Re: Holes in roof

Posted by Gary MacRunnel on April 20, 1998 at 23:33:04

In Reply to: Holes in roof
posted by Ted R on April 20, 1998 at 14:18:03

: My tudor has holes in the roof panels above the rear side window on the passenger side.The holes aren't real big there is a 4 inch long rip about an 1/8 of an inch wide above the rear of the window.What is the best method for patching this hole - bondo, lead or fiber glass and how is it done if your not going the bondo routine?Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Ted,
Obviosly the best "permanant" fix would be to replace the panel.Although as you said it would be a lot of work, the panels are actually bolted together along the seam about 6" over from the back window, and along the body line below the rear side window.I believe they may be spot welded to the panel about the door, but that should be reasonable easy to do once the rest is done, or replace that panel at the same time.You would of course need to remove all the interior back there, the top, and the wood.
If you go the patch route, you will need to remove at least the interior behind the tear as you will need to add a piece of metal behind the tear to keep whatever you use to patch it where it is supposed to go and from cracking afterwards (I assume there is a fair amount of flex in the roof area of the tudor).You will probably need to either weld the panel in of pop rivet if, in either case you will need to do some cover work due to the rivets or warping of the metal, but if you spot weld the warpage should be minimal.Once the panel is in placed my opinion is that lead would be the best, as it should crack the least.Don't know exactly how they used to get lead in place but you should be able to get a smelting pot (if you know someone that has done body work for many years or someone that reloads rifle or pistol shells they probably have one), melt the lead, and pour it in to the tear using something to keep it from running down the side of the car, then file it until you are close to original shape and sand the rest of the way.
What year is your car?I have a couple of '28 tudor bodies that are pretty rotten on the bottem, but the top panels are pretty decent if you want to go the replace route.I am located in MN but could probably ship.Let me know if you're interested.
Gary

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