Suburban roof replacment

[w-cummins]

Any one replaced a suburban roof? I need to replace mine I know that most of it bolts on but the front A pillars will require some welding??

 

[TotalyHucked]

What? I've never seen a roof that bolts on...

 

[Grit dog]

Umm, go look again, it’s not a Blazer.
You’re better off driving out here and loading up a cheap / free burb body with no rust that is going to the car smasher and doing a body swap before you get into drilling out 1,234 spot welds countless hours of fitting, grinding and welding AND the rest of the substantial rust repair that is surely present if it is bad enough the roof rusted out.
Or better yet, buy a whole clean burb out here. Complete or roller for not a lot of money and use hours as a parts donor.
Clean Suburbans are hard to sell or go cheap out here. Save the headache.

 

[Zelph]

Post up a photo of what you are working on.

 

[bucket]

Any one replaced a suburban roof? I need to replace mine I know that most of it bolts on but the front A pillars will require some welding??

While portions of the roof's inner structure does indeed bolt on, the majority of it is welded.

The way you attack that project is determined by how much of the donor vehicle that you use.

 

[w-cummins]

The rest of the truck is super clean I'm not sure how they rusted out the roof probably parked it under some pine trees... As for the bolting on it clearly does it looks like it's only the front is welded

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[bucket]

The rest of the truck is super clean I'm not sure how they rusted out the roof probably parked it under some pine trees... As for the bolting on it clearly does it looks like it's only the front is welded

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Those bolts just held stuff in place until all the seems and flanges were welded. There's a lot of welds that you just haven't noticed yet.

 

[w-cummins]

are the seams welded or just have seam sealer in them? I have seen the sanded down A pillars and it looks like they were brazed on there. Are the sides spot welded where the bolts are, to the window flange and the top of the door openings? I have the whole roof off the parts truck and I have not cut it off yet, I can cut it like I marked the rusted roof and just re-weld it there... down the pillars some and stagger it on the inside vs the outside.

 

[Ricko1966]

are the seams welded or just have seam sealer in them? I have seen the sanded down A pillars and it looks like they were brazed on there. Are the sides spot welded where the bolts are, to the window flange and the top of the door openings? I have the whole roof off the parts truck and I have not cut it off yet, I can cut it like I marked the rusted roof and just re-weld it there... down the pillars some and stagger it on the inside vs the outside.

If this were my project,,I really wouldn't consider it a big deal. I'd look for a donor,treat it exactly like a chop top just don't lower the roof,all the cuts will be in the pillars and easily blended. Do some research on chop tops then go look at your suburban hard.

 

[Steelbuddha]

Your "before" photos don't look bad at all. Weld in a couple of small patches, grind it down, and break out the Bondo.

 

[Grit dog]

If this were my project,,I really wouldn't consider it a big deal. I'd look for a donor,treat it exactly like a chop top just don't lower the roof,all the cuts will be in the pillars and easily blended. Do some research on chop tops then go look at your suburban hard.

Good point. Way easier than doing a skin. But it’s still a big deal for anyone who isn’t an experienced body welder/fab guy.

 

[TotalyHucked]

These are only single cabs...the human mind cannot comprehend the amount of spot welds a suburban roof has lol. Now granted, neither of these show the roof panel spot welds but I promise ya, you start grinding away the paint along the edges of the roof skin, a spot weld every inch or so is what you'll find. Those bolts are only for some of the inner structure pieces

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[BigT]

Ho Lee Chit, that's a lot of welds. I'm never doing that...

 

[legopnuematic]

It would still be labor heavy, no way around that (although @Ricko1966 ‘s proposal of treating it like a chop top is really a good idea), but cutting the majority of the roof skin out first, then grinding on top of the spot welds and split them, do the same, but opposite on the donor roof, grind away the inner structure. No hole drilling. Find an old Lenco panel spotter and spot weld it like OE. And finishing would be easier not having to dress down tons of welds.

 

[saltdog]

the factory assembly manuals show and count the number of welds in a Suburban roof- they are mind bogglingly vast