Roof Acne 4 (pics included) (now done)

ElRey

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Hello all,

I am in the Paint phase (which I believe follows "Bargaining" and "Guilt" in the 6 phases of coupe restoration) and have found the causes of the paint bubbles on the roof behind the sunroof opening. There appears to be a piece of foam sandwiched between two layers roof sheet metal there. Over the years I am sure this sponged up any water that found its way into that part of the roof through condensation or seal failure. I am wondering if this is evidence of a clog in the roof drain lines. In the meanwhile, the restorer has cut out and replaced this entire section of the roof since I’d hate to repeat this process in 5 years.

Note the rusty spongelike material I put by the taped section.
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Here's the latest from 2/9/2009

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Now all done

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chicane

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Can you explain how you attached the new metal and how you prepped it? It looks nice by the way.
 

pamp

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Sunroof

Ouch!
I am 75% on the sunroof on my car. I fortunately did not find damage such as you. I must have caught it in time. The drains on my car were clear on the front and non-functional aft. Had to get creative when snaking new drain hose. I stepped down from the larger O.D. as what I found was the original tubes had been pinched in the bodywork and I found it to be impossible to make a pull using the stock O.D. hose. Needless to say, the headliner was toast due to back up on the aft drains. I used mostly stainless and galvy on the re-do of the catch plate. Roofing sealant upon re-assembly of the underpan. Zinc primer prior to. I am hoping to get this car ready by Canada Day (July 1st) My headliner is done. Next is to do some touch-up on the rail areas and the felt install prior to final install of the slider. The end is in sight but the light still glows dimmly
 

ElRey

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Metal attachment

Chicane,
I personally attached the metal by writing a check to the body man. :D
His technique was to cut back and bend down a section of the roof and then glue (yes glue) the new sections onto that lip. The new metal was held in place, while the glue set up, by screws that were ground off later.
Regards,
Kingman
 

chicane

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Re: Metal attachment

Elrey said:
Chicane,
I personally attached the metal by writing a check to the body man. :D
His technique was to cut back and bend down a section of the roof and then glue (yes glue) the new sections onto that lip. The new metal was held in place, while the glue set up, by screws that were ground off later.
Regards,
Kingman

That's what I thought. Very cool. I know the M3 CSL roof is glued on via an aerospace quality epoxy. Do you know what type of glue he used?

Actually it is quite smart. I imagine he chose this path because welding could have possibly caused warping to the metal which would have created issues with the sunroof.
 

ElRey

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Sunrroof Painted

The car is back from the painters where it got a touch up around the sunroof (my mechanic is VERY particular).
Here's a picture (pre-headliner replacement).

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coupe2800cs

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Epoxy

Yea, that my friends is a nice job on a very ruff sunroof opening. Epoxy glue in the auto body business is becoming more common place because there is no heat involved in the process, and rust is usually never a problem again in those areas if done correctly, which also gives me a great idea for new rockers on my car.
 
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decoupe

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Sunroof Delete

Has anyone seen or attempted a sunroof delete without replacing the whole roof? At some point I want to eliminate the after market sunroof I have (believed to be based on a 528 donor - motor in the trunk) but preferably not by cutting the A and C pillars and transplanting a hard to find clean roof. Second question related to first - if welding in a new section of metal to fill the sunroof opening is not an option, can all of the tracks and brackets be removed without damage to the apperence of the exertior of the roof?

My appologies for the highjack of thread - hopefully viewed as sharing.

Doug
 

pamp

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Good car gone bad

Rats,
Doug, as you know, most of the current $$ I have donated recently started at my desire to have a functional sunroof. The right side cable was siezed into the guide tube. I was told that he only way to purchase the tube assy's was to buy an entire roof! To pull the siezed cable I clamped the cable then affixed to an immovable point in my shop (after soaking for days w/Kroil) then backed the car. Don't try this at home. Man. The first try went flying, with the vise grips. Failed. Tried it again, and the cable and grips left a permanent mark on my heavy wood door but he cable was attached! Sweet. I am ready for the felts at this time. Will post the results, as I hemmed and hawed over color. Kind of like the Volvo / Porsche black vs BMW gray for Siena. My wife likes the gray material, Hmm... Looks like the only way for you is to do the roof delete. I would guess you would need a bone yard piece.
I meant to reproduce the guide tubes when I had the roof apart, but got ahead of the game. If someone could send me a sample, I will reproduce this bit.
Cheers,
Al in Comox
 
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jmackro

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Has anyone seen or attempted a sunroof delete without replacing the whole roof? At some point I want to eliminate the after market sunroof I have (believed to be based on a 528 donor - motor in the trunk) but preferably not by cutting the A and C pillars and transplanting a hard to find clean roof. Second question related to first - if welding in a new section of metal to fill the sunroof opening is not an option, can all of the tracks and brackets be removed without damage to the apperence of the exertior of the roof?

No, I have never attempted this.

But, I would venture to say that the answers to both of your questions are "yes", as long as you have a sufficiently skilled bodyman. The panel needed to fill in the sunroof hole needs to have a compound curve - as long as your guy can form that properly, then it should look fine. Removing the sunroof tracks and brackets shouldn't mar the roof exterior. However, your bodyman probably will need to add a stiffening rib to the underside of the top to keep it from "oil canning".
 

chicane

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Yea, that my friends is a nice job on a very ruff sunroof opening. Epoxy glue in the auto body business is becoming more common place because there is no heat involved in the process, and rust is usually never a problem again in those areas if done correctly, which also gives me a great idea for new rockers on my car.

What brand name do these automotive/grade epoxies sell under?
 

Mario L.

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Sunroof delete as questioned would require a body man skilled with an English wheel to make the filler piece . . .

replacing a roof on an E9 CS is a cake walk . . there are only 4 pillars . . and any repaint / refinish will require removal of glass . . . from here it's real simple as long as you cross brace the door openings so that the car doesn't sag!

Find a CS roof w/o a sunroof . . . it's the only correct way to do the repair!
 
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