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Unhappy with the repairs done to my 1930 RK saloon following our accident last year, and encouraged by the achievements of other forum contributors, especially the van rebuilds, I thought I should be able to do a better job myself.
So, in August, with some trepidation, I took a deep breath and dismantled the entire roof structure!
Before starting on the rebuild work I did a lot of research to enable me to return my car to its original construction just as it was before the accident. I also read carefully all the details put forward in the recent “Van” threads to guide me on the method of fitting fabric to the finished roof.
Acknowledgement: I would like to express my appreciation to the following RK owners and Forum contributors for their kind help with photographs and other information which was invaluable: Robin Oldfield, Malcolm Watts, Dickon Armstrong, Dave (Austin in the shed), Peter Johnson, and Russell (Squeak) in Australia.
My first job, after removing the entire roof structure, was to remove the distorted and broken windscreen frame and then make the door/windscreen pillars upright! I achieved this with careful use of a small hydraulic jack and a strong webbing strap together with suitable pieces of timber. This worked well and with patience I eventually got them square and upright. Also, I made and positioned a square, size accurate, dummy windscreen frame made from ply so that the correct and square aperture would be maintained during the rebuild.
I bought planks of Ash, sharpened my plane, chisels and searched for my dormant wood working skills, before beginning work making the timber components. I starting with the two main horizontal members above the doors which form the base of the roof structure. Working with ash wood was very rewarding and I soon began to enjoy making and fitting the shaped parts. I even got up early each morning eager to maintain progress!
I should have bought a band saw but was put off by the expense and thinking I would not have a use for it after the job was finished, so I managed to do all the shaped and curved pieces with my jigsaw and hand tools and a few other power tools. Probably would have been quicker and easier with a band saw.
There was a lot of tricky working out to get the Pytchley roof details correct as there were almost no originals parts left on my car to copy. However, as stated above, I had lots of photographs and other details kindly supplied by fellow Austineers to help me.
So, a few pictures to show what I have done and more pictures will follow:-
1930 RK Roof Rebuild
Following the reconstruction of the main roof structure, a completely new Pychly sliding panel had to be made to follow exactly the curved line of the main roof so that the panel would slide freely and easily on its rails. As you can see, both the cross members and the longitudinal pieces of the panel are curved so lots of work with the spokeshave!
Additionally, the metal side shrouds were both bent out of shape and had been shortened so new ones had to be made. These are cuved along their length and rolled over at the side. I bought 1.2mm steel sheet cut to size and made two sets of wood formers followed by a few bashes with one of my trusty Birmingham screwdrivers to get the shape!
Altogether there was quite a lot of work in the sliding panel to get it just right as you can see from the following pictures.
The next stage will be the fabric covering using all the tips given in the previous “van” threads so watch this space!
Bryan.
Location: Staffordshire
Very impressive, Bryan. This is what it's all about. You must have a great sense of job satisfaction.
Well done! 
Location: Derby
That looks absolutely fantastic, Bryan.
Want a job?
Location: Herefordshire, with an E not a T
Here, as promised, are pictures of the finished roof rebuild on my RK saloon. The roof was finished at the end of November but I have been waiting for the return of the repaired and re-plated windscreen to finish off. However, all is now complete, road tested and ready for the Light Car and Edwardian Section Welsh Weekend in a week’s time.
As always, a big thank you to all of you who gave me help and advise.
Bryan.
Just lovely, well down Bryan, fascinating to see the progress on this.
Bryan, an amazing job
I am tempted to suggest that it probably looks better than when it originally left the factory.
Ian Mc.
Location: Shropshire
Bryan,
Excellent work - I find it hard to believe you are not a trained cabinet maker/upholster or similar ! 
Tony.
Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Thank you P not S, and Tony in OZ.
No Tony, no formal training! I was lucky to have woodwork lessons at school which have stood me in good stead and I've done one or two big DIY projects in my lifetime. However, the downside was no metalwork lessons at school which was a real loss; until I reached 40 and decided that I would benefit from a course in machine shop practise at the local technical college which has proved really useful!
Location: Staffs
