Technical First attempt at filling the roof on my 35 5W. Advice needed.

Gonna add this. The TIG process will introduce a considerable larger amount of heat. The advantage to a TIG is its ability for the weld to remain as soft as what you are welding. This makes the hammer and dolly part easier. Plus it’s less likely to crack during this process.
All these advantages are gone if you lap weld it (my worthless opinion)
The MIG weld is harder(hardness of the weld not the process). But it will use less heat. It’s a much quicker process.
The weld is harder to grind but it should distort less.

 

With mig welds, if you grind them quickly, like immediately, before they have a chance to cool, they grind much easier. Like make a weld, grind it, make a weld, grind, repeat as needed.

 

Overlapping the seam on a low-crown sheet-metal panel will always come back to haunt you. Butt-welding the seam with a Tig is best, the next best option is the most vintage, the acetylene torch.

 

It will be great when ready...

 

Did you know Bobby Walden makes the exact roof panel to weld in. Save you a ton of work and trouble.

 

The panel Walden makes is for the stock opening. When this car was chopped the roof was lengthened by about 4" so his panel won't work. There was an aftermarket panel on the car when I bought it and it was a mile from fitting. Thats why I removed it. As a secondary reason learning metalwork is one of the reasons I bought this project. My goal is to develope and advance my skill set.

 

Exactly. Walden makes a great panel.
I would never buy one.
The journey of developing skills has a greater reward.

 

Probably already mentioned but Matt from 'Iron Trap Garage' has you-tube vids using different sheet metal tools, English wheels, brakes, etc. He also works for Eastwood and does their tool videos. While we might not have the equipment like Matt does I still get ideas watching these vids. Your coupe has a very cool start!

 

I think video # 15or 16 is putting in a top insert, the whole series is great if you haven't seen it before. A lot of information.
https://www.waldenspeedshop.com/media

Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Got some help today from my son. I dreamed of having a son that shared my passion for building cars but God gave me one who loves science. He's about to get his bachelor's degree in biology and will continue towards his masters then PhD. Wants to do pharmaceutical research. Will be doing Covin19 work this summer. I'm so much more than proud.

So I made one pass with very light pressure. Will make another with a little pressure. I'll set the rollers to where they just touch and have another go. My goal is slow, steady and be patient but thats not my nature and my garage is full of flies. Anyone else get fly swarms when they open the doors?

 

Aprons and gloves. You guys look like pros.
Have fun.

 

Only got one pass done. Lunch and quality time/conversation i decided was more important. Stopping here also kept me from rushing into the unknown. It picked up some crown but is still kinda flat in the center. I'm tempted to start shrinking the edges with the disc but I'll wait. Maybe 31Vicky will advise on why or why not to. I've decided to do a lap weld as my TIG skills aren't where I'd like them yet but mainly because this panel is beginning to taco a bit. It looks nothing like the Walden Speed insert which looks flat compared to mine.

 

I thought I had all the garage flies over here.the prevailing wind blows them in the door.a bright guy on theother side of the sheet should help! good luck

 

Looking good. Takes a lot for a guy to post his journey learning something.
Keep on a shaping.

 

Oh you still got that first piece?
Try the disc on that one first.

 

C'mon bro. Did that long ago. It worked better than I imagined. I learned how to get some curve on the edges and up to a few inches in. I was curious if curving the edges would crown the middle. If so it could save me from over wheeling the panel.

 

I cheated by using a 1st generation Corvair coupe top. My body guy, Jimmy cut it a little oversize, laid it on the top hole with about an inch overlap...used his zippy-wheel to cut down through along the edge of the bottom piece, tack'ing with a tiny tack weld as he went all around the top, slowly. When it was done the weld was a butt weld all the way around the new piece. No warp. Grinding was also slow, using a 1/8th zippy wheel ...came out great!
Started out with this hopeless piece. [ATTAC[/ATTACH] We welded a new header panel and windshield surround and chopped the top before the center piece was fitted.

 

Still working at this and hitting the same road blocks. Having trouble getting crown in the middle. The more I wheel it the more it turns into a taco. I get some shape but it flattens out as I clamp down the taco. I used the shrinking disc on the underside along the perimeter for a few inches and got some gentle curving but I still need to shrink it plenty more to remove the puckers. I end up with two puckers on each side. Very small ones on the front. Big ones on the sides . Smaller at the rear. I tried using the shrinking disc in the triangle pattern of the pucker with some small success. Is this a viable technique? Is there a direction pattern I should be moving the disc ? Should I up the friction/heat ? If I keep playing with it will I really go blind ?

 

Put a slice in the puckers, weld them up and mud it.

The disc makes metal move (Towards the opposite side) from where it just was.

I had some flat spots in my roof skin.
I laid on my back in the car and ran the disc under those spots and the flat spots walked right towards the ceiling.

 

The red triangles the puckers. Do you mean cut it down tbe center letting the sides overlap and then trim off the flaps and butt weld the seam?

 

Those red areas need shrunk.
Or
There’s too much metal there.

cutting some metal out or shrinking it or stretching everything else around it it is how you’re going to get the pucker go away.

Might work....
Label the grid along one side all the way out ABC and so on,,,, and perpendicular go 1,2,3,,,and so on all the way out.
take a pic and let’s see if we can get it done.

And if you value your sanity, the wheel needs stiffness by adding more iron or you’ll go nuts.
If you get the chance to use a real unit you’ll see how fast the metal moves.
Want a comparison,,,,
drilling a hole by hand with a spoon vs a drill press.
Using a butter knife as a pry bar.
kitchen faucet vs fire hose
S10 truck and a shovel vs tri axle dump truck

 

Stay with it you will master it and will be able to say I built it my self. Remember those are not mistakes but lessons on how not to do it, and now you will know to stay away from then. I didn’t know you started a new thread, I admire how far you have came on this Frank

 

The black numbers are the drivers side and red numbers the passengers side. The passengers side is worse. Moving the clamps moves the puckers somewhat.

 

I guess if all else fails you can fill in the afternoon playing noughts and crosses?

 

Greetings Tim!....how do you go about annealing a large piece of sheetmetal and doesn't that warp it?...I have read where people build a bonfire then spread the rd coals and lay the sheetmetal on them but I have never tried it....

 

[QUOTE t ? If I keep playing with it will I really go blind ?[/QUOTE]. Greetings Doit over! From one amateur metal man to another I can report that thus far " playing with it" has only led to the requirement of corrective eyewear!!....I'm enjoying your threads and learning from you as much as I learn from the " pros" in here!

 

Guessing that's European for tic tac toe

 

. Greetings Doit over! From one amateur metal man to another I can report that thus far " playing with it" has only led to the requirement of corrective eyewear!!....I'm enjoying your threads and learning from you as much as I learn from the " pros" in here![/QUOTE]

Thanks. Guess I'll be needing a heavier prescription soon

 

well I'm getting closer. To what I'm unsure but I think it feels good. Decided to attack the puckers like they were rioters/looters by eliminating them one by one where they are. Just used a different weapon. The shrinking disc was the tool of choice. I realized the direction I shrink in makes a difference. On the puckers where I could see the crown thats where I shrunk and it worked well. Certainly a deliberate skill set is required to do it right. Hoping I'll get there oneday.

 

There's only a small pucker in the rear (he he don't we all) but big one in the front. I'll deal with small one first. Then figure out the big one on the front. Think I'll break the front into t leat three evenly spaced puckers and the rear into two. I installed the clecoes to secure the panel as the clamps let the panel move.