paime Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 Hi Folks, The roof on my 90 commercial has been dented for a while, looks like the previous owner either stood on it or placed a heavy load on it unfortunately. It's never bothered me much as i can't see it but when i went to change the seals on my alpine windows last night i could get the new seal to fit as the top edge of the window frame/whole is deformed. I pushed the roof up and the window aperture looked right again but when i release the pressure from the roof it warps again. Any tips for fixing this? I think i've read somewhere that applying heat gets it back into shape but i'm a little nervous about that approach! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 (edited) Might need to take it to a body shop to get that fixed properly. l guess you could brace the roof inside with a steel rod between the alpine windows bent at each end to sit flat on the inside of the roof and locate in the inside of the gutter channel. Done properly and sprayed black you’d hardly notice it. Edited September 30, 2018 by Lightning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Locate the internal roof brace bar which runs from side to side (should be where the roof lining plastic studs are pressed into) Put a bottle jack on the floor under it, a suitably sized pole on top of that and a bit of wood spread along the roof brace and jack it up till the roof is straight again - you'll need to go a way past 'straight 'as it will flex back a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paime Posted October 1, 2018 Author Share Posted October 1, 2018 2 hours ago, Eightpot said: Locate the internal roof brace bar which runs from side to side (should be where the roof lining plastic studs are pressed into) Put a bottle jack on the floor under it, a suitably sized pole on top of that and a bit of wood spread along the roof brace and jack it up till the roof is straight again - you'll need to go a way past 'straight 'as it will flex back a bit. I jammed/braced a bit of wood between the floor and the roof which popped the top panel up. After fitting the new alpine window seal, i released the bit of wood and i think the new seal must be helping to hold the form of the roof. I think i'll use this method of jacking up the middle brace and see if that fixes it permanently. Can't beat a bit of agricultural engineering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Or you could try what l suggested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paime Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 10 hours ago, Lightning said: Or you could try what l suggested! This one involves a degree of finesse/fabrication that will take a bit of time. I'm going to give the bending a shot first of all and then i might need to use your approach to keep things in place. It's a bit difficult to see but this is what i'm dealing with: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 (edited) Yes l can see the roof where it’s dished in the middle, although l have to say It looks a very clean Defender from what can be seen on that picture! Edited October 2, 2018 by Lightning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paime Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 The image has been quite deliberately cropped....you don't want to see the rest!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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