Well....another 6 hours on the truck, did get the cross brace welded in, removed dash, started the front windshield cut at the cowl which actually allowed the removal of the dash. Removed the seam sealer from the drip rails and couldn't find a single pin hole in the roof! It looks so good that I'm thinking of changing my approach, so I cut out about 4 inches of the inner roof panel at the front. This showed that this area was the only issue ( at this time..😏
..who knows...so now I'll patch the inner roof and replace upper and lower windshield frame pieces...suggestions anyone on the inner roof?