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Topic: The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread. (Read 2840 times) previous topic - next topic

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

I found a nasty surprise underneath, and there was a little rust too.

If anyone was wondering if you should peel one of these carriage roofs off. All I can say is I'm glad I did it before I threw a bunch of money in this thing because this car is done. The c-pillar is buckled on the passenger side and the roof is bent down about a 1/2". I took the sail panel off the inside, and the unibody structure inside is definitely bent so it would take more than just welding on a new quarter panel to fix it.



This roof was held on with a bunch of rivets and black glue that I sed off with a gasket ser and tediously stripped the rest with carburetor cleaner and a scotch-brite pad. After that I filled the holes with spot putty and sprayed it Oxford white.

I didn't even try to make the bodywork look nice; I just wanted to keep the water out and make it all white.












It's really soft right here; I just threw some filler on to fill it up.










The crease where the roof is bent.


The plan for this car now is to just drive it and use it as a parts car for the next Cougar I eventually buy.
Matt
1984 Thunderbird - 89 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and 600 cfm 4bbl, Mustang headers, Jegs o/r H pipe, Dynomax lers, Mustang AOD and shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, 3G alternator, Mustang front and rear sway bars, KYB SN-95 front struts and shocks, and 11" front brakes.

1988 Mustang GT - GT40 heads, Explorer intake, 70mm throttle body, 70mm MAF, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 deluxe handle, aluminum clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster, o/r h pipe, Dynomax lers, 3G alternator, aluminum radiator, and 3.27 gears.
 
1986 Cougar 5.0, 1989 Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 1980 Mercury Zephyr 4 door (sold)

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #1 –
Looks good from about 10 feet away. White cars dont show imperfections as much. I painted my girlfriends black maxima white because the body was rough. Now you cant even see any of the dents.

turbo charged 94 Cobra engine/440cc injectors/megasquirt /5 speed swapped (T5)/maxbox upper intake/70mm PP throttle body/AJE coilovers/2003 Mustang control arms/S.T. sway bars/ES rear control arm bushings/11" brake conversion/manual rack conversion/8.8 TC rear with rear discs and a welded diff/3.73 gears/PLX wideband/199mph speedometer/Aeromotive FPR/CNC hydraulic hand brake/cobra R wheels/....ect.

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #2 –
Well it does look better overall...a good 20 footer.
But that passenger side rear quarter just defies logic. It's shoved over at least an inch more than factory specs. New one on me, that's for sure...

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #3 –
that's why i can't stand those stupid carriage roofs, besides the fact that they look uglier than hell in my opinion.. you never know what lurks underneath until you peel it off
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #4 –
I guess that really feeds into my friend's dad's and uncle's (both bodymen for the last 30 years+) matching opinion on vinyl tops "only reason they left the factory like that was to cover up a screwed up roof!"
1987 20th Anniversary Cougar, 302 "5.0" GT-40 heads (F3ZE '93 Cobra) and TMoss Ported H.O. intake, H.O. camshaft
2.5" Duals, no cats, Flowmaster 40s, Richmond 3.73s w/ Trac-Lok, maxed out Baumann shift kit, 3000 RPM Dirty Dog non-lock TC
Aside from the Mustang crinkle headers, still looks like it's only 150 HP...
1988 Black XR7 Trick Flow top end, Tremec 3550
1988 Black XR7 Procharger P600B intercooled, Edelbrock Performer non-RPM heads, GT40 intake AOD, 13 PSI @5000 RPM. 93 octane

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #5 –
Replaced the timing chain and gears a few weeks ago at 114,xxx miles. Also needed a MAP sensor.




New Cloyes timing set FTW.


Plastic timing gear FTL.


Matt
1984 Thunderbird - 89 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and 600 cfm 4bbl, Mustang headers, Jegs o/r H pipe, Dynomax lers, Mustang AOD and shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, 3G alternator, Mustang front and rear sway bars, KYB SN-95 front struts and shocks, and 11" front brakes.

1988 Mustang GT - GT40 heads, Explorer intake, 70mm throttle body, 70mm MAF, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 deluxe handle, aluminum clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster, o/r h pipe, Dynomax lers, 3G alternator, aluminum radiator, and 3.27 gears.
 
1986 Cougar 5.0, 1989 Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 1980 Mercury Zephyr 4 door (sold)

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #6 –
Well, the new fuel pump I installed last December decided to die after 4 months. At least it's still under warranty.

There's some advantages to having a car that's destined to be a parts car.

Redneck fuel pump access cover! :mullet:















When I changed the original fuel pump in December it took 7 hours doing it the correct way fighting with rusted bolts and balancing the tank on a jack, whereas this took 1 hour haha. I have to say I'm starting to lean more toward making the access cover on cars I care about. Maybe make a more professional access cover with a proper hinge, a rubber gasket, and screw everything down securely?
Matt
1984 Thunderbird - 89 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and 600 cfm 4bbl, Mustang headers, Jegs o/r H pipe, Dynomax lers, Mustang AOD and shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, 3G alternator, Mustang front and rear sway bars, KYB SN-95 front struts and shocks, and 11" front brakes.

1988 Mustang GT - GT40 heads, Explorer intake, 70mm throttle body, 70mm MAF, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 deluxe handle, aluminum clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster, o/r h pipe, Dynomax lers, 3G alternator, aluminum radiator, and 3.27 gears.
 
1986 Cougar 5.0, 1989 Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 1980 Mercury Zephyr 4 door (sold)
 

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #7 –
I got lucky when I pulled the top off mine, no rust, just sloppily applied factory bondo to cover up the welds.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

My Bebe! 1980 Thunderbird, 302 & AOD are the only option boxes checked

The carriage roof is off and now general repair thread.

Reply #8 –
It really looks like there should be an access cover there from the factory. Of course, dropping the fuel tank is ridiculously easy on these cars. (Especially when you don't have any tail pipes like me)
2002 Honda Civic EX

1984 Ford Thunderbird Elan
5.0 CFI, T5, Dual Exhaust