sunroof removal

[walters300]

i am thinking of cutting out a section of roof skin the same size as the sunroof, and then get a good welder to weld it in place and paint over it, sounds much easier than cutting the roof off! Anybody tried this? Would be nice to know the pitfalls before i find out the hard way :oops: yet again! Would it pass scruteneering etc, :wink:

[schakal]

great success !!!

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/DSC00070.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/SDC12298.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/SDC12297.jpg




http://media.nowpublic.net/images/63/4/634b88eb7d7ff7058392f4574a361f90.jpg

[Slam]

^^^ Borat Lolz

[walters300]

:yourock: thanks pal!!!!!!!!!! I will get my grinder out! :P I love my grinder :D

[schakal]

:yourock: thanks pal!!!!!!!!!! I will get my grinder out! :P I love my grinder :D


knowsit 8)

a bit of info to go with the pics also ;

this one is spot welded from both inside and outside.
on the inside welds are around 2 inch apart
on the inside 1 inchish i would say .

in the first pic what you see is not just filler . its a mix of filler
and fiber glass to give both ease of sanding and flex .
what you dont see is a layer of windscreen sealent applied to the
gaps in between the metal . it seals the welds also gives a flexible
platform to apply fiber/filler mix .
i have sanded this coat down to smooth than in the last pic
is the coat of uber expensive gold filler which needs to be sanded
down with a big block .

than primer and paint as usual .

however this roof will also be coated in vinyl (possibly carbon affect)
afterwards . so if filler cracks in track action ,it will be hidden :D

[katbloke]

remember not to weld too close spot here spot there and slowly fill the gaps so you dont generate too much heat and twist the roof out of shape

[schakal]

remember not to weld too close spot here spot there and slowly fill the gaps so you dont generate too much heat and twist the roof out of shape

thats true , but what you find around a renault 9 sunroof frame is
an inch wide section of double layer metal sheet strengthening the
whole area . anyway i did not wait long between the welds but did move around a lot .
it did come up pretty much straight . the sheet of metal welded there picked up the same lines and even bends as the rest of the roof which is the
idea really otherwise you will get a pool of water collecting in the middle
in winter etc .

[Justin..]

Daz had this done to his clio. ****ed right up. He ended up scrapping the car.

[walters300]

shacks i have been creating my own rear wings and understand the windscreen sealer mix very well :wink: I plan to use an exact size plate from a mk1 roof and use magnet strips to hold the plate in place, i was planning to seam weld, it sounds like its difficult to pull this off though... a good welder should know his onions on this though i would hope and avoid kinking the roof etc :wink:

[schakal]

Daz had this done to his clio. f**ked right up. He ended up scrapping the car.


flolololol :D

[schakal]

shacks i have been creating my own rear wings and understand the windscreen sealer mix very well :wink: I plan to use an exact size plate from a mk1 roof and use magnet strips to hold the plate in place, i was planning to seam weld, it sounds like its difficult to pull this off though... a good welder should know his onions on this though i would hope and avoid kinking the roof etc :wink:

i dont know what clio frame is like but on the r9
you got 90 degree lips bending inwards on all 4 sides .
what i have done is to cut a sheet of metal from a scrap
fiesta roof which has very similar curves to my roof .

marked and got similar lips bend on 4 sides
than drilled holes 1 inch apart on the lips of the plate
for them to be plug welded on to the lips on the roof.
so instead of using magnet strips we made the sheet metal
follow the lines of the roof by lining up and but welding from inside
the spor welds on the outside is for extra stability really .

but i am pretty happy with the result of the welding .
looking front to back and side to side on the roof
the curves look perfect .


pics would give you a better idea ,i will see if my mate has any
on his mobile .

[Justin..]

The Clio's roof is just a hole cut in it, no frame, its ****ing shite tbh, no wonder the roofs bend kink and distort

[schakal]

The Clio's roof is just a hole cut in it, no frame, its f***king shite tbh, no wonder the roofs bend kink and distort

ayee that could make it a bit tricky to be honest .
buy a renault 9 ,problem solved :D

[Justin..]

No thanks I'm not 50 yet

[Daz.]

Daz had this done to his clio. f**ked right up. He ended up scrapping the car.


flolololol :D

Yup give it a couple of weeks normal driving and you'll soon see why!

Anyone who tries to weld a plate and fill a sunroof is in for trouble.

[schakal]

Daz had this done to his clio. f**ked right up. He ended up scrapping the car.


flolololol :D

Yup give it a couple of weeks normal driving and you'll soon see why!

Anyone who tries to weld a plate and fill a sunroof is in for trouble.

obviously you have no idea what a r9 sunroof looks like mate .
be reet :D

[Daz.]

You're right lol,

But I also don't really care :D

[schakal]

You're right lol,

But I also don't really care :D

toucheee :D

yours probably kinked cause you done it the pikey way
i am afraid mate :?

[walters300]

:lol: i can see handbags being torn here now :lol: very good info here guys with pros and cons and its much appreciated as i can make a right mess of things if i get carried away with my lovely grinder , if i can find a dude with the immense ability shacks has shown in his pictures i will have a go, otherwise i could be on a rocky road to a forced convertible left to my own devices :? Will ponder it this weekend and keep away from beer and lock the lovely grinder safely away :wink:

[Daz.]

oh he was a full blown tosser, probably still is.

Meh all behind me now, was a good lesson to learn - I hope yours works out matey!

[schakal]

here is pic of the top welds

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/myphone014.jpg

[Wobba]

Looks like you scalped a Clio for that panel!

[schakal]

Looks like you scalped a Clio for that panel!

its a 2003 fiesta roof section iirc .
was suitable(right curves ar right places ) and available at the time
thanks to scrappage scheme :D

[Justin..]

wont be from the scrappage if its 2003. they need to be 10 yrs old for that

[Slam]

think some places are doin scrappage on 7 year olds now.

[walters300]

:wink: top man thats an excellent pic and i am going to have a chat with a master welder this week. i saw an advert on tv the other day for jml chewing gum, basically it bonds anything and solves leaky pipes and goes hard as sheet steel :excited: might give that a go :roll: might stick it in the underside of the wing chassis bit too as i have found some loose orangey coloured bits :x

[schakal]

finally primed and wet sanded .

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/SDC12493.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/evrenfenci/SDC12498.jpg

[walters300]

8) 8) now thats quality :D rolls royce standard... =D> I have been looking into welders and apparently the non gas plug it in the wall electric welder should be good for this as it operates at a lower temp and better for thin stuff. What do you think? they can be bought real cheap as well and ideal for diy, could also weld some patches on the underside of the front wings then?????? what do you think boss :wink:

[Slagathore]

Quick bump.

I've got the leaking sunroof problem aswell.

If I remove the electric sunroof and use rivets, will that get rid of the kinking/flexing problem?

http://www.clio16valver.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32379&hilit=leaking+sunroof

Like that person has done?

[walters300]

have you tried sealing it? there is a step by step method in the guides section i think, might be easier for you if your not adamant you want the sunroof gone. :wink:

[Slagathore]

Yeah, quite sure I want rid of the sunroof.

Never use it and they weigh a fair bit aswell. It was fine untill I stripped the interior, as soon as I took the roof lining off, that's when I realised it was leaking.

[walters300]

there was a guy on 16valver who offered me a whole carbon look fibreglass skin for £200, that might be an option, I could get his details for you if you like,
Ive cut a roof skin off a 5 door non sunroof (£50) and trimmed it to sit on top of the existing skin, will be tig welding it all the way around and it will look perfect (£200). but a full paint will be required (£100),
it depends on how much you want to spend, and how you want it to look. I am sure the rally boys just cut an aluminium sheet a bit bigger than the whole and pop rivet it on with plenty of sealer below, thats the easiest and cheapest way.

[Slagathore]

£200 is a bit more than I was hoping to spend. Haha.

Not fussed on how it looks. Was just thinking of losing a bit of weight and solving the leaking problem at the same time.

So by just popping some sheeting over the top with rivets and sealing it will be sound enough. It won't have the kinking problem if I were to have it welded?

[walters300]

yes definitly no kinking there, but i am not sure if thats okay for road use / mot as the rally dudes usuallly do that, the other dudes on here will know though :wink:

[Slagathore]

Ahh. Didn't think about MOT.

It goes in on the 4th for MOT, so won't be getting it done before then anyway, but I'll ask then.

Thanks!

[Justin..]

no reason for them to know tbh!!

[16v_paddy]

Time for me to wade into this debate as I'm pissed off with mine leaking now :evil:

After speaking to several people that know better than me, about the various methods of ditching the sunroof and how I think it's too much ballache :roll: I've thought of another way so I want to hear what people think of my idea - don't worry it doesn't include the use of cardboard :lol:

My idea involves bonding a sheet of metal bigger than the hole in the roof inside the car then getting another sheet of metal as close to the size of the hole as possible then welding it in place so that you can go through the process of filling, priming & painting the roof.

So.......good idea :?:

[walters300]

sounds very good! if someone was very good with welding you could maybe just use the sheet thats inside the car and use filler/ fibreglass to fill the hole, wouldnt need much filler really. would also save burning holes all over the place inside, if you used a heavier gauge sheet maybe that would take shorter weld distances, I am no specialist either :roll:

[16v_paddy]

1 issue with it someone has bought up is the filler cracking with the chassis flex :?

[walters300]

:? why did they put sunroofs on these cars :evil: my current method is good i think as it wont affect the structure of the car and there are plenty of 5 doors in the scrappy to chop the skin off, I will be doing my final trimming this week and i will post a few pics up for you to see how good it is, and the skin doesnt weigh more than the sunroof i dont think, and there is no filler involved only in the roof rack rail bit which will be hidden by the trim. :wink: