'65 Rover Half Cab

Rat Rods Rule

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I got to make a connection..... You got the project at the junk yard and in the picture in frame #3 on the trash can .... your pretty serious about recycling !!!

I also agree about buying up parts and keeping the stash going as it is always more expensive at the last minute ..

Oldog
 
How about making your corner window fillers ....doors? Swing them out for ventilation. Maybe split/hinge them down the middle like closet doors so that they will park next to the back window?
 
The window frames look good! Does the roof still need to come down in the back?

I love the look without corner windows! It would look damn good with one-piece side windows as well, I wonder if there is some way to make that work...

Is there someone local to you with an english wheel that could make you a roof panel? Either that or something off a modern vehicle with a bit of crown to it but less than what's there now...
 
Yup, the roof is the only flier! Everything on that truck is square or flat, the bubble top goes outside the rest of the look to make it look "off".
 

All three pieces are roughed out for the back panel. These will be installed over the existing back panel probably with panel adhesive, along with a few rivets or screws. Sorry Flipper, swing out quarter windows are a bit beyond my fabrication abilities.

As you can see, the back panel is unbolted from the roof cap and drip rail. I have not yet figured out how to put a flattened roof on it. Since it is warming up a bit I'll hit the scrap yards looking for a good donor. As I drive around I concentrate on the roofs of pick up trucks. I'm becoming a menace on the road with the distraction.

Notice the Sam Fear rounded corners on the window opening.
 
I would go with square window corners for a more cohesive look, but that's just me. I love the look though! I think it would look awesome with the whole top in a bare metal like that with just clear over it...
 
Bob, this thing looks more killer every time I look at it. Got me thinking about hacking up an old Suzuki Samurai or Geo Tracker to build something like this! How about a lowered Tracker on a custom frame with a supercharged 3800 v6 from a Bonneville SSE!
 

Too cheap to buy panel adhesive, I used Duraglass to attach the corner panels. Fear not, there's rivets to be added. It took lots of clamps to hold the pieces in place.

Yes, Falconvan, there's an unlimited number of possibiities for car/engine combinations. I'm kicking myself for passing on a junkyard Yugo. It needed a V8 up front.:D
 

I removed about 60 rivets to separate the aluminum top from the steel drip rail/flange. Spent the afternoon debating about how to lower the roof cap and remove a lot of the crown. Finally, I cut a big "X" in it. The plan is to use a slapper and dolly-like backers to tighten the radius all around the edge. Then flatten out the middle and have Terry weld it back together. If that doesn't work, I'll use it as a form for making a fiberglass roof cap. Darn roof cap is so lumpy that even if this approach doesn't work it's no great loss.
 
Last edited:

Okay, I was in for the night, but the Rover kept calling me. I had to see if my roof flattening idea would work. Using a wood slapper with a leather face I managed to lower the front and back area of the roof. The sides will be harder as I'll have to remove some of the compound curve.
 
I hear ya, Bob, on how messy an old roof can be, once you start rubbing your hands over it and really 'see' the contours.
I've been wondering how you would take a little crown out of that roof, and my thoughts were the same as yours.
Keep on tinkering.
 

Similar threads

N
nashville newbie
Replies
11
Views
2K
CrashTestDummy
C

Latest posts

Back
Top