded to the existing frame around the perimeter. The front and rear pillars get welded in followed by lead to smooth the seam out. That was going to be my plan of attack.

To answer your question about panel bond, I haven't used a product by that name but I have used one called Lord Fusor 112 which dries very slowly and also permits spot welding as it dries without popping or burning too much. They refer to it as a weld through sealant and I guess it was designed for repair shops.

[6Pack70]

I'm gonna have to throw in my 2 cents on this one. Do NOT use panel bond on the center support for the dome light!  Trust me, I found out the hard way.  Half the time when you take a good look at one of these E bodies,  the factory sealer on the top of the center support for the dome light has already broke away years ago.  I used about the same amount of panel bond on the top of this support only when installing a new AMD roof skin. The rest is plug welded in the same spots as the original spotwelds.  Well, after moving the car around on dollies and transporting it to the paint shop, the roof buckled right where that brace is!  My guess is the body flexes a little bit and it was definitely too tight in that area. Had i used just plain seam sealer, it would have likely just broke away from the roof.....same as it was. Lol. Lots of work to clean up that roof skin and make it right.

[Rich G.]

I put a roof on my Cuda. I only welded on the front, back and sides. Center supports have nothing. I was told by Craig from AMD to ( if you're mig welding) to drill holes in the drip rail and weld from the bottom up to the roof. Don't know what you're working on but on my Cuda the fit was perfect. I don't know if panel bond is a recommended method but it sure would be easier if you could use it on the drip rails. I'd call AMD and ask them first.

[70 Challenger Lover]

So the center support gets nothing? One of the things I noticed on my roof was the rattling where the old bond came loose.

[RUNCHARGER]

Thanks for that info Six Pack70. I could see how that could happen.

[6Pack70]

No problem...this is how we learn.  I wouldn't use nothing at all on that support just something flexible....and a very small amount.   

[jimynick]

OK, ever the contrarian, let me put my  worth in here. If you have a car, that while moving it ( and I'm assuming you didn't use a crane to pick it up) and the roof skin buckles because you bonded it to the roof ribs, then you've got other issues to worry about. These cars are semi flexible, but the factory put sealant in there for a reason and you should, too. Personally, while my roof never came off, I did replace the sealant with new and actually made about a 4" band to go inside the roof that I adhered to it, to stop a potential oil canning that I didn't like, and several thousand miles later, there's no problems. Perhaps a middle of the road solution would be to use a flexible sealant? Your car, your call. Good luck. 

[6Pack70]

I agree with you about the factory application of sealant.  Not todays panel bond.   I also agree with you that these cars flex, which is my guess why most of the Cudas and Challengers I've encountered have this center brace already broke away from the roof.  Was it crappy sealant? Was it the body flexing that makes it lose it's grip?  Who knows.  Please dont get me wrong, my roof was not buckled to the point where i thought i might have bigger issues.  It more or less left a visible mark where this brace is located accross the AMD roof skin.  Also something to keep in mind, the AMD metal is not the same as the original metal. You can bend it quite easily with your bare hands.  I'm only saying what happened to my professionally installed roof skin.  Had i given it more thought when the roof was going on, I would have just brushed some 3M flexible seam sealer on the brace instead of two part panel bond which pretty much welded it to the roof.  Before bodywork is completed on the car, I will likely be carfully cutting it away from the roof skin. 

[70 Challenger Lover]

My roof oil cans pretty bad now which is why I'm going to replace the skin. I believe it is because it was a vinyl top roof that had lots of rust in and out so I sand blasted it clean. I think between the rust and the sand blasting, it's just too thin now. The sealant across the support wasn't holding either but in looking at it, the factory didn't use much. I resealed it and it helped but not enough.

My plan of spot welding around the perimeter remains the same but I'll have to think over the center support. My gut tells me the factory did it so I should.

[JS29]

How about foam strips, like what is sold at hardware stores? 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Sealant and adhesive are two different things. I'd put flexible sealant on it and not worry. Bonding it will give you issues and likely read-through, if nothing else.


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[70 Challenger Lover]

How about foam strips, like what is sold at hardware stores? 

The thing that concerns me is that I worked on my roof until the oil canning was almost gone. Then in the morning when it was cold, it was back big time. I don't want to ever have that issue with temp changes. I can just picture my roof popping down in some spot and staying that way, unable to pop it back up because the headliner is in the way.

[truckinman466]

So, no one has tried to panel bond the drip rails instead of welding? I plan on plug welding the window frames and sail panels. Just not so sure of my welding skills on the rails.

[70 Challenger Lover]

So, no one has tried to panel bond the drip rails instead of welding? I plan on plug welding the window frames and sail panels. Just not so sure of my welding skills on the rails.

I have used a type of bond on metal before as a test and found it's not that hard to pull them apart. Probably stronger as a shearing effect but I'd weld them in.