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1st Gen. Ram - All TopicsDiscussion for all Dodge Rams prior to 1994. This includes engine, drivetrain and non-drivetrain discussions. Anything prior to 1994 should go in here.
Well just finished a fairly intensive roof repair on my 91 W250, overall happy with the results. The donor roof piece I got from a wrecking yard and as you can see it looked decent from the outside but definitely had the common condensation issue that causes them to rust from the inside out.I used Phosphoric Acid to treat any surface rust and cut out and replaced what I felt couldn't be treated. I did try something a bit different this go around with the rear seam above the rear window as I wasn't going to be able to weld it like I did on my crew cab, but used a panel bonding epoxy instead and it worked quiet well. Everything got a few good coats of epoxy primer before assembly and used a self leveling epoxy seam sealer in the drip rail, and heavy bodied epoxy seam sealer on the vertical and underside areas. Took the opportunity to add some sound deadening to both the inner and outer roof skins which I found really helped when I did the same on the crew cab. Also while I was at it decided to fix a few other bad spots, one on the cab itself caused by poorly fitting trim holes letting in moisture as well as the box section on the front passenger side cab mount. Overall alot of time and effort but I'm glad I was able to save this one!
Great job!!
Had a guy do mine, he got a rust free roof form Arizona, had it sandblasted, cut at the door posts then wielded it back together, seemed a lot less work. he had done two before, think he charge me 8hr,
The floor in mine was more of an issue, my brother (who I got the truck from) had a brake fluid leak just kept filling it for years, removed all the paint under the floor, rusted completely and they had to replace the floor and rockers
Again great job
Appreciate the kind words everyone, jamesw146 I had been advised by an old timer against cutting at the posts in the event of a rollover could cause some unforeseen issues as that was my first thought as well. Unfortunately up north in Canada these trucks love to rot away from the inside out and gaining access to the roof panels to paint and prep them on the inside is worth while in my experience. It seems like a pile of work but ill admit the majority is in the prep for paint and reassembly, the actual removal and reassembly was rather quick. A good spot weld drill bit and a small band file make quick work of spot welds.
I agree. I have heard that cutting the 4 posts and just welding on a new rust free cab toupee, is not very strong in the case of a roll over or the like.
First you did a great job repairing the roof, every project uses resources and processes that are available.
Agree to disagree
The guy that did mine cut 12" sleeves out of the metal that was that was extra in the rust free roof, then fit them inside existing door posts. He said that it made the aliment much easier. I think that with the sleeves wielded inside existing door post, might be stronger than it was when it left the factory
As for roll over protection, my project included a new flat bed as the bed was to rusty to fix. when I ran the numbers it probably would have cost more to fix the bed then buy a new one. I will include a pic
Good luck with your truck, hope it works out for you as well as mine has worked for me
W
Gorgeous truck James, its begging for duals in the rear! Also by no means was I trying to rain on your sunny days, simply stating my reasons for doing it differently.
06-22-2024, 07:35 PM
