re-skinning the roof

[RoccoGuy]

i've decided that if my mk1 is ever going to be the car i want it to be i'm going to have to sort the roof properly. as such i'm going to have to replace the whole skin.

how would i go about this? is it spot welded in the water gutting that run along the sides of the roof? also what happens at the front and back?

i've got a feeling this isn't going to be as simple as a i hope

[Ryan]

I've looked into this to delete my glass sunroof.
It's a lot of work.
I'll try and dig some info up...

[Ryan]

Here's some pics of the replacement roofskin I bought...

[Ryan]

There's a thread on VORTEX where a chap grafted in a roof with an electric sunroof...
I saved the pics

[RoccoGuy]

thanks mate that's a great help.

the front and rear parts of it look pretty straight forward and pretty much how i expected it to need to be done tbh, its just the bits along the gutter rails that are confusing me. is there 2 parts to the guttering (one part on the roof and one part on the shell) that kinda sandwich together?

if that's the case then it really don't look to hard to do... famous last words lol


is it possible to buy new roof skins or is reusing a second hand skin my only option?

[1lazza]

I had the roof replaced on my Mk1 Storm...Awful aftermarket glass sunroof had been fitted too close to the front header. I got hold of a donor shell and my bodyshop advised measuring and cutting through all the pillars as the best way to proceed. (As opposed to drilling out all the spots on both skins). Scary stuff! But the result was super accurate, glass fitted pefectl. He sleeved the pillars for strength and no problems 10 years later. Had to have a new headliner made up of course...And I promise the shell that was scrapped could not have been restored easily - the chassis legs were bent.

Very pleased with the result, the old glass sunroofs really spoil the cars clean lines in my opinion.

Solved the same problem on my GLS a different way...Got a Hollandia metal electric stilt/slide sunroof fitted. Cassette just fits. You lose a bit of headroom but it saves a lot of faffing with the cars structure and you may be able to retain the headliner. Looks almost as good as a factory fit job!

[Ryan]

is it possible to buy new roof skins or is reusing a second hand skin my only option?

I've only ever seen one new one!
Keep your eyes peeled for a breaker.

If you cut the donor roof along the pillars you'll be able to do either or...
I'm going to be paying a bodyshop to do mine (one day), and have had quotes of £500-2,000.

The, shall we say, ones I took seriously were going to drill out welds and fit the new panel.
Some tried to persuade me to cut an even bigger hole and fit a ragtop.

[Nate]

dave at the pub had his sunroof welded up, as opposed to a whole new roof skin. never saw it when it was done, but am told it was impossible to tell from looking at it

[RoccoGuy]

dave at the pub had his sunroof welded up, as opposed to a whole new roof skin. never saw it when it was done, but am told it was impossible to tell from looking at it

that's pretty much whats been done with mine but it was a big glass sun roof from a pug (iirc) so its had a big chunk of the roof cut out and a new bit welded in and filled around. it don't look bad at all and with a little bit more work just to tidy it up it should look spot on, but i'm just worried about how long its going to last? i want to get it resprayed next year and i'm just paranoid about the filler cracking or some thing after its been painted.

maybe i'm just worrying too much?

[dingorocco]

Roccoguy,

I had come to the same conclusion about the roof condition of 2 of my cars, both had been fitted with aftermarket sun roofs that you can no longer get seals for,( makes them a bit of a bath when it does rain here ) After conversing with a German Scirocco owner ( Mario ) he told me he had his entire roof replaced

Apparently he purchased genuine VW NOS panels from VW Audi classic parts centre.

I have since followed this up and have now 2 replacement roof skins on their way to Australia for fitment at a future date.

Mario's bodywork was done by a coachbuilder however looking at the images I have been sent I do think it is possible to replace these myself ( limited bodywork experience)

On with the pics.









Hopefully they will shed some light onto how it was done, If your interested further i will upload some more of the images

I would have thought the repairers would have phosphated the innards of the roof before fitting the new panel...but maybe there's a reason

Got to admit. I like the full roof tho..

[Nate]

maybe i'm just worrying too much?

a decent bodyshop using decent products will give you a decent long guarantee on the work.

[The Autoad]

Roof is spot welded and sealant bonded. I think I have a workshop manual detailing replacement, i'll have a look, scan and upload to the faq if i have it...

[81GTi]

wow! interesting pics Dingo, it makes me consider deleting my sunroof...

Ryan, I Remember that thread from my days on the Vortex,that chap was a nutter with a welder on that car,lol

[RoccoGuy]

maybe i'm just worrying too much?

a decent bodyshop using decent products will give you a decent long guarantee on the work.

mine was done by a fellow forum user and finished by me, its really not turned out bad at all. i just don't wanna get a little further down the road and start wishing i had just replaced the roof while a had the chance, and as its getting a full respray it'd be silly not to do this before.


Dingo, thanks for the photos and the heads up on the info on the new roof skins, how much did your skins cost by the way? and any photos you could post would be fantastic mate, the more info i can get on this the better


just been looking at the VW Audi classic parts centre but its all in German, i'm gonna have to find a friend that speaks the lingo lol.

[ianaudia4]

Download a translator mate, they are free!