Roof Patch Needed

decoupe

decoupe

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I'm looking for a section of roof to eliminate my sunroof (deleted with the panel sealed in the opening for now) and a piece from a parts car would save the cost of having a panel fabricated to match the profile of the roof. Details on size and orientation by could be dealt with by PM.

Anyone with a donor car in BC, WA or OR that has such a thing and interested in selling it, I'm doing a road trip in that area in the September 19th to 30th period and could do the removal and pickup along with sampling any local beers of note. Not sure how shipping from other locations would work but I would consider that as well.

I'll post this in the Parts section as well.

Thanks,

Doug
 
Welding a patch in such a flat roof is a real tuff job for even the most experienced body man. You’re better off changing the whole roof skin and sectioning it in the posts where problems with heat warping should be minimal. A lot of shops are gluing roof skins on now with the relatively new structural adhesives but I’m old school, I would weld it. Except for the hood (because of engine heat) I can’t think of a worse panel to have loaded up with body plastic. My 2 cents after being in the business for 40 years. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
Thanks for the advice John - I'm the first to admit having zero knowledge in bodywork. I do have someone that I believe could weld this in without warpage. Coupeguy (Dan K) also has a fibre glass roof skin on his site that might work for me.

All options will be considered.

Doug
 
John Buchtenkirch said:
Welding a patch in such a flat roof is a real tuff job for even the most experienced body man. You’re better off changing the whole roof skin and sectioning it in the posts where problems with heat warping should be minimal. A lot of shops are gluing roof skins on now with the relatively new structural adhesives but I’m old school, I would weld it. Except for the hood (because of engine heat) I can’t think of a worse panel to have loaded up with body plastic. My 2 cents after being in the business for 40 years. ~ John Buchtenkirch
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I had a roof replaced using John's method (cutting posts) and it worked ok, but if I were to do it again, I would drill out all the spot welds that hold the old roof skin in place and just replace the skin, leaving the posts and other structural parts in place.

The roof I saw done this way (on a 2002) had the replacement skin plug welded in place and that worked great but I would be tempted to use the structural adhesives John mentioned. The replacement skin pretty much just dropped in place with no worries about aligning anything.
 
Roof replacement

Bill:

Replacing the skin as you described or the entire roof by cutting the posts are probably the best and preferred method but there is still the problem of finding a donor and shipping it - too big to pick up on a road trip. An e9 part car is pretty rare here but I'll keep looking.

Doug
 
Bill Riblett said:
I had a roof replaced using John's method (cutting posts) and it worked ok, but if I were to do it again, I would drill out all the spot welds that hold the old roof skin in place and just replace the skin, leaving the posts and other structural parts in place.

The roof I saw done this way (on a 2002) had the replacement skin plug welded in place and that worked great but I would be tempted to use the structural adhesives John mentioned. The replacement skin pretty much just dropped in place with no worries about aligning anything.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have been clearer but what I was suggesting was only changing the skin but making the cuts and welding the skin in the post areas where weld distortion problems would be minimal. When the skin is removed from the donor car it’s easy to metal finish it to the point where no or minimal body filler is needed which can only be a plus on large nearly flat upper panels. Everyone I know in the business has nothing but good things to say about the new panel adhesives but I still wonder about the longevity of the repair. The idea of attaching panels without burning off the paint in the welding process certainly has a lot of appeal in possibly preventing future rust, but most shops like it for the time savings. I’m going to wait a few more years myself for the final assessment on panel adhesives.

As far as the fiberglass roof skin goes I personally would only consider it for a race car. I have seen too many (but not all) fiberglass parts where after being in the sun for a few days you can see the weave or pattern of the glass right thru the paint and the highly heated upper panels are particularly susceptible to the problem. Also with a fiberglass roof skin rollover protection is almost completely gone not that our coupes have much anyway with their thin roof posts, rubber gasket mounted windshields & back glass and also lack of B pillar. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
As far as the fiberglass roof skin goes I personally would only consider it for a race car. I have seen too many (but not all) fiberglass parts where after being in the sun for a few days you can see the weave or pattern of the glass right thru the paint and the highly heated upper panels are particularly susceptible to the problem. Also with a fiberglass roof skin rollover protection is almost completely gone not that our coupes have much anyway with their thin roof posts, rubber gasket mounted windshields & back glass and also lack of B pillar. ~ John Buchtenkirch[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the comment on fibre glass - you're probably correct on the application being best left for race cars. I doubt the rollover protection is compromised by using it though as there isn't any real roll over protection (but incredible visibility!!) in our coupes without some sort of roll bar/cage.

I will need to do something eventually in order to install a head liner to get the interior a little more civilized but the sliding panel is fine for now. It sits on a lip and is sealed with (cringe) silicon as neatly as I can manage. The car is very much a work in progress with seam welding the tub half done and more chassis work this winter.

Doug
 
Why?

Doug,

Why are you going to all this trouble / expense to eliminate the sunroof? Is it leaking or are the areas around it all rusted out?
 
Why? My car spent the night outside in the rain while on a road trip and the drain holes peed for 36 hours as the rockers emptied. True to form, the holes had clogged with the dust and crap that enters in the opening channels. No rust at the sunroof and hopefully nothing of consequence down below. Yet.

So either I do what you have done - full restoration and re-route the plumbing or I eliminate the sunroof itself.

I have never been a fan of sunroofs and this one didn't fit with my particular vision for my car - which involves weight reduction and redistribution. It was added at some point in the 80's, motor was in the trunk and was accomplished through some rough hacking of the C pillars that I wanted to fix. Since I had to pull the interior out to add the roll bar/cage and other chassis welding, it just seemed to be the right time to get rid of it. Last step is to patch the hole on a permanent basis.

These are make work projects, right?

Doug
 
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