Genocache: Land Rover 109 roof re-sealed

OK, I admit, I think it was my fault for trusting the old roof seal to keep working when I redid the 109. That is the seal that is on the front slanted portion across the front. I did re-seal the skin to gutter, but even that seemed problematic with a good rain.
Because my drive slopes to the rear the water that got inside would flow to the rear and then overflow inside next to the rear door. Of course I can't see in there to see where it is leaking.
I had to wait for good weather and gather parts and tools. I needed more semi-tubular rivets(178), for the skin to gutter and solid domehead for the skin connections.
My sources were Jay-Cee rivets for the 5/32 x 3/8 x 3/8 truss HD Semi-tubular aluminum, I also mistakenly purchased 3/16 x 1/2 brazier head aluminum rivets from them. These do not fit the profile of my rivet set so I had to order correct rivets from Grainger, who gets them from Hanson, these were 3/16 x 1/2 round head. I also decided to help with the re-assembly to get some cleco's. I bought 25ea of 5/32 and 3/16 from Aircraft Tool Supply Company.
Last time I unwisely used silicone for a seal between the skin and gutter. This proved to be bad because the sillycone didn't stick to the galvy all that well as you will see.This time I bought some ;

I borrowed a rivet squeezer thru the Guns and Rovers Forum, Thank you SafeairOne!

Once everything was here I had to wait for a few sunny days to get the job done. And at the tail end of Spring they came and I sprang into action....OK,ok I waddled into action.......
First thing I did was put a wire wheel on my angle grinder and while the 109 would hold the roof steady I wire brushed the gutter area clean and checked for obvious signs of leakage, the blue bits are pieces of sponge. The middle 2 pics show where I thought most of the water was getting in.

I unbolted the roof rack and had a neighbor help me lift it off, Thank you Rod!
Next the electrics disconnected and the side bins I had made came out and I unbolted the gutter from the roofsides and the windscreen.
Climbing inside I found the center balancing point and lifted the roof with my back/shoulders and pivoted it sideways across the tub. I slipped it to the side as much as I dared and then went outside and tilted the rear end down and slid it to the earth. From there I manhandled it with leverage onto 2 sawhorses, upside down. I think it only weighs about 100-120 pounds but it is awkward.

Next the old rivets had to be chiseled off. All 178 of them and the 8 solid rivets holding the inside ribs to the gutter.

Of course all did not go well, I spilled my beer on the roof inside.......

The next set of pics are all suspected leak areas on the skin, some show how the silicon did not stick;

The next ones are on the gutter side;

The next day after inspection I wire wheeled the gutter inside clean to make a good surface for the new adhesive.

Plus I removed the rivets holding the front skin section corners on to see what I could see.

I found the old seal falling apart and not sticking;

I cleaned out what I could and whipped up an extension for the wire brush for my dremel tool so I could use it with my drill. This cleaned it out pretty darn well.

I got the inside cleaned too on both driver and passenger sides.

I decided that I needed another rivet to help hold the seam together so using cleco's and a clamp I drilled a 3/16" hole.

It was then ready for adhesive the next day. Using the clecos saved me time from having to put in screws or bolts to align the myriad (178for the gutter) of holes, I set up my compressor, put a tube of caulk in my hand powered caulking gun and my caulking gun failed.............the trigger collapsed. I had to stop work and go buy another. I caulked the front seam and then used my air hammer to set the domehead rivets.
Next I put adhesive all around the skin being careful to get everywhere. The gutter was wrestled into place and cleco's used to align the holes.

So I would put in a row of say 10 rivets, sit on my little step stool and squeeze the shit out of the rivets.

It was a real pain in the hands, chiseling them off, wire wheeling, then squeezing them over 3 days time, it took 2 more days for my hands to totally recover.

Some came out better than others but I think they all will hold and seal.

I taped off the galvy for painting;

Used Rustoleum Almond, same as the original coat.

I reckon rivet counters will tell me the rivet shouldn't be painted, but.......

I cleaned any excess adhesive from the gutter;

Then cleaned the top and did a quick respray.

I had covered my 109 with tarps to keep the duff and bugs out.

Then I lay in wait for a neighbor to go by so I could get some help lifting the roof back on the body. Rod said he'd come and he did but I waited all day and by 4pm I could wait no longer. Rod came by at 6pm and helped me put the rack back on. Thanks again Rod!
Using leverage I stood the top next to the roofsides with the front up. Then I picked it up and slid/walked it up until I could bridge the roofsides. Once the roof was up across the sides I climbed in and again lifted it with my back and shoulders and pivoted it around and shifted it into place.
I'm here to tell you it can be done, I'm 68yo and I did it.

One thing that really helped was having a 7/16" nutdriver in my cordless drill, that and the nutbar I made to fit across the windscreen really made short work of dismantling and reassembly!

Hooked up the electrics as I went along and put the bins up, I finally got 'er done!

I hope I never have to do that again! But I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. In the picture below you can see the rivet hole that is in the corner bend. I don't think I got a good seal there, I think that is one of the places it was leaking originally. My plan is to go to Daren my welder and if he agrees I will take the roof rack support off that is in the way and chisel the rivet out and clean it up and he can then weld the hole closed. So stay tuned, like and subscribe!

Update; 28 Jun 2019

I just got back from the welders. He won't do it. Says there are 2 big problems, one is the heat involved causing massive distortion, t'other is the adhesive between the panels bubbling up and contaminating the weld.
So I came home and crammed duct seal on the inside and outside. Then set some prayer flags flying or what ever it is that Agnostics do.

Sigh........time and rain will tell.

UPDATE Sept 30, 2019

Well it rained last night, a light rain, not even enough to float my rain gauge float. But it was enough to make the roof leak again......

I fired up my air compressor and went around to where it was wet on the inside and tried blowing thru the seam. I found 5 spots that leaked, 1 at the corner over the drivers windscreen, the rest were all at the rear, the corner where the door opening curves up on both sides and the corners on both sides. Interestingly enough it wasn't the bottom seal that leaked on the rear corners it was the skin where it folds over the back piece at the corner.

I have this stuff, I do not know the brand name as a lump of it was given to me 40 years ago, called duct seal. It is a kinda waxy, flexible, slightly sticky, compound. With it in mind I cleaned and heated up the leaking areas and rolled up some worms of the seal and using a screwdriver and the flattened end of a bicycle spoke I forced the seal into the cracks.
The front corner;