Guys, I am looking for a 4x4 short bed truck but so many of them have the rotten roof, I know it's some design flaw and there are very few that do not show the hidden damage.

Is any of the body panel companies reproducing the roof panels? I have looked a little but have yet to find them.

Do you think it would be a viable product for AMD to produce? Or am I having one cut off of an Arizona doner?

Do I ever wish SOMEONE would reproduce those panels! Even if they were partial patch panels it would make life easier. I used a donor roof and cut out what I needed but even it wasn't perfect and man what a PITA it is.

Technically I don't think it's a design flaw as you find that once you get in there you see it's just bare metal, no treatment or paint to speak of.

But while we are at it can We wish for 87-93 wing window seals too?

I have used the 78-86 wing window seals on 87-93 trucks with no issues.

I agree. I fixed both mine with a big headache. I went with a rust free Kansas truck and only had slight surface rust..but 9 yrs later I am cutting patches along the front roof line

going to weld up the cargo hole that keeps my driver seat belt wet while I am at it this time.

I am building a swb 4x4 from scratch. 86 cab and it needs the roof corners and some drip rail work. less headache with cab off frame and gutted.

IMHO..its cheaper to piece together a whole truck and do the body work as you go than coming up with lots of cash and buy a running truck and then blow it apart to fix rust.

well maybe not cheaper but on my no cash budget and get them done as cash permits it I am building #3 now and repairing build #2 while driving build #1 that is rust free/color change except for rust repair/color change on the stepside bed.

looking at ebay for doors/fenders = these junkers I removed seem to be good as gold.

and those old junk q-jets in my shed seem to be worth 4-5 hundred each..

ospho (spelling?) in a sprayer and wand it all inside the inner roof panels from cargo light hole getting back side of drip rail.

this is my next plan of attack on roof rust for all 3 trucks.

FYI. my 91 cab on the 85 truck got bed liner inside and out and is holding up rather well on the floors and cab roof.

wing window seals..yep another headache. cant stand a set of mix match either.

crazy $ for a set on ebay with out new rubber..

I've heard others say this too but the upper pivot is different and the older wing windows have a metal base on them that the newer ones do not. I don't see how that is going to seal very well and I don't want to waste the money on trying unless I'm sure. Maybe you could post some pics of how well they fit?

FWIW, it wasn't limited to the full size trucks... Had to do my 93 Dakota as the windshield area was shot.

some glass has 3 holes and some have 2 holes

had that mix match on my 85 for a long time till I got a good set of 2 hole wings that matched with good frames.

I always thought 3 hole was the early ones but me thinks they are the later ones with no new rubbers?

Yep my 92 and 93 have 3 holes and no metal on the bottom edge.

That metal base has to add at least an 1/8" of thickness to the glass. I can't see how that would possibly seal.

heres the seals I did on a 91

Thanks for the pics. Do they really not leak water or wind? Others have said they are still adding coins to the latch handle to tighten them up.

they leak a little wind, but I cant hear it or feel it over the cummins.

No rain although my trucks don't sit outside often. new seals don't really combat the coin fix if the latch is worn.

I saved a clean 84 roof , and held onto it for a year. Noone would buy or trade for it, then couldnt give it away. Had to scrap it. made me sick.

Too bad about that 80's roof.
I get your disappointment.

Re; Rotten roofs
I live the salt = rust part of the country.
I have a '76 N a '78.
One has surface rust the other is still solid.

My ?
I used a solid 80's cab from some one here.

Now you can go back to the wing window thing.

Scratchin' you the man with your trucks, and building. I envy your talent.

The vent windows on my '79 whistle like crazy. My solution is open them, lol. I don't have a/c anyhow, and we don't get much cold weather here. I sure would like to have them quiet though. The main problem with mine seems to be the loose handles more than the rubber. I'm luckY to have a solid truck. I just received new windshield from lmctruck last night. Mine is foggy around edges especially from de-lamination. Maybe when I have old one out I'll have more access to spray underside of roof for protection? Don't the roofs usually rust inside out?

I don't understand why lmctruck doesn't make replacement roofs for the 72-80 at least!!! Maybe it's too expensive to produce? But even front panels seem like they would be extremely profitable!

LET'S ALL START EMAILING LMC WITH REQUESTS TO START MAKING REPLACEMENT ROOFS!!

I just sent this email to LMC:

LMC truck needs to make replacement roofs, or at least replacement roof panels for the 1972-1980 (or thru 1993 would be better!) Dodge light duty pickups!!!

There's a huge demand. This was a rust prone area, and there are so many trucks out there waiting to be saved, and no donors!!!

Please, please, please!

Here's the email address: CustomerCare@longmotor.net

Exline, while focusing on the Swepties series, has begun producing 72-80 sheet metal, including a bigger floor pan replacement. This last week, on one of the Mopar truck FB pages, someone started a post on a wish-list for body stuff. Kenny, the owner of Exline, posted that he will be coming out with more 72-80 stuff this year, and asked for more suggestions. I told him that complete roof sections seem to be a HUGE request across many FB groups and forums like this one. Maybe he'll try it.

I'm not on FB and have no plans to be so I guess I miss out on some good stuff (once in awhile).

Don't blame ya for that, lol.

http://www.exlinecustomauto.com/1972-93-Dodge-truck.html

How about club cab roofs? I don't see much call for one of those, did they rust the same? I have had a nice roof sale for a few years with no interest.

Maybe coming in the "spring of 2019"?

Thanks for link. I'll be watching for the upcoming new stuff.

I had a core support, same outcome. Florida and other coastline areas eat up roofs of everything.
Personally, I don't think there are many people who would take on a proper roof repair, but having a patch panel would help.

Well really you need 4 pieces. The outer and inner panels, the header panel sandwiched between the two and the drip rail.

Exactly

Ive got a bit of rust in my top pass. window channel and am worried what Im going to find underneath.

But really even if you had just a new header panel it would make the job easier with a donor roof. When I did mine by the time I drilled out all the spot welds from the donor what I had left was basically four slices of swiss cheese.

I've got some dealer stuff Dad brought home from the local Dodge dealer in the early '70s. I remember one of the pics showing a bare cab on the assembly line, praising the rust preventive measures being taken.

Fords have the same rust problem over the windshield. At least there are enough of those around tho that finding a good cab or roof doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

I think the early trucks were better treated. By the late 80's early 90's they didn't do much.

I know Kenny he is a straight up guy, he has acquired the dies to punch many sheetmetal parts for our trucks 49-93

You guys that had donor roofs and rad supports that were stuck with them; you weren't willing to box and ship I'm sure, and I don't blame you. A company the does this will undoubtedly have better success, AND can do it a lower costs.

Well I hope he can start doing roof pieces because without that all the doors, fenders, cab corners and such in the world will be useless without them.

First post here, been on slantsix.org and FABO for a while. I came here looking for info on repairing rot on a D150 roof rail and this thread was right at the top of the forum! I see it's a common problem. I'm looking for an 80's D150 and I found an '81 with a low-mileage Super Six and a body that is great except for the roof rail. I see from previous posts that there are 3 panels that come together there. Does anyone have pictures or a good description of how they fit together? Also, how does water get in? Through the drip rail seam?

Here are the pics of the one I was looking at. The white on the passenger side is seam sealer.

"I think the early trucks were better treated. By the late 80's early 90's they didn't do much."

Never thought of that... All my 70's trucks I've owned never had rusty roofs. My 92' sure did have the rusty roof syndrome.

here are some pics of how I had to repair my 91 cab going on my 85 chassis/truck.

few yrs ago and wish I had went all the way across replacing the drip rail.

since I was spraying the whole cab in bed liner I just welded some metal across the roof edge after sanding/ospho

getting after it

getting there

boy I had fun

more fixin

almost done

done welding/grinding add some all metal and sand it off smooth and shoot it with 6 gallons of bed liner.

The problem with that repair is it didn't address the root cause. It may be ok and last long enough for what ever your plans are but if you had opened up that roof you would have been greeted with bare metal and a lot more rust.

I have some pics on my phone I'll see what I can do to post them.

Some pics.

I sprayed Eastwood's inside frame coating inside the roof and all the panels. There wasn't a whole lot of welding most of it was done using panel bond. That was on the advice of my body and paint guy brother in law.

The way it's put together is you have the inner roof panel. The header panel is attached to it. Then the drip rail is attached to the header panel and the outer roof panel is attached to the drip rail.

Some before pics

yikes! right click save those pics for reference. thanks for sharing those.

yes, I just cut a piece out of my 88 truck last weekend and found hand
fulls of rust scale just laying there.

getting after it early is the key to keeping the work down. unfortunately they are always left as is for way to long then giving up on.

looks like we can start a faze in another 30 yrs with convertible/open top trucks. LOL!

When we were fixing it I commented to by buddy, "It doesn't have to last 30 years, I'll be dead by then." That would put me at 92

more pics if anyone wants them. starting at post #19 on link:

https://ramchargercentral.com/mopar-trucks/1988-w-100/

Was not a fun job but holding up well 3 1/2 years later/so far

Great pics, thanks. Does anyone have experience with a cab that has had a sun visor on it? I've got another candidate truck that looks pretty good but it has a visor. Without taking it apart I won't know the condition of the roof.

The donor truck I used had a visor on it. The rest of the truck was rotten but the roof was pretty nice. They did seal the holes they drilled though. I guess it all depends.

I studied your thread before we dove into my roof. You are right about it not being any fun. I swear, between the two roofs I must have drilled out 100 haphazardly placed spot welds.

You da man, Mike! Was that Ace man sprayin' bedliner?

yep, we are still at it every saturday got the 440 gasser build going on now. got a free 440/727 and a free 86 swb 4x4 chassis and a free 86 title/cab got about 200$ in oil pan/mounts/gaskets so far! splicing up a wire harness for it next.

Scratch is always building something! Like to see pics of this build!

Yep, I used to have that kind of drive and ambition. Now I'm just old and tired.

I feel your pain

I talked to Ace about skinning a roof and why we did it the way we did.

he worked a body shop 15 yrs. and the least amount of work, least amount of materials = most profit. so there are lots of tricks of the trade to patch/repair and send it out.

there is also the correct way of doing it and that is time and lots of $$$ lots of work but in the end you have a rust free straight ride.

I have found a new respect for body shops and WHY they charge the $$ they do.

last Dec, I painted the oil tank on my sportster 5x to get it right. 3x was my gorilla hands touchy feely drop it. 2x was due to runs in clear coat.


again...extra time/work/materials but I got it! so now its rebuilt with 1200 miles break-in with fresh paint.

I will start a pic page of all my junk in progress

Ooooo! Truck Pourn!!!

Funny you mention that. I was thinking of a summer time open top for one of my rust buckets, as well as a 4 door Fury.
I figured it'd be a great way of getting some use out of a rusty junker. Any one remember the 80's, or maybe 90's (?) convertible Dakotas?

I see I am not the only one with this problem....

Same issues here. Fortunately there’s some options for me. Depending how far back the rot goes and it’s not into the inner frame you can get good clean patch panels here in Arizona. I have a club cab roof I can’t bring myself to cut.

I've noticed the same thing about 72-80 not been as bad as the newer version, I've owned several over the years. I'm looking for another at the moment. love the D and W trucks.
I suppose that the 72-80 roof won't work for a 81-93 truck?

I would think the fitment would be the same, but the later trucks had a bodyline, where the older ones were more rounded.

My '79 W150 is from out west and APPEARS rust free, but from this thread, I'm concerned about what lurks beneath.

I wonder if I would put some rust converter in my pump sprayer (I realize it may ruin my sprayer), and after removing the visor mounts, spray the best I can all up in the inner roof panel to kill any rust that could be lurking under there? Maybe I can spray through the dome light too if I remove that.

Here’s another repair made I took off the net

And the final pic

That's Scrathinfortraction's truck.

Auto Metal Direct has a poll on their Facebook page, asking what we would like to see reproduced.
Everyone should go there, and ask for the parts these trucks need.
Here's what I would like to see.
Roof skins for 72-80 regular cabs.
Roof skins for 81-93 Cabs
Full one piece interior floors for 72-93 cabs. (There are several versions).
Bed sides for 73-80. Short and long.
Bed sides for 81-93 short and long.

Go to the AMD Facebook page, vote and add a comment.