Okay guys, I know this can be done but I've never done it. I'd like to swap roofs from identical cars....Any tip on doing this? I have decent welding skills but never 'clipped' a roof. I know it will require lots of measuring but seriously how feasable is this? See, I have a very rare factory-optioned 1962 Studebaker with a sliding canvas roof. The roof is nice but the floors are rusty in the car. I have an identical car except for the rare optional canvas roof in a stripped-down but rust-free state. I'd like to transfer the roof from the rusty one to the good body. Due to the construction of the roof around the sliding canvas track,it is not too practical to cut a hole in the roof of the rust-free car and put it in. I think it would be easiest to clip the roof off the rusty car at the pilars and put it on the rust-free car. The car is a hardtop so I'd only have to contend with the four corner roof pillars. I'm all ears to listening to guys who have done this before...it kinda scares me if I got it wrong and ruined two cars! Attached is a picture of the unique roof in the 62 and a picture of the rust-free 62 with standard roof.... Kent
Looks pretty straight forward (maybe b/c its not my car) Cut the front at the top of the screen, and maybe cut the rear around the outside of the panel between the boot and rear screen. Tac it in place, see if its all square and the glass fits as before. Just my thought, worth about as much as a warm 1/2 can of beer with a smoke butted on the top.
Is that a seam on the upper rear corner of the roof? If so I would split it at the seam. Also cut in the middle of the front pillar staggering the inside and outside cuts for strength. When you get it tacked in lay your glass in to check fit.
remove both tops at the factory seams. put them back together the same way. just a guess but prolly at the top of the front pillars and the bottom of the rear mark several spots around the car and measure, so when you put the new one back on you have measurements to refer to. beware of any flamable materials inside the car. at the very least remove the seats and carpet
my opinion is try to section out as little as possible, find factory spot welds and seams drill and cut them there and transfer the skin or if your a little on the ballsy side cut the pillars and stagger the seams (3 or 4 however many there are) and transfer roof with pillars and all, you will have a lot less welding to do this way but its almost a guarantee for disaster. look at it this way if you do the skin transfer you will learn to make a good plug weld 5 or 6 into the job.
Yes, there is a factory seam at the rear drip rail and above the front windshield. Not sure how feasable it is to get the factory seams apart. Attached is more pics of my two cars, and a couple pictures of the same body-style car that show the lines better. Kent
They say measure twice, cut once. In this case, measure twice, then measure twice more. I'd take the glass out of one car before I started and make wood templates following the A-posts and B-posts that fit in the window channels. But this is a common repair, even back in the day, I was looking in an old flat rate body book the other day and it had hour figures for roof replacement for early 50's cars.
cut the post and weld it back together. when you do the windshield post drill out the spot welds on the outer panel so you can weld up the middle section. i fixed this car in 3 days http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38974&showall=1
I'd have a sheetmetal shop shear a guide 6-8 inches thick the distance from the front post to the rear sail panel. Strip the stainless trim, and set it on the door top and scripe the cut line. If you cut above the line on one car and below the line on the other you should have a perfect match. Some cross bracing before you cut is a great idea.
Not many people know, and I seriously doubt many customers or studebaker dealers knew the studebaker factory offered it when the car was new back in 1962. Very few were built and the Studebaker Skytop registry only lists about 36 of these cars still known to exist. The skytop registry is here: http://hometown.aol.com/lark4spd/skytopregistry.html Here are some factory literature pictures of the Studebaker Skytop equipped cars.... Kent
Before you do any cuttin' I would remove the interior and glass and weld in supports. Go from the "A", "B", & "C" pillars across to the same pillars on the other side of the car, then tie everthing together using 2"x 2" tubing. It's the same princable used when chopping a top. The roof is a main point of support for the whole car. Failing to weld in supports and then cutting the top off will tweek everything from the windshield channel to door jam gap.
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