Fixing Oil Canned Roof

[tricky lugnuts]

Got a 1971 Charger SE. It's supposed to have a full black vinyl top.

I want to put the vinyl back on - especially now that I have all the trim I need - but I hate doing it with the roof the way it is now, oil canned in several places. (You know, drying or waxing the car, it "pops" slightly up and down.

It's oil canned pretty much right in the middle of the roof.

Are there any good ways to approach this problem for do-it-yourselfers? Is a new roof the only solution? Should I just put the vinyl back and the way it is?

I can post pictures if that would help...

[tan top]

can cold shrink it with a combination of shrinking hammer / dolly / slapper bar ..air grinder with 38 grit & circular spiral  motion  , or similar sort action with a  shrinking tip on a single sided spot welder gun ,  or if your carefull gas torch ,  & cooling it with a wet sponge or leather . 

   when it goes plink plink does it go back to the correct shape on its own or do you need to push is from the other side   
  another was is to stick some sound deadening  in the inside 
 
a picture would be good 

[OttawaCharger]

A shrinking disc is a very controlled way to do small shrinks.  If you do a search on Youtube, you'll see some good demos.  The roof on my car looks like someone jumped on it at one time and this is the way I plan to go.
Try not to use a soaking wet sponge to quench the metal when you're shrinking.  It's been reported that the quick quench tends to work harden the metal.

[tricky lugnuts]

Thanks guys - those techniques all sound a little involved for me - except maybe the one of stuffing some sound deadener between the roof and the inner brace!

I'll try to check out the YouTube videos tonight and take the digital camera home from work to take a couple pictures of the roof to post tomorrow.

When the roof goes "plink plink" it returns to the original shape, by and large. There seems to be a small dent in the center where a small puddle will form whenever it rains. Looks bad. I think my roof was something like a bench seat/trampoline for the original owners back in the 1970s.

I'll try to take some pictures of the roof as it normally looks, of the roof being "plinked" down, and of the roof being "plinked" up.

Before I ask how much a body shop should charge me to do said repairs, I'll post up the pics.

I guess I shouldn't be so scared of damaging the paint - with grinders, hammers, etc - before I put the vinyl top on, especially since I first want to pull the front and back windows to make sure there is no rust damage in those channels.

Tom

[OttawaCharger]

I almost forgot to mention - make sure you take down the head liner before attempting any of this!