Harry 1976 Sopru

[Grantus]

Gotta be happy with that result! Looks awesome……well done.

Now back to just, enjoying the ride…….. 

[T1 Terry]

Looks great, need to go a buy a few kilos of lemons now to get the smile off your face 
How many $$ was a complete roof panel? What other panels did you buy to replace the rusted ones and how much had to be hand formed?
I can only dream of getting Kombi up to that sort condition, I'm still emptying the Coopers Stout bottles to get the 10c return money so I can save up for the body rebuild, waiting for the wife to tell me how many cartons she has bought me so I know how many 10c she owes me 

T1 Terry

[Mr Beckstar]

Looks great, need to go a buy a few kilos of lemons now to get the smile off your face 
How many $$ was a complete roof panel? What other panels did you buy to replace the rusted ones and how much had to be hand formed?
I can only dream of getting Kombi up to that sort condition, I'm still emptying the Coopers Stout bottles to get the 10c return money so I can save up for the body rebuild, waiting for the wife to tell me how many cartons she has bought me so I know how many 10c she owes me 

T1 Terry

Yes, definitely enjoying the ride 

Here's the link. Not cheap but for me it's worth it knowing the problem is gone.   

Linky McLink Face

There were no other panels needed as it was just the roof and the roof frame that were rusted. The panel beater made the roof frame pieces from sheet metal. The two small rusted sections (near driver's side B-pillar and below windscreen) were cut out and sheet steel was formed to the right shape to suit.

Plenty of labour though. 83 hours to be exact!

[Oldman]

…..Linky Mc Link Face….
Bwahahahahaha 

[T1 Terry]

Yes, definitely enjoying the ride 

Here's the link. Not cheap but for me it's worth it knowing the problem is gone.   

Linky McLink Face

There were no other panels needed as it was just the roof and the roof frame that were rusted. The panel beater made the roof frame pieces from sheet metal. The two small rusted sections (near driver's side B-pillar and below windscreen) were cut out and sheet steel was formed to the right shape to suit.

Plenty of labour though. 83 hours to be exact!

Thanks for that, I might strip the poptop off and remove the paint back to bare metal to see just how bad the roof is before I order a whole roof panel, they aren't cheap are they ...... No doubt the 60 day waiting period will be absorbed by all the other fixes required, so not really an issue.

T1 Terry

[Mr Beckstar]

Thanks for that, I might strip the poptop off and remove the paint back to bare metal to see just how bad the roof is before I order a whole roof panel, they aren't cheap are they ...... No doubt the 60 day waiting period will be absorbed by all the other fixes required, so not really an issue.

T1 Terry

That's definitely a worthy strategy. 

I guess for me it's rust you can't see that's under the roof panel that I wanted to be rid of. I mean who ever would have guessed what was under this (see photos below)? And if you wanted to be sure you've got it all, you'd definitely have to keep cutting roof panel out until you find rust free frame. But how far do you go? Right around the roof edge? That's where I figured new roof panel might be worth it because it also gave me certainty that all the rust was removed. But yeh, you could pay for 30-40 hours of panel beater work for the cost of the roof panel, so that's probably a cheaper way to go if you don't find much rust.

   
   

[T1 Terry]

If I find even half that much rust, it will be a complete new roof skin, that is a serious case of metal eating termites .....
For those parts, I'll be the panel beater/welder/fabricator, it's getting the ripples out rather adding new ones that I accept are beyond my skill level ..... I did do an evening course panel beating class, but after turning a piece of flat sheet into a giant golf ball mould trying to make a VW hubcap just using a hammer and concave wood block, I deemed the finer skills of panel beating wasn't in my skill set   I might look at getting an English wheel and a stretcher/shrinker because they would be handy building the battery boxes for the EV conversion .... my mig, metal arc and oxy skills are still fairly good, but I shake so much, TIG is probably another one of those skills I'll never gain

T1 Terry

[KIWI]

That's definitely a worthy strategy. 

I guess for me it's rust you can't see that's under the roof panel that I wanted to be rid of. I mean who ever would have guessed what was under this (see photos below)? And if you wanted to be sure you've got it all, you'd definitely have to keep cutting roof panel out until you find rust free frame. But how far do you go? Right around the roof edge? That's where I figured new roof panel might be worth it because it also gave me certainty that all the rust was removed. But yeh, you could pay for 30-40 hours of panel beater work for the cost of the roof panel, so that's probably a cheaper way to go if you don't find much rust.

I have one the same. Donor car out the back that will loose it's roof once  panel beater/welder/fabricator  skills are up to scratch.
@rstucke has a brilliant solution to prevent this happening again. 
PR

[Oldman]

@rstucke has a brilliant solution to prevent this happening again. 
PR

....indeed......and as my welding and fabricating experience grows, so does my confidence that I might just be able to pull that off too 
(With a whole lotta help....! )