36 Ford Bobber Build

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Torchie

Are you going to mail slot the rear window or move it down?

I was originally going to narrow if a little and move it down but my buddy talked me into mailslotting it. I actually like the mailslot look and, since it is a pickup and the window is so close to your head, I don't think it will hurt visibility all that much. Also, the rear window is centered between the belt line and the top of the roof on these trucks so moving it down would mess up the proportions. I really don't want to deal with cutting all the way around it and welding the whole thing back in to get that position to look right and mailslotting it will solve that issue.

I got the remaining sections cut out last night and set the roof back on. It's going to be a process getting all the fitment done and then it will be welding time. I'm glad that I decided to go with the mailslot back window. I think it looks just about right.

Looking good

I haven't posted in awhile because it took me awhile to fit the back of the cab to the roof. I finally got through that though and started tacking it back together. I have one side tacked and the back window opening is tacked. Gotta do the other side then it will be time to cut the roof in half to stretch it. I think its coming our pretty good so far for a total noob.

Keep at it! It's lookin good ! [cl

Noob smoob, It looks great to me [cl [

Got the other side tacked up last night. Time to split the roof and start working on the stretch and A pillars. Probably won't touch it again until after next week but I feel like I'm at a good milestone for the end of the year[cl

I'd lay the posts back instead of splitting the top.

I definitely like the look of the posts laid back but its a long way to move them to get them to line up. I'm also not sure that my skill level is up to the task of blending the front of the roof and the cowl to post areas yet. Maybe on the next one Plus I have a section from another roof to use as filler so the fab for the fill section will be pretty minimal.

If you lean the A pillars back your visibility of stop lights will much better. I wish I had done it to mine. I've never done it either but I'm sure you could figure it out.

just my 2 cents but i have always thought the leaned back a pillars didn't look right, I'd cut the roof

I vote for leaving the pillars at the cool angle and cutting the roof.
If you bend the A-pillars at a goofy angle then, you also have to cut the front door posts at that same slant. Just more work, to throw off the perspective view of the truck.

Both ways are a viable option.
I've done both and I think I like splitting the roof a little more.
You probably already have your game plan on how to do it.
There are different ways of splitting the roof too.
This works good for me.
At the point going across the roof it has less taper than moving the cut further forward.
The horizontal cut is parallel with the drip edge and 4 times the distance that you are going to move the top. It makes the top easier to line back up.

I'm definitely splitting the roof at this point since it was always my plan. The cuts that I made on the A pillars would be wrong now if I changed that plan too.

Old Iron, thanks for the tip! That makes a lot of sense to me. I was planning on cutting across where you show. I hadn't thought of adding the horizontal cut though and that just makes a lot of sense.

I did make some wood forms that follow the curve of the roof on the inside with adjustable poles that hole them up to help align things as well.

Good thinking

So I started planning out my cuts and realized that doing the horizontal cut doesn't seem to work for this cab. There is too much taper to get it to line back up once I slide the front forward.

I am thinking of cutting a few inches forward of the centerline rather than towards the back. Here's my reasoning: I have a section from another roof including the rails that came out of that forward area so I wouldn't need to fab the filler sections if I cut there. Also, while the cab tapers more there, the top of the roof has a little less curve so it seems like mismatch in curve there would be less noticeable. What do you guys think? Does it make sense to cut in that forward area?

I think cutting it more forward sounds lke a good idea since that's the area of the cab the patch came from. I think you'll still need to split the patch in the middle and add a little in the center of it. Seems like most of the builds I've watched ended up doing that. I wish the passenger side wouldn't have been so rusty and I could have got more off the top for you.

I'm glad to have the roof sections either way! Thanks again. The door tops are going to be even more appreciated I think.

As I keep thinking about the problem, I keep thinking of reasons to cut it in different places! Last night, after posting, I was thinking about it more and realized that if I cut it forward like I was talking about, the cab tapers alot there. The problem with that taper, even though I have the sections from that area, is that I can't make ti match the line of the door frame there since it will, in effect, make a straight spot in the taper where I slide the front section away from the rear section. Does that make sense? Basically, my patches would end up parallel to each other there.

So now I'm back to thinking that a rear cut is better because there is a short area back there where the tops of the door frames are close to parallel (almost no taper). This is the spot that Old Iron was talking about. If I stretch right there, then that area where my patches are parallel won't be nearly as noticeable. I can still use the roof sections that I have as patch material, I just might have to cut them up a bit and weld multiple pieces in to make them work. They have the compound curves in them. Even if the curves a a little bit different, they will be a whole lot closer than flat sheet. Since I don't have sheet metal tools, i.e. english wheel, etc., I would only be able to use flat sheet if I didn't have the patch sections.

Sorry for the long post, I just want to get opinions on my thought process as I want to do this as "right" as I can the first time!