New Lid

How to Replace the Roof on a 1970 ’Cuda Rusted from the Top Down

- Mark Ehlen

The overall state of the muscle car restoration industry has never been better. Cars are being returned to like-new condition today that would have been good for nothing more than parts donors just a few years ago. This is due to a variety of different factors, among them is the fact that there are more reproduction parts available today, and these cars have become much more desirable and valuable, so they’re worth fixing in spite of the damage. Still, restoration shops encounter many old repairs, or many home-brewed fixes that are less than desirable.

Imagine, then, what the guys in the metal shop at Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) must have thought when they saw the roof of this 1970 ’Cuda when it came back from being chemically stripped. The guys had suspected some roof issues, but … seriously?

Before we come down too hard on whoever did this, think about how hard it would have been to find a donor roof when this repair was likely done. Since the rust started in the seams, the donor roof would need to be removed all the way to the edges. That means drilling out all of the spot welds to separate the entire roof skin from the frame, which in a salvage yard would also mean pulling the front and rear glass to get to those edges. That’s an ambitious job for the junkyard parts hunter. Alternatively, the whole roof could have been cut from the donor car, then brought to the shop to drill out the welds. Given the effort that would have taken, it’s no wonder that patches were attempted. The crew at MCR will repair this roof the right way, by first fixing the underlying rust damage, then replacing the roof panel and drip rails with high-quality replacements from Auto Metal Direct (AMD).