RE-SKIN THE ROOF

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

Ok, I just got the nasty news that I will probibly have to reskin the roof of my 73 challenger. I know I can get the skin for about 600 bucks. But this leaves me with 2 questions.


1. How much have you guys paid to have a challenger roof reskinned W/ a Goodmark Skin?
2. Does anyone know of a good shop in the southern california area to do it. Who will not leave it screwed up more then it is now and who will not totaly bend me over.

[mopardave]

biggest thing is, is your car already torn down if not are you doing it or are they? this will triple the estimate if they have to detrim the car. the old mitchel crash book shows 17 hours just for the roof skin.

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

I will be pulling the interior apart, but will need the vinyl and some of the trim removed by a pro. I can gut the interior and remove some of the trim. To save cost. Please keep going. I would love more feedback from people.

[Alaskan_TA]

Great link below, a guy did this recently himself, he took a lot of photos along the way too;

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=best&Number=5005217&page=0&fpart=1

I have never had any reason to do it, but he makes it look easy.

[MoparCar]

I'll be doing is shortly. It only took 3-4 hours and 154 drilled spot welds to get it off. Not too bad. I'll post when I get to install. First I have to make some inner support/drip rail repairs.

Wes

[bb71challenger]

I donated a roof off a parts car to a friend of mine. He said the body shop charged him 1,100 to do the work. Not too bad if you dont want to go through the hassle. It looks pretty good too.

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

I donated a roof off a parts car to a friend of mine. He said the body shop charged him 1,100 to do the work. Not too bad if you dont want to go through the hassle. It looks pretty good too.

Was this shop in new mexico? Saw the plates on the car. Anyone know of a good shop in California. I am almost ready to drive the car to another state if I can get it done right. But would like to find someone local. I live in Orange Country. I should be able to find someone in this hot rod / street rod hub.

[bb71challenger]

Yes.They did no paint work on the car at all though. It is an original FE5 340 Rallye car and the top I donated was white. He shaker canned the top himself after it was done. I would think you should be able to get a reputable shop to do the job for somewhere around what my buddy paid.

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

That would be no problem. I just want to find a place that has done it before. I found a guy that had done some work on a local guys challenger but it wasn't a re-skin just some patching. He bulked at doing it for fear of not being able to get the windows to line up right. This shot my confidence in letting him try.
   The guy is a good body guy but if he is having worries I don't want to risk it with him.

[bb71challenger]

My buddy watched them and the advice I got here was spot on. All you have to do is take backlight/winshield measurements and while he is mocking it up just sit the glass back in the channel and get the measurements to match what was taken before the old roof was tore off. I am sure I am over simplifying it but I heard from a couple of sources that the hard part is drilling out the spot welds.

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

That is great info. 
  I was wondering, I am getting great info but no shop sources. Do you think if I called Goodmark they might have someone to recommend in Calif. ? I am getting worried. I need to get this done in the next 2-3 months.

    

[Chlngrcrzy]

If you ahve ever run a spot weld cutter and a welder, you can do it yourself. I did mine with a new AMD Top a year ago and it scared the crap out of me, but i did it and it came out okay. Took me a half aday to remove the old one and about that to put the new one on. And it took me 2 weeks in between to get up the nerve to do it. If you were in the northwest (WA), i would be happy to drop by and give you a hand. Good luck

[torredcuda]

As far as panel replacement it is fairly easy as the new skin pretty much drops into place,as bb71 said the glass openings are realy the only measurements needing to be checked.The labor is drilling out the spot welds and welding and grinding the new one.Any reputable shop should be able to handle it and my guess would be 12-16 hours.I did mine myself but I am an experienced body guy so it was a piece of cake.I`m on the other coast so no help in finding you a shop.

[TRIPLE-GREEN]

Thanks for the info and please keep it coming. I am sadly not a body guy so doing my self is out. I don't have the tools or the time for trial and error. But I am still looking for a shop if anyone has had it done before in Southern California.

THANKS!!