This sucks

[WazOz]

Hi again, having a go at my roof, cut out a section that was rusted to bejeebers, tried putting a small patch in and the metal is so thin it just melts away as I weld, do I need to cut out more metal for thicker panel, complex area, has gutter. have posted Pics before, am attempting the drivers side
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=23224&d=1314084927
As some said it may not be possible to fix, can't find a replacement, if it keeps going like this, will have to scrap it and look for a cheap vehicle I can tow with and forego camping, ouch

 

[stormin]

Are you cutting right back to un-corroded metal or trying to weld to cleaned up metal that has been thinned by corrosion?
Are you using the thin metal technique, a line of tacks close togther allwoing time to cool?
Are you using a heat sink and backing piece behind the area begin welded. A large lump of copper will absorb a lot of the heat and help stop burning through but won't stick to the weld area. Keep it cool by repeatedly dipping in cold water.
Does look like a complex area, but I like to think anything can be repaired. It may take time and a lot of effort but careful fitting up of pieces helps. Time taken preparing the weld area and repair piece means the actual welding and finish grinding is far easier.

 

[Fergus]

What are the chances of finding a whole new roof section?

 

[WazOz]

Thanks, yes, using thin metal technique, obtained from this site, can't get any backing plate behind, had cut the metal back to fresh clean and shiny, as soon as I hit it the metal just blows away, (paper thin) where there is good metal it isn't a real problem, have hot the old hood and have practiced heaps and get some really nice welds, played with the settings on the Mig, will have ago, gone too far now to have a change of heart, thanks for responding

 

[WazOz]

Have looked everywhere for a roof and as it is an 83, no-one has them anymore, or they too are rusted beyond repair.
Cheers

 

[Engineer]

Hi again, having a go at my roof, cut out a section that was rusted to bejeebers, tried putting a small patch in and the metal is so thin it just melts away as I weld, do I need to cut out more metal for thicker panel, complex area, has gutter. have posted Pics before, am attempting the drivers side
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=23224&d=1314084927
As some said it may not be possible to fix, can't find a replacement, if it keeps going like this, will have to scrap it and look for a cheap vehicle I can tow with and forego camping, ouch

The car is beyond economical repair............if the roof is that bad the rest is probably worse, so best to scrap it and look for something less rotten.

 

[keith19]

Wazoz, have you considered repairing the roof with sections of thin repair metal held in place with powerful resin glues, the so-called 'cold weld' stuff?
Most of the roof, apart from any strengthening spars, will be unstressed non-critical areas, and can be repaired other than by welding.

I did this once years ago with an Opel roof with a leaking custom sunroof panel. Just took the sun panel out and cut thin metal to fit, joggled the roof around the edges of the hole, laid the resin around the edge, then dropped the new panel in. Once the repair had hardened off I filled the edges, sanded down, and sprayed to finish. Invisible. Lasted years until the car was scrapped.

 

[WazOz]

Never considered using resin glues, always thought how can that be any good, compared to a new patch, will definitely do some research on this and if I can't fix the roof with welding, then Resin stuff may be the answer, really appreciate all the help people.
Thanks

 

[Fergus]

Out of interest, what vehicle is it?

You look to have a fair bit of filler in the roof, what's the rest of it like?

 

[WazOz]

had the roof done before, and filler was used, he also did the sides and the front grille, was susposed to cut out and put in a patch, useless.
It is an 83 Hilux dual cab 4x4, other side is similar to the drivers side, had a fusion done last yr, and had full intention of fixing it b4 it got like this, last few yrs couldn't do a thing, hoping I can salvage the old girl, has been very reliable

 

[Normsthename]

If that is the condition of the roof, then the rest of the car must be 10 times worse
Scrap it.....

Andy

 

[WazOz]

The rest of it is fine, floors have been done, only the roof

 

[Fergus]

had the roof done before, and filler was used, he also did the sides and the front grille, was susposed to cut out and put in a patch, useless.
It is an 83 Hilux dual cab 4x4, other side is similar to the drivers side, had a fusion done last yr, and had full intention of fixing it b4 it got like this, last few yrs couldn't do a thing, hoping I can salvage the old girl, has been very reliable

Sure you don't want a convertible?

 

[WazOz]

Sure you don't want a convertible?

lol, no thanks

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

Dear Wazoz,

Your roof should be repairable. However in addition to welding you are going to need to employ some rudimentary panel beating skills. I would strip the paint from the entire area so that you can see where the rusted areas are. Cut them out, ensuring that you keep the excised areas for use as templates.
Make up new repair panels using the same gauge of steel or marginally thicker. The repair panels have got to fit perfectly, if they don't flush fit all the way round they'll blow through.

Don't forget to use the pulsing or stitching technique and only do about half an inch to an inch at a time. Let that cool before moving on.

There are two DVDs that I have bought that I swear by. I shall post the links to them.

Good luck.

 

[john224]

I Know its a long shot but what about buying another roof of a scrap motor ( Ebay )
from say the UK and shipping it out to you ??

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsDxqb2p5OM

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGElSHzm0q8

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

There's also this youtube clip by restolad in NZ which illustrates the use of a heat sink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdsOGDzuIps&NR=1

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

If it's an old workhorse and the finish hasn't got to be brilliant it might be worth cutting out all the corrosion then making a repair panel that is slightly larger than the gap and lapwelding that to the surrounding metalwork?