During the paint stripping exercise today I found  a split in the roof sheets, either side of the beading between the second and third bays at the top of the cant section.  I initially tried aluminium solder to repair the crack but couldn’t get enough heat into the panel without the risk of damage to the inner frame.  So although it is the kind of repair I despise, I tapped the panels down a little with the panel hammer either side of the beading and riveted a repair panel over each crack.  I should be able to fill over the repairs and shape back to the normal roof profile.

Work has continued on stripping the paint from the roof and by the end of today all that remains to be stripped are the offside cant panels from the third bay forwards and the front dome and destination box.  Along the way various problems have been identified including the dent in the rear dome and one or two small dents that will need to be rectified before painting. One problem is the roof beading, two sections (bay 4 forward and rear)  have sprung screws in a few places, due most likely to wood rot in the roof frame.  John Cora wrote in his article of a roof leak, this was most likely the cause as the roof sheets and beading have started to separate where the screws have lifted out.  The best solution would be to remove the roof sheets and repair or replace the framing, but this would be an enormous task so a reasonable solution is to use 1/4″ diameter rivets through the beading to pull the overlapping roof sheets and the beading together.  I can treat the join with Grenville flexible sealant to waterproof it before painting .  Hopefully this repair will last long enough for someone else to have to pull the roof off.