The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Cab Roof Removal

Evening All,
Unfortunately Hurricane Isaias knocked an oak tree over onto my '53 and damaged the cab roof. The door jambs and windshield frame still line up but the size and location of the dents has me less than confident that I would be able to push out all the dents to a reasonable degree. By pure luck, however, there is a guy semi-local to me selling a '47 GMC cab with a completely rotted out floor but a pristine roof. Has anyone ever turned their cab into a temporary convertible and have any suggestions on where I could remove the roof and preserve the fitment?

I was thinking of changing my roof manny years ago as I found a cab that had the corner windows but decided not to mess with what I had .The cab has joints as you are most likely aware of on the side of the windshield and they used lead to body fill .at the back there are bolts but also welds .It may be worth it but I have seen some good work at taking out dents also .My roof had a few dents just above the passenger side of the window and I had good results in using a slapper to coax it mostly out .

Post a picture of your damaged roof. That will give us an idea what you're up against as far as pushing the dents out. If the perimeter is still in good shape, the only issues would be where there is a double wall. I had some pretty serious oil canning on my roof and managed to get them out by propping a 2x4 underneath against the floor and the roof with plywood to spread out the point contact. See the attached pic. I was also able to pull out a fairly deep dent out above the rear window in the double wall area using weld studs and a little filler. See second picture.

As far as replacing the entire roof, you either cut the windshield pillars and the B-pillar and try to get the windshield opening correct as well as the door openings, or try and butt weld the sheet metal without cutting the pillars. Both approaches have their advantages and drawbacks. I have not attempted to replace a roof.

I agree with both Kevin’s. Post a few pictures of your damaged roof. It may be easier to straighten than replace.

A Porta-power is what you need to fix that roof. I'd try that first.
A friend of mine had a big limb fall on his cab. He is a short fella but still couldn't sit in the seat without bumping his head.
He was ready to push the truck into the swamp until his buddy brought out the Porta-power and pushed the vast majority of the dent back out, then with a hammer and dolly got the top back to where it belongs.

If you do use a Porta-power (which I'd like to have on hand), be very careful not to wind up with lumps on the roof. Use plywood to spread the load on the end on the tool, like I did with the 2x4.

Sorry for the slow reply all. Been busy with hurricane clean-up.

I think that's repairable. The worst part would be the wrinkles above the windshield where the support inside restricts access to the underside a bit. But even there, pry tools would work.

IMO, it would be easier to repair than welding on a replacement roof.

If you replace the top of the cab, you would need to cut the windshield pillars where the lead filler is and then cut the cab just above the pinch weld in the back so that you can get to the pinch weld which holds the top of the cab on. That would entail cutting out what will seem like 200 spotwelds. Its not that many, but it will seem like it, Once you do that, there is no easy way to reweld all of those spotwelds due to the interference of the 3 inner cab panels.

You other option is to cut the top off above the rear glass, but that would entail a very long butt weld which is difficult to do without warping metal in a very visible area.

I would also repair that ,most of the damage is in very accessible the damage above the passenger side windshield would take some more time but like Kevin says there is a gap between the inner and roof skin as well as two holes to maneuver your tools .you could also weld a few washers on the top and use a slide hammer to pull from the topside .That is were the damage was on mine on the passenger side above the windshield although not as bad but close in size.

The dent in the roof is definitely repairable and will be a lot less work than replacing the entire top. Not that it’s going to be easy, and working out every crease is going to drive you a little crazy. That said, the amount of welding required to replace the skin would likely cause a massive amount of warpage that would probably drive you just as crazy anyway!

When I went to Auto Body Tech school, they taught us to try to reverse the damage in the exact reverse order that it occurred, starting with the deepest part first.

Here is the general technique:

• Apply a little pressure to the deepest part, then massage the edges from the inside to relieve some of the stress.
• Apply a little more pressure, massage again, and repeat.
• Keep in mind that the deepest part might shift as you work the metal, so be ready to adjust and change your jacking points as you go.

A Porto-Power is the best tool to use here. To prevent creating new damage while jacking, place a piece of plywood on top to soften the push, and run a suitable timber (a 4x4 or bigger) spanning the floor from door to door on the bottom to support the load. If you don't have a Porto-Power, you can also use a bottle jack with a 4x4, along with plywood and bottom timber to distribute the pressure safely.

Be prepared for a lot of hammer-and-dolly work and a good amount of shrinking. You'll likely need to enlist a helper to hold the dolly in place for you in a few spots, too.

This is not an easy job so be prepared to spend allot of time on this, and a bit of frustration. When you get frustrated, drop it then go back to it a day or so later.

The worst that can happen, is you can’t get it out and you go to your first plan, replacing the roof.

Good Luck and keep us ‘Bolters abreast.