Let me first start by saying thanks for a wonderful forum and allowing me to post my non-exciting project. I think this will serve me to keep motivated working on the project, even if only a little bit at a time.
Back ground: I was interested in this car when I first saw pics of it. It appeared to be an easy project for me: New paint on one of my favorite body styles. It was looking like: throw a drive train in it, some interior work...and I'd have a very decent driver. I wasn't looking for perfection in the painted body, but the seller told me it was one of the most rust-free cars that he had the opportunity to work on. I checked it over, and asked a question( should have been my 1st clue of buyer beware!) Why was the old vinyl roof not replaced during the repaint? I see a few bubbles under there along the front top of the windshield area.What is under that? Serious rust? The owner assured me it was very minor surface rust, and nothing to worry about. I don't have alot of experience with vinyl roofs and their problems,plus the assurance of an obvious experienced Mopar expert( he had some other very nice Mopars on hand that weren't for sale, but very impressive.)Anyway, the paint shined really nice, looked quite straight, and the deal was struck...( probably paid twice what I should have, but o well...the guy seemed honest,and I won't have to track down a body/paint guy to get the car on it's way to be back on the road soon).
So onto what I found, and you'll soon see why I got so mad! Not at what was found under the roof, but what was hidden to paint this car!
Here's what I started with:

Some more exterior...

Rear view

Here you can just see the bubbles in the vinyl above the windshield...

Front seats needing new skins...And needs a new carpet also...

Found this : "minor" surface rust under the vinyl...

Just a few more "minor" bubbles..

A couple more...

So please be gentle...I'm not a body man, never been taught to weld...so here it goes, my attempt at cutting out the cancer, and starting from the pass. side corner, piece by piece cutting out and replacing the roof and window channel. I used approx 6" at a time as that's how big my vise is to make the bends.... very tedious....of course I bought a 36" brake after the job was done...

Working my way across the front...6" or less at a time!

a bit more

inch by inch...

will this ever end?

I'm getting there...takes a while, bending a near 90 degree angle in the roof piece, with a slight curve to try to follow roof curve, and then welding a separate piece to complete the "z" of the profile...cuz I can't bend it that way in a vise with one piece...

Almost there...

The corners were fun...a flat top piece, curved/bent to mimic roof lines, then the 90 degree bent curved channel piece welded to the top...sheesh!

Looks almost like a roof again...

Front view

The lines and arrows are where the windshield clips go...once I cut out the old channel, there was no reference to where these go.

You're doing a good job, especially if it's your first time tackling something like that. We all gotta start somewhere....and under an old vinyl top is as good of a place as any! Keep up the good work.