I have a little senario. I picked up a fiberglass 32 Vicky body. Yes I know fiberglass lol. Cant afford the real deal so this will have to do. Anyways here's the trouble I have. The previous owner of the body hacked out the center of the roof to put a roof insert in like a real 32 and made a mess. He also threw the price away he cut out. So here's where I am at. What's a good roof filler out there for one of there that I can pull a mould off of to make a glass insert for it. I don't wanna put a steel filler in because of the different expansion rated and cracking and such. Thanks for any help!
I wonder if you'd be money ahead just asking one of the fiberglass manufacturers to sell you a roof skin. They have a guy lay up a partial mold on his last part of the day and make a little money for some easy work. Only thing that might kill this idea is the shipping. If that doesn't work, I'd find a big old 80's Caddy and cut the top off it. Then clean the underside of the roof real well, lay on plenty of mold release, and lay your new skin up on the INSIDE of the actual Caddy tin. Save you from making a new mold. Or, trim the Caddy skin so you can temporarily attach it to the outside of your vicky body, and lay the skin up directly in place. Might be easiest if you can flip your body upside down to lay the cloth.
I friend of mine did a louvered top insert from aluminum in his Vicky and pop riveted it in place and he never had any problems with expansion,he did make a liner to keep dry. HRP
Alchemy has the plan. Get a skin with a similar crown, pop rivet in place, put a plastic sheet or something on it so the glass doesnt stick to the metal, flip it over and start laying up the hole in the roof. Flip it back over, lay another layer on the top side then grind and block it to shape. Coat of kitty hair filler, block it, coat of lightweight filler etc. Its just fiberglass, messy-hard work, but not difficult to make any shape you want. The metal "backer" should have some crown but doesn't need to be perfect, you'll grind the filled in area to shape anyway and have to coat with filler. If you want to keep the hole, and do a top insert. Put in a channel, there's a few good threads on here to make very nice inserts.
Kinda thought about doing a roof insert on it too, just make the channel up with the same contour as the roof and build some bracing to hold the edges up so it doesnt sag.
Anything with a low crown and no ribs or roof racks. Look at older station wagons, especially Volvos, and mini vans. FWIW, I used an '86 Toyota minivan to fill my '28 Tudor roof. It matched the Tudor crown perfectly. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...e-6-steel-roof-covered-by-stock-vinyl.636247/
I have what you need. I have a fiberglass insert made to look like a fabric one. I bought it for a 32 sedan I was building about 35 years ago and never used it. I think I got it off of Gibbon Fiberglass when they were making good stuff. I'll try to get pic of shortly and post it.
If you louver a piece of metal. Install it have some magnetic signs to put on the inside when it rains or you wash it
That's what I'd do...then have your upholstery guy make a 'vinyl' cover from suitable mat material (like the originals used) and finish the edges with 'Hideit'. (the edging strip top shops use) But hurry! The head guy in charge wants all the chrome shops, top shops, paint shops, and 'custom' shops closed down before he's out of office! Something about a 'legacy'...(didn't know he had a Japanese car...)
How did you shape the curve in the plywood? I tried to do it in one piece but ended up doing it in strips about 8 -10 inches wide. I would like to refinish it like yours. Also, to the OP question, you could put a factory wood kit in it and run a Juliano's top kit on it without too much trouble.
Ron, The plywood is a 1/4 baltic birch. This doesnt have voids in it like cheep plywood, I bought it at my local hardwood store. I rough cut the ply so it over hung the hole by about a half inch, after that I struck a line dead center(front to back) and then screwed it down to every oak bow, I then worked it out to the edges screwing every 6 to 8 inches. When I got to the edge I scribed around the hole and then loosened the screws around the edge and used a small portercable belt sander to take off the extra material. It was a time consuming and a dusty job but it fit like a glove. To seal wood to metal I used a tube of glass setting urethane because it doesnt set hard and will move with the wood and metal( I also sealed the ply with 3 coats of spar varnish). I got the idea from the thread how to unchop a 32 ford here on the hamb. I belive it was posted by sailing adventures.
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