Madiskor

In my earlier post I made drawing how this should look like. Original frame have distinctive profile where inner perimeter is lower. Lower groove ends about where metal trim starts. So if you put chicken wire and padding until metal trim, it gives you smooth surface under vinyl and only vinyl is covering metal trim. I made it simple, my frame is flat. Chicken wire and metal trim give the same height. In order to keep this I had to cover the trim as well with padding, otherwise it would look not so nice under the vinyl. My roof is ca 1/4", not too thick to annoy me. Removing padding from metal trim saves me ca 1/8" but leaves trim connections more visible. With this type of roof it always stays on top of body, unless you cut or remove the metal trims to match body mold.

I will continue this topic with my experience to replace the roof. DIY roof for 1930 Chrysler Six CJ Royal Sedan. Since my roof with all the frame elements was quite rotten (see pics above), original frame could not be used anymore. It was also impossible for me to get any readymade product so I started to solve the issue and decided to do everything from the scratch. You can download this guide in pdf format from here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EaUvKQ1oeKfhXBw6mDZ_mgf2LhC2m21O/view?usp=sharing I will not present here almost any measurements, because it may vary from car to car. This is just for creative thinking. (Sorry, if phrasing or terms are not correct, english is not my first language). The roof of my car is “on the top of the body” (I do not know how to describe it better) – specific maybe to Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge of this era. One good idea, that I got from this forum, was to use plywood. This saved my day. Once the body was done and installed back to car frame, I measured the edges of the body that would hold the frame: ca 2” wide; and cross ribs: ca 1” wide. Workshop did the clean cut of the plywood. I calculated the frame to be done from 4 layers of plywood, that gave me ca 1” of height. Photo 1. First trim the frame details to necessary length and cut the corners. Test that every detail fit on the body. Then glue the layers on site. Use enough clamps to hold the frame and give the necessary bend. The Corners will overlap: 2 bottom layers from the sides +2 top layers from front/back. Photo 2 Repeat this at both sides. Photo 3 And for back and front. Photo 4 The Cross ribs are bent on a special frame/holder imitating the frame's width. All the ribs are of the same length, but have different bend from 1” to almost nothing. Just follow the logic that water must flow away and the bend is the greatest at the back and it should look good when covered with vinyl. Photo 5 Once done, test everything before fixing corners and ribs. Here the cross ribs connection is visible: I did not bother to cut them to shape of the groove, it will be fixed by screws and glue anyway. The groove is half a way (two layers of plywood) to the frame. Same for the ribs: they are shorter from two bottom layers. I also had to grind some of the corners in order to get them at the same level with the body. Photo 6 For this kind of roof, there is a metal frame that needs to be added. Test the fitting of the corners before screwing it on. It covers ca 1” distance from the roof frame. Photo 7 The transition from side to corner should be smooth from outer side, otherwise it will be visible later. Photo 8 The Same at the back. Photo 9 Once again, test it on. Now it is also good stage to drill all the bolt holes to frame. They will be hard to do later. You can even screw the frame to place to be sure everything fits well. There may be need to make horizontal bolt holes even bigger, because of the vinyl that lifts the frame a little. Photo 10 Also test the continuity of the slope of the ribs. Photo 11 It is done now. Photo 12 Add the chicken wire. Photo 13 Add some cotton for padding. Photo 14 Horizontal bolt holes. I had to make them bigger later, because vinyl + cotton lifted the frame and holes did not match anymore. Photo 15-16 This is how it looks before applying vinyl. Photo 17 On a hot summer day take it to the backyard and let it heat for couple of hours. On this photo, there is a diagonal pattern clearly visible although the grain is parallel to sides. I hope it disappears by time. The vinyl I used was short grain cobra. Photo 18 Start stretching and fixing the vinyl Photo 19 Initial stretching done. Vinyl fixed. Leftovers will be cut later. Photo 20 Final look. Photo 21 Cleaned corners. It was essential to clean the bottom side of the frame, since it did not fit well otherwise. Photo 22 Sides as well. Cut the horizontal bolt holes into vinyl. Photo 23 Use all the screws to tighten the roof into place. The corner screws will tighten the frame to position quite well, leaving no space whatsoever between frame- vinyl-body. Plus use horizontal bolts. It will fix it. Photo 24 Done Photo 25 Closeup of the left back corner. Photo 26 View from the back. What about adhesive – you may ask. I did not use it because: 1. The car barely stays outside while raining. I will avoid driving when it is raining. Minor rain should not do any harm. 2. The construction of the roof excludes the accumulation of the water to any place on the roof. 3. There is overlap of at least ½” where vinyl is pressed to the body in horizontal position. It must be very heavy and continuous rain to penetrate that. 4. Without adhesive it will be much easier to remove or fix anything with the roof. 5. When really needed, I can add a thin layer of black silicone to edge. That should keep the water away. Constructive criticism is welcomed but it is too late for me. I am done. Best regards Madis From Estonia

Thanks, good to know. I did not expect the + sign to do the magic. Let's test it: Here will be pic 1: Caption of this picture will be: My car Here will be pic 2: Caption of this picture will be: My car mirrored. Here will be two pictures side by side: Hey - it works!! Thanks once more.

I guess there is no way to put pictures inline either because pictures are always at the end of the message.

Hi, Can I add PDF file to the post? Best Regards Madis

Thanks, I will use piece of black felt to cover the hole on dashboard. The car at volocars have extra stop light at the back, mounted on the same spot I am wondering about. My instruction book wiring diagram does not have this option. But, at the same time, coupe have double tail lights as well, that was not implemented on sedan. I still have cunning idea to take advantage of the situation and to attach some DIY trunk rack there. Something easy to mount on and off. Nice brain work for long winter evenings behind drawing board. I am almost done with the car, few small holes to fill though.

Right. I was now thinking of felt, because windshield moves up and down for a 1" or so for ventilation. Rubber and glass in direct contact does not slide very well. Or some sort of stopper, not to rise windshield too high / above windshield...

Hi Forum, Can anyone identify what is missing from those places. See photos for reference. At least on dashboard it looks like there should be something. Some rubber parts? I is quite visible from outside. At the spare tire rack there is hole in the center and on the bumper rod as well. I can not tell if they are factory made holes or not. Some extra tail light? Is there any reference that this series, with spare tire on back, had trunk rack available? It would be nice add-on. Thanks in advance. Madis

No, it is pretty hard plastic with (sort of) chrome finishing. Couple of CNC workshops said this to be too complicated and expensive for metal, so I decided to go for plastic. Metal would need more precise fitting to be done before workshop. Even I did some modelling, I still needed to adjust/cut/grind the detail before fitting. It would be hard with metal. But it works, that's what counts at the moment.

Just updating. Since it was impossible to find original/replica, I went for DIY project. First some 3D modelling, then 3d printing, fitting, finishing and assembly, and I got myself functional (for CLUM switch and hand throttle) levers that look like real ones. Almost.

Hello Forum, Both of my steering wheel levers are gone. By now I have removed steering column from car and removed the rods, but I still have no idea exactly what is the broken detail and how does it look like. On the CLUM rod, which is screwed to top panel of the steering wheel, is broken from one side. Other one, throttle, seems to be broken from both sides. Additionally, there is this big washer, hole shaped like 8 inside with gap from one end. There are several photos of steering wheels in this forum but none of them matches my CJ-6. I have seen pictures of two rings with levers – for lights and for throttle – but I cannot “fit” them to my rods and steering wheel. I might build up something from scratch which has the functionality of levers, but it would be nice, if it is close as possible to original detail. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance, Madis

Thanks Keiser, I see now - The handle system is all there, it was just that one of the cogs is broken, my windshield was literally glued on the frame so I could not figure it out that it must be loose. It is simple and clear now. On the dashboard, left from steering column, what switch is that? If electrical, where is the wiper regulator? And I do not see floor switch there.

Does anyone have picture of original dashboard for 1930 CJ-6 4dr sedan? I am about to fix mine and would like to remove all unnecessary from it. I can presume, that heater, headlight switch and headlight indicator are redundant. Previous owner has moved headlight switch from steering wheel to separate switch for some reason. I am getting to that switch at the end of steering column later. I have working Tillotson XF carb with fixed rod instead of original adjusting valve. Since original is working as well, I am about to remove the fixed one. Wiper switch or regulator is just below dashboard on the left side. Also, there is lever/handle on the panel above the windshield. It looks like window handle but ends at nowhere. What is the purpose of that? Third question – there is floor switch for headlight. I cannot find any reference that this is included in the original electrical system. Any confirmation on that? Thanks in advance Madis

Hi Keiser. Yes, the windows came out easily. But window slot is only ca 2,5 cm and I can see screwhead inside (nuts outside). So if I remove nuts, the squared ones, there is no way I can put it back together. And there are more to change from inside - weatherstrip clip holder attached to both sides from inside; bumper, where window must rest while down etc. Actually, my problem is broken door fixator that must be replaced. To my opinion, the door panel must be assembled with window mechanism before it is put on the door. There must be other way to open it up.

Hello, I am confused with my 1930 CJ doors. I removed the door panels in order to clean and repair the mechanisms inside, but to my surprise I cannot figure out how to remove inner metal panel. It seems to be welded. As I see it, the mechanism cannot be removed without removing the panel? What am I missing here? Thanks in advance Madis