Technical 30 tudor roof ribs alternative

hi everyone I been doing the woodwork on my 30 tudor , got everything done exept the roof it all whent fairly good , but by now I'm so sick of woodwork , I can't even begine , so I just have the roof left , heres my question has anyone used anything different than wood for the roof ribs I would sure love to here about it, i would kind of like to go with a metal roof , maybe , thanks guys

 

we did a 31 2 dr sd and used a Chrysler Town and Country roof that we cut out of a wreck. Had to separate the two pieces to lighten it up (inner skin) but it came out nice.

 

what did you do about the roof ribs

 

I've seen them done with chevy astro van, suburban, full size vans. Anything with the ribs already rolled in. I'm cutting mine out of my buddys astro van before we scrap it. Only thing is i still want the vinyl top and don't know it the ribs will be a problem.

 

The wood was replaced with steel bows on my former '29 Mod A.]

 

I'm a finish carpenter by trade so doing wood work isnt a big deal for me. I know a lot of people that think woodwork is like voodoo. Its not, it takes simple tools that just about anyone can buy and use. Just take your time, measure twice and cut once!!!!! Put the wood in it.

 

You could always do something different... clic the pic

 

We rolled 1X1 16ga tube to the appropriate arch for the side and cross ribs, worked well.

 

ditto on the 1x1 tube.

 

boy that's a nice job , so the metal tubing would not beto heavy then, I thought about alumanim , did you make the header above the windshield out of tubing also

 

the roof in my 29 coupe.

 

If you fill the roof you don't need them at all they are just there to hold everything in place if you use a vinyl top or leave it open.

That said I have use electrical conduit before, because that was what I had. 1/2 to 3/4 inch works well and it is easy to r form the arch if you have a conduit bending tool.

 

I have used 55 Chevy station wagon roof, Volvo wagon roof, Ford Fairmont wagon roof. All of them are smooth. I have welded them in and also made a metal insert that bolted in on a 33 Coupe. When welding a roof skin in always cut the lip off the inside edge and butt weld (I like using a TIG welder to do this because the weld is softer and easier to manipulate) by tacking it in and then hammering the tacks to stretch them back out. This keeps control of the shrinkage affect of welding, when the tacks are spaced to 3/4"-1" apart I like to weld a section at a time (ie. across the back then the front and the sides last) all the way across in one shot with a TIG welder to keep the heat affected zone even so that the shrinkage is the same all the way across. The reason to cut the lip off is to be able to finish the weld off with a hammer and dolly and the fact that it will show up with temp changes after the paint is done if it is not cut off.

 

I had a fiend that used 62/63/64 chevy station wagon roof's, some times if they didn't tight depending
on the made of the car) he would turn the roof around backwards. Also '58 ford wagons have the ribs turned down instead of up.

 

The 16 ga tube is pretty light. Used tubing for the front header along with a piece of sheet metal between the tube and the original front panel where the visor attaches. The structure was then padded and covered with black vinyl. Here's a picture before the hidem welt was installed.

 

Just another option.

I installed a roof kit, wasn't too hard, just a little fiddling around to get it to fir right. Figured it was easier than making metal replacments. Left the lips around the opening and nailed the metal to the wood frame with ardox nails. Lots of mounting for interior.

Got a roof off a 68 Chevy full size that trimmed down and fit perfect inside the lip. Tacked it in place every couple of inches so no problem with warpage and no metal finishing required.

Covered the sheet metal with 1/8" closed cell foam glued down and repro vinyl also glued down and tacked around the edge in the original holes. Edge trimmed with the repro aluminum trim that was then painted. Bending the trim to shape and installing it was the hardest part of the project.

Canuck

 

Another consideration (unless you're restoring the car): sedan top wood kit costs about $600, while the steel was about $50 or so.

 

i did steel in my sedan no fancy tool just the porch steps. 7 foot pieces applied pressure in the middle and matched the arch of the originals. for the side rails i did one piece same manner. the 90s around the back is a bitch. tried benders etc hard to get that shape so i used sheet metal
i can get some pics

 

ya know something skottyknukkles we think alike , and I don't mean to sound odd but I never liked sawing wood , love cutting metal welding , but this project did improve my woodworking skills , and that's what I'm thinking is replace it with metal{the roof}I suppose I should do all the rids long pieces , I would think welding the sheet metal down if I used wood the heat from welding would be a issue

 

You just have to have a squirt bottle to cool it and put out the fire if it lights up. The hardest part is getting the weld to stick to the wood and hold the metal down. LOL

 

Like the top you have there but how do you waterproof all the stitching? what thread did you use?

 

Thanks Torana, but I used a press-pleat marine vinyl.. The pleats are heat seamed together...

 

Wow Bader 2 that looks great.

 

Thanks Brady! Kind of a woody feel.

 

I wondered what that was , it sure looks nice , every pic that was posted looks great hope mine turns out that well -25 here and no heat in the shop slowed things down

 

While it's still wood, I went cheap and easy for this part of my A. I used oak flooring from a buddies house. I will be doing a tonneau style snap/button cover for it at some point, but I enjoy the open top driving

We (neighbor and I) laid the pieces in, traced the contour, and then after cutting and shaping just screwed it in and oiled it.