Sealing Sunroof

#1

I am in the process of removing the sunroof cassette on my car. I’ve researched the forum and have the removal pretty well figured out (I think). Looking ahead, I have a couple of questions.

I plan to reuse the sunroof panel rather than rivet on a piece of steel, but I’m not sure yet whether I’ll skin the roof panel as the Black’s did or use the whole panel as the Beertech guys did. As I see it, the advantage of skinning the panel is you lose the extra weight of the underside reinforcement, assuming you don’t need the reinforcement to keep it from being flimsy. The apparent advantages of not skinning the panel are (1) it is easier and (2) you can use the existing mounting tabs on the panel and bolt them to clips welded on by the cage installer.

First question, any thoughts on which is better? Are there other downsides to either from those who have done this?

Second question, once the panel is fixed in place, what is the best way to seal around it? I haven’t painted my car yet, but probably will at some point after the cage is installed. Seems like Bondo would do the best job of sealing the panel so that it is weather tight and also maybe give a decent finished look if properly sanded before painting. The Beertech guys used windshield gasket around theirs, which looks pretty good, but Scott said was a PITA to install. Not sure what the Black’s used, but the final result looks really good. I recall that someone mentioned using windshield adhesive, which also sounds viable, as does silicone.

Again, any suggestions from those who have done this?

#2

I had a paint guy look at mine to paint after RA. He said best thing to use was body seam sealer. It will never crack, peel, and you can paint right over it.

John

#3

Scott used the windshield gasket but I went with the silicone method. Mine is water tight, looks good and was very easy to do. I can get you a pic if you like. I got a tube of black silicone from Lowes and just taped up the seal from inside the car, then filled the gap from above and smoothed it over with my finger. BAM!

#4

I think John’s suggestion of the body seam sealer is a good one. I can’t honestly tell you what we used because we didn’t actually fill it ourselves. When we took the sunroof skin in to the shop that did the post-theft body repair & paint we just asked them to fab the tabs and weld the skin in place. They went ahead and filled it for us, which was nice, but doesn’t help with your question.

Since you’re still planning to paint, I’d just make sure whatever you use doesn’t resist paint and won’t do a lot of expanding or contracting with the change of temperature / season.

My 2 cents - skin the thing and get rid of that weight above your head. Our roof has been very sturdy, but if you’re concerned throw a few extra support tabs on there.

Be patient, have lots of cutting wheels for your die grinder, protect your glass and consider having a friend help out. An extra pair of hands to hold one side while you work on the other comes in handy, and you’ll be less likely to dent the roof as you work.

Good luck!

#5

Either skin it or slap on (and rivet) a piece of sheetmetal, but don’t leave the entire 2 ply sunroof in place. If it’s not skinned, the sunroof is so heavy that the whole project might not be worth doing.

#6

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I’ll go with the seam sealer. Seems to be the trick.

#7

Got the sunroof skinned. Just needed some bright light so my aging eyes could see the seam between the panel and the backing support. Used a putty knife to separate the layers and a chisel to cut through the spot welds.

Off to the cage builder next week. He will weld in the panel and I’ll seal it with seam sealer.

#8

I just did this and you definitely want to “skin” the panel. It is MUCH lighter. I used a 4" grinder to cut the spot welds on the lip and with a little convincing, it came apart.

A local cage guy welded about eight small square tubes (1/2" diameter?) about 4" long, around the opening and welded the panel lip to them.

I used black roof sealer in a tube and it looks fine.

Carter