KM wrote:

Are you going to use any panel adhesive?

My original plan was to glue it but I think the panel may need to much massaging so I may weld it.  Even if I bond the panels I will weld the corners.  I should have a better idea on how I will approach it today or by next weekend. 

Bullet Bob wrote:

Man, you are something, Bob.  I feel pretty good if I can accomplish some relatively minor improvement or modification.  You Sir, definitely embrace the term "total restoration"...and you do it so well and make it look way easier than I know it to be.  
I look forward to feasting my old eyes on the finished product. Great work.  BB1

 DITTO

Thanks everyone.   Easy is a relative term.  Some days I struggle because as we all know its not factory metal we are dealing with.  Most of the time I just step away from things and they will work them selves out. 

Me and my son got all of the roof structural braces cleaned up and painted today.  Before that I did some test fitting and it actually fits better than I first thought it was going to.  Still trying to decide if I want to bond it all or bond and weld.  the bonding is easy and really seals things up.  Its hard to not want to go this route which I'm leaning towards doing.  

Wow, just wow. Quatro ditto on the compliments.

I can see how it would be EZ to warp-the-daylights out of that install !
"Maybe"  tack & cool would keep it from 'sucking in' or bowing up butt it sure would take a long time!!
I would vote for the panel adhesive especially since you have had good luck with it in the past.
Don't forget we are a bunch of 'pitcher junkies'!!!
6sal6

TKOPerformance wrote:

Greg B wrote:

Who makes reproduction roof panels?

And off the subject a bit. I would love to see one of these companies say Dynacorn, team up with the panel bonding company, build an entire reproduction car just using panel bond, then do some crash testing, to test it's potential limits. Cause it would be kind of cool to build an entire reproduction car in your garage with no welding!

Plenty of new cars are essentially glued together.  Porsche has been using this technology for over a decade and all their cars do very well in crash tests.  Where it gets tricky is repairing the bodywork.  The design of the classic Mustang may not lend itself to this type of construction though.  Its one thing to bond door skins, or even quarters on a car.  Its another to bond the floor, framerails, shock towers, etc. 

Looking good RTM!

 
Thanks.   And to add to the bonding question I caught some negative feed back on Facebook over me bonding the cowl panel.   I feel I’m fine with the cowl being bonded as my car has the MII front end and all of the convertible structural pieces added to it.  I also plan on installing the MTF front MII bracing they offer or make my own.   

With the roof panel there is plenty of structure under the panel that ties the car together so bonding the roof panel to me isn’t even a question any more.   I think the benefits of bonding it are better than welding it.  Time will tell if I made the right choice. 

Some claimed I was sacrificing my safety by bonding the cowl.  Again my car has far more chassis improvements than it ever had from the factory and I’m still debating on adding a four point bar to my build. 

The guy the bought my Boss motor claims to bond every cowl he replaces.   It doesn’t make it right or wrong but I’m not the only one to do this.

Let the discussion begin.  Lol

Bullet Bob wrote:

Question on Panel Bond:  Does it require a tight metal to metal fit or will it tolerate a bit of gap...glue thickness?

 
This bond has very small beads to prevent one from over clamping it so it maintains the proper thickness.   Just clamp it as well as you can.

Today my buddy Matt drive back down to help me bond the roof and sail panels on.   He also picked up a 3.70 third member for me and brought it with him.  The gears were close to him so he picked them up yesterday for me.  I had just found them for sake yesterday and had the deal worked out in a couple hours.  So my year long hunt for a ford 3.70 gear set is over. 


The passenger side sail panel fit like a glove.   The drivers side roof panel had a buckle in it where it mounts to the sail panel.  But a little extra clamping and I’m very pleased with the complete overall fit of the roof panel.  Given my alternative I really couldn’t complain if I wanted to.   

Will order the fiberglass hood, Shelby deck lid and R model apron tomorrow from Maiers.   Body work should start this week as well.