I want to take out the sun roof and will need to cut out the entire sunroof metal support. I heard through the grape vine it takes about 6 hrs… there must be a better way can I get some help on best practice?
Carlton
car#2
help with sunroof
leggwork
#2
there are some posts here that describe the process.
I used an angle grinder and went through several disks in this job. There are three straps on either side about 2 1/2" long that you cut through (don’t cut into the roof skin!) The outer roof skin is folded inside about 3/8" - I cut some of the surrounding structure flush with that lip rather than trying to get everything out. In the back half, you trim away part of the structure to give yourself better access with the angle grinder to cut it close to the roof skin (vs. trying to remove it completely and risk deforming the roof). I was lucky in that most of that back half fell off when I started to cut it - 20yo adhesive…
Do not cut into the formed metal strip the goes across between the B pillars - that gives the roof skin some needed support.
Doing all that I don’t think it took me more than a couple hours. Took me longer to cut and rivet the panel to close the hole.
hope this helps
bruce
Scotty
#3
I’m about to do the same thing. I assume the cassette is spot welded in place. I’ve read the other recipes and it sounds like everyone has their own idea about what works and what doesn’t. Will a spot weld cutter help?
Ranger
#4
You’ve probably already found my lengthy posts on this. Only thing I could add is to protect your windows when grinding. The flying hot debris will scar the glass.
My effort took a while. I was trying to use various adhesives in various schemes to support the orig sunroof. It took time for the adhesive for each scheme to cure, and then more time for me to decide that the latest scheme was a bust. All that being said, it took about 2 weeks longer then 6hrs.
One of the coolest ideas I’ve read is to separate the two pieces (layers) of sheetmetal that make up the sunroof. That will remove most of the weight of the sunroof. There’s little sense in going to all this work just to replace the heavy 2-ply sunroof. So if I was to try this again, I’d see if I couldn’t pull the reinforcing layer away from the external layer of the sunroof. If you can do that, you might end up with a very elegant solution.
Or, you could just cut out some sheetmetal and rivet that bad boy right on top. And in doing so, spare yourself a couple weeks of aggravation.
jblack
#5
That is exactly what we did - the separating thing. 4 tabs welded on from underneath. Clean and easy. Pictures are on our web site http://web.mac.com/natblack/Black_Site/The_Race_Car.html
TeddyM3
#6
Those are grate pics. I like the white cars. they look like classic racecars. I want to know why your not running a middle roof bar? I am working out my cage and see it in some but not all. Is it a weight thing?
jblack
#7
You know - cages are like religion - everyone has their take, and are willing to go to war over them.
3 things I wish I had done differently:
- Installed a dash bar
- Installed a second door bar
- Installed the cage after removing the sunroof
I would not have done the cross bar in the roof. Just considering forces and what goes on, yes, a bar there could help in some circumstances, but you have to balance risk/reward on that. The cage is so well built, I feel very safe in the car.
TXBDan
#8
I’m also using the stock sunroof paneal and separated the two ply piece. i cut the bracing on the underside up w/ a cutting wheel and then sorta pried it off. It wasnt too hard really and cut the wait of the panel down considerably.
I actually bonded my original panel the roof w/ JB Weld putty. I tack welded little plates to the old the panel in position and then just stuffed he 1/4" gap w/ the putty after scuffing the surfaces well w/ a grinder. Its working so far…