Removing a sunroof (returning to metal roof)

[the edmundator]

No chance of doing this myself, but I'd like some advice on the ease/cost of getting rid of a pop-up glass sunroof (from my mk1) and returning to a metal roof.

I've seen the mk1 thread with the new panel in place of the Webasto that looks quite good, but in the past I've also known people to favour replacing the whole roof panel and welding at the A/B/C posts.

Any opinions on what's best and the cost of doing this gratefully received (or would I be much better off getting a different car?).

[dingorocco]

Message sent

[james butler]

would it be easiest to weld in a non sunroof piece into the aperture where the old sunroof sat then skim over with filler and profesionaly sprayed?

[The Autoad]

Factory manual on replacing roof skin. http://sciroccoregisterforum.co.uk/faq/ ... occo-roof/

[beekeeper]

roof skins are generally quite easy to do if you have a replacement panel.

making a new one from scratch is more of a challenge as the metal needs to be rolled to dome it.

will be doing my own with the aid of an english wheel but not this side of the new year as i need to make the room for one first.

if you can find any old school panel beaters or sheet metal fabricators in your area then it shouldn't be a problem for them.

[Nate]

i removed a factory tilt and slide sunroof on a volvo 740 a few years ago - it weighed over 1/4 ton and the car was on the slimfast plan. i cut a suitable size bit of tin from the roof of a peugeot in the local knackers yard (french tin - nice and thin) trimmed it so it was about an inch of overlap all round the sunroof hole, stuck it on with black snot and gave it a lick of hammerite.

[marcus]

Seriously? > 250kg?!

[ghost123uk]

I would like to do this to the std tilt and slide roof on our GTS, the flippin things never slide properly (in my 5 car experience) and they take an inch and a half off the headroom.

Q = I wonder how easy it would be (for a suitable garage, not me) to sort out the "non sun roof" headlining ?

Aside = we just sold our "other" Scirocco (went to a member on here in Scotland) and that had the tilt only glass roof the edmundator mentions in post 1, I actually liked that and wished our current "keeper" had one !

[Nate]

I wonder how easy it would be (for a suitable garage, not me) to sort out the "non sun roof" headlining ?

a trimmer would sort it very easily, although might not be that cheap. if you can source some suitable cloth (i got some really cheap as a rool end from dunelm a few years back) get yourself a cheap sewing maching from fleabay and use the old one as a rough template

Seriously? > 250kg?!

yup o_O volvo - over engineered sweedish tank. we didn't figure how heavy it would be until the last bolt came out!

[snathe]

I need to rid my Mk1 of a similar pop up glass jobbie before i paint it... Not wise to weld (gas or mig), as the insane amount of heat will distort the roof!
I plan on cutting a section of roof skin from another car, with 5-10mm overlap... Swaging the edge so the filler panel sits flush with the rest of the roof... Then use a spot welder to fix in place... To get rid of the join on the outside, i'm leading mine (using very cautious amounts of heat!!) as that's the only way to do it properly

I also have a contact for new Mk1 headlining if required