Sunroof Removal

[jaco]

I've been looking at the sad state of my car's roof, especially the sorry state of the sunroof. (See below)

So I've been thinking, I wanna remove the sunroof altogether. What I'd do, is as follows:

1. Remove headliner inside.
2. Remove sunroof tray and rails.
3. Cut roof around sunroof appeture.
4. Mig-weld in plate from below and above.
5. Seam seal all welding joints.
6. Fill up newly welded plate with body filler if required.
7. Primer & paint
8. Fit new headliner without sunroof.

Would this work, or am I being too ambitious here?

 

[6pot]

Depends on what your skills are like......personally i think it would cause you more hassel than its worth and the end job if not done properly will look as bad as what you have already.
Spares whilst tricky to get hold of should be avaliable, why not make it work again and enjoy the sun?

 

[jaco]

There is no handle for the roof inside, and no buttons either. Where would the buttons for an electric sunroof have been?

I've never been awefully keen on metal sunroofs - prefer glass sunroofs (had an Escort with a glass sunroof - It's awesome at night). Also, I'd rather have the Air Conditioning working.

I understand what you are saying, and it does make a lot of sense to me. But do you think that it would be possible? Another possibility would be to cut a roof off another car, and then replace the entire roof. I have seen this done on a Datsun Pulsar and the results were quite good.

(Just dusted a load of rust out of my hair from the sunroof.)

 

[vijilants]

There is no handle for the roof inside, and no buttons either. Where would the buttons for an electric sunroof have been?

The button would be on the switch panel above the heater controls.

If you take the sunroof out, unless you have done this job before and have the experience, it is extremely tricky to get the thing adjusted properly if you are going to put it back in.

 

[harveymoo]

in the old days that whould have been a good canadate for a vynal roof

 

[jaco]

The button would be on the switch panel above the heater controls.

Would that explain why there is a vacuum line behind the switch panel where the thingy for the immobilizer is? Come to think of it. wouldn't that also cause a vacuum leak?

If you take the sunroof out, unless you have done this job before and have the experience, it is extremely tricky to get the thing adjusted properly if you are going to put it back in.

Do you mean if I want to put the sunroof back in at a later date? If I take that sunroof out, I don't really want to put it back in...

in the old days that whould have been a good canadate for a vynal roof

Do ppl still do that? How waterproof is it? Would it look any good on a W123?

 

[Druk]

If you enjoyed the Escort sunroof why don't you take the tin out, dress off the rust, then get a piece of smoked Lexan cut to fit the aperture and hold it in with windscreen rubber channel?
Getting it back to working state will be a nightmare since all the drains will be rusted up.

 

[jaco]

Right... Now that my Chicken Korma is simmering on the stove, I have time for a quick post...

If you enjoyed the Escort sunroof why don't you take the tin out, dress off the rust, then get a piece of smoked Lexan cut to fit the aperture and hold it in with windscreen rubber channel?
Getting it back to working state will be a nightmare since all the drains will be rusted up.

That is similar to what I had in mind - just wanted to close it off alltogether. However, your plan is brilliant! Will have to speak to the guys who are going to do the car's upholstery when it's time to have it done. They also do sunroofs.
I could also approach one of the companies that does aftermarket sunroofs here, and speak to them about replacing the metal sunroof with a glass sunroof. My biggest irritation right now, is that my hair brushes against the sunroof's headliner. I want to prevent that, hence my thoughts on removing it...