Indeed, it really does limit you to a RHD donor roof. I got hold of a LHD donor roof and tried repairing the internal structure, but those pictures just are not worth posting
- it was not a pretty sight. If you are doing it below the vents, you'll certainly need an early donor bus unless you want the larger rear side vents. With a LHD donor roof you'd need to keep the inner structure above the sliding door and the window opposite it - all the rest could be replaced with the donor roof still.
Yes, I removed the roof from the donor bus myself. Drove 200 miles to essex, armed with a 9 inch angle grinder, cut the roof off the bus (with the owners permission
) and handed over a few quid and then drove 200 miles back
.
By cutting it below the window apertures, it also gives you spare metal if your window frames are slightly rotten along the bottoms.
I've not got round to filling or smoothing the rear corners under the vents yet, so I can't say how well that bit has worked. But it was decided that would be the place least likely to show the tampering
- also, the pillars are all joined at different heights so in theory it'll have more strength than having been done all at the same height (but I doubt it'll make much difference).
Hope that helps, let me know if you've any further questions, and good luck with it
It is now my daily driver and drives absolutely fine - no creaks or rattles.