Bits and pieces, Leslie's car.

Got the roof mostly done. I’ll finish it up tomorrow and then start on the sunroof. I’ve got a kinda crazy idea for the sunroof in my mind that I hope works out well.

Roof looks great. I can't wait to see what your idea is.....

BillM said:

Roof looks great. I can't wait to see what your idea is.....

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Me too. A pleasure to follow along. [P

BillM said:

Roof looks great. I can't wait to see what your idea is.....

Click to expand...

Burgerman said:

Me too. A pleasure to follow along. [P

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Me 3.
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Torchie

Over the last couple of days I’ve been working on the sunroof. My first idea was to make the entire opening pop up and slide back but that would have put too much stress on the part that extended past the roof line. So instead, I went more conventional. Ideally, it would have been nice to find a donor roof but because the roof on the Essex is pretty much flat that wasn’t really an option. So instead, I got a set of drawer sliders and used that as the sliding mechanism. Then to make it pop up, I used some friction slides like you would find on benches that double as chests and used those for the rear pivot. The front pivots are just the bolts that hold it in tightened up and then backed of 1/8 turn. Used a whole mess of 1/8” plate and 1” square tubing for the frame work. I’ll have some final tweaks to make sure it opens and closes freely but for the most part she’s finished minus finish welding the rear portion in place. I’m going to try to get that done and then move onto making it mostly watertight tomorrow. It is a rat rod after all.

And the last few that I couldn’t load the first time.

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Torchie

AWESOME! That looks like a ton of work, but it sure turned out nice.

^^^what they said^^^
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[P[P[P

Just came across a very similar build going on in Havre on facebook. Went back to find it but couldn't. They were working on the sunroof as well. Someone you know JB?

earthman said:

Just came across a very similar build going on in Havre on facebook. Went back to find it but couldn't. They were working on the sunroof as well. Someone you know JB?

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I could be wrong but that might be my build LOL. I don’t know if anyone else in Havre doing what I do.

Well guys, I feel defeated today. Been trying to get the slider and pop up to work in conjunction with each other, I keep having binding issues. So back to the drawing board. What I am thinking that I will have to do is make the rear of the roof hinge somehow to reduce binding and be able to make whatever seal I can find work. If that doesn’t pan out, I will have to decide on either a slider or a pop up. I’m leaning more towards a slider if I do go that route but I’m not happy with that idea to say the least.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again."

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Looks great but why not use the mechanism from a sunroof car and make it work with your panel? I`m a big fan of sunroofs and imo the choice between slider or pop up is a bad one either way...

Due to my location, finding a sunroof car with a fairly flat roof is almost impossible. Almost like finding anything 2wd after the mid 70s. It’s just one of those small rural communities.

Started working on sunroof two-point-oh. Had to get a few different parts and quite a bit more steel to make it work. Tomorrow I’ll run down to get a couple more sheets of 18ga. and then I’ll be able to skin the new top.

Never fails the project you think you have all worked out in your head usually fights ya. Looks like your winning this one [P[P

Sunroof is mostly finished up. Need to cutout a piece to cover the cutout and create a seal for the front, install handles, and install latches and it’ll be finished. Getting a little to hot out right now so I’m calling it a day. Once I have the roof all finished up I will start on the trunk.

Wow, that's something to be proud of!

I've been wondering how you were going to accomplish the sun roof deal I like that very well