Roof Modification, January 2002

The photos below will tell the story.  With my friend Paul's help, we removed the original roof with an air saw and installed a raised section made from 14ga. steel.  We have a local fabrication company, Steel Fab, which also retails dimensional steel.  They're always buying new tools for the shop, and I noticed a big press brake in there one day last year.  

I drew up a plan for them to follow, and had them bend as much of my roof as they could.  Here's the plan...  

They actually did get most of it bent, but the press brake just couldn't quite get the back piece, so we welded it on at my shop.  Here's the box when we brought it home...

Paul's been doing bodywork and building hotrods for years, and didn't think twice about how to do this.  First. he bent up another piece of 14ga. and notched it to bend around the roof.  I welded it on while he fabricated some more pieces.  The new roof will weld to this flange and create a nice little visor...

Here, I've cut the old roof out and Paul is making a plan for the back...

This is what I welded to the cab at the rear...

We had to sit the new roof in place many many times during the fitting process.  It was tough to balance and get that thing up there, but it finally paid off.  Here's the installation with most of the metalwork finished.  All that's left is a tiny bit of plastic and the paint...