Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Roof top job 109

Since my adoring fans(all 2 of them[you know who you are]) clamoured for more, here is more. I worked on my roof top the last couple of days. Brian is leaving for the UK and wants to get things painted prior to leaving. So I fixed up my paint booth, the wind keeps blowing it apart, and put the roof top inside. I thoroughly recleaned it and flipped it upside down. I then tested the spot welds on the front and found that quite a few had given up holding the 2 sheets together. That is why it leaked. While the previous owner had put in pop rivets he failed to totally accomplish a seal. I hope to, so wish me luck! I drilled out the remaining spot welds and cleaned out the mastic between the sheets. Then I deburred the holes top and bottom. I was going to clamp the sheets together and put in the rivets but I don't have a deep enough clamp to reach over the drip rail and close the seam. So I went to the hardware store and bought some 10-32 allen bolts and nuts and washers. With these I was able to loosely close the gap and put some sealant on the inside of the seam where the mastic was applied. Then I closed the bolts down and closed the seam down. With the 2 sheets firmly in place I proceeded to put in solid rivets in all the spot weld holes. Some came out quite nice and others are crooked so I will have to remove and replace tomorrow. They did however pull the 2 sheets together. I hope it sealed them, I think so as the sealant squeezed out as I installed the rivets. In the event that the front doesn't seal from the bottom I am also getting an autobody sealant and will go over ALL the outside seams and drip rail. The auto sealant is paintable and the roof should be Limestone when done. I still have to figure out how to put the side rivets in. I think it will be a 2 man job. Pictures are of the roof with the spot welds drilled out and some of the steps I went thru.

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