Dented Roof Repair

[pete280z]

I've been lurking around HybridZ for a couple of years soaking up as much info as I can before I start my Z project. I've always been very impressed with the wealth of knowledge available here. Well, the time has finally come for me to get started - I'm shopping for a Z!

 

I have found a 1972 240 that seems to be in pretty good shape overall (very little to no rust). The owner pointed out that there was some body filler on the roof where he repaired a dent. It was repaired pretty well, but a "wave" in the roof is still detectable. It looks like the underlying dent was pretty large, as the wave seems to be about 24" long from front to back. The car is newly painted, so I'd probably leave it as-is for a while, but I would eventually want to fix it.

 

I've got no experience with body work, so I'm pretty clueless as to what can be done. Can a dent in the roof like this be repaired back to straight without cutting the roof off and grafting a straight one on? What are my options?

[Guest Zachb55]

Hi there Pete, When i bought my car the first thing i noticed was that the roof seemed to wave at me like a navy ship's crew while pulling away from dock!!!! i knew i had a good bit of work to do, and i probably went through a can of filler just getting it back to somewhat normal, just sprayed my paint a couple days ago (pictures coming soon i hope) and it looks better then i could have ever imagined. of course i painted it yellow so it is more forgiving then a darker color like red or black.

 

-Zach

[pete280z]

Hey Guys,

 

Sounds like this repair isn't as bad as I had imagined it would be. But I think I've decided to pass on this car. I was really excited to find a rust-free and fairly straight body, but the car is just too well set up (and expensive) for me to tear apart as a project. I think I'm going to keep shopping around until I find a more suitable platform.

 

-p