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So I've done all the leg work on removing my sunroof, but I'm finding myself with a huge problem of a giant hole in my roof. I've contacted a few places to do the work (I have the panel from stuttgart classica), and they're either backed up or not working from Covid or don't feel comfortable with doing the job. Can anyone recommend a shop (or well-respected hobbyist) that could help me out with this? (in the Detroit area. I'm in Royal Oak myself)
I am nowhere near you, but I did this to my car a few years back. I did the flange with a weld (MIG) which is normally not recommended due to risk of water infiltration, but since I was leading the joint (yes, I am that old that I can actually do lead work) I was not too worried as lead is pretty well more durable than the source metal.
Personally, if I was going to do it again, I would strongly consider the structural adhesives that are available now...no risk of warping, if I believe reports, they are stronger than the metal they join and you can do it yourself with a bit of care in surface preparation and temperature (don't try it when it is cold). I would use a few pop rivets to locate it, drill them out and fill with adhesive when done and then heat cycle the crap out of it so that any shrinkage takes place before you fill/paint.
In any event, here are some of the pics from when I did it, it took a full 3 days to get it done including one sphincter tightening moment where the whole roof oil canned until I got a few shrinks into a couple of spots and the metal settled down.
Sorry about the order, I am just between sanding on the car, so can't figure out how to reorder.....you can figure it out.
It is not rocket surgery, but it is very fussy and whoever does it needs to take their time and watch their heat. Again, with the benefit of experience, and pondering again, if the bonding thing was not the way to go then gas welding it in using the simple fusion technique might also have been a good fit as the finished weld is malleable (MIG is hard as rock) and a bit of hammer/dolly work would not have been all that difficult.
Thanks Cloggie. I think I know of a few people that have done this mostly with bonding, so I appreciate the advice to look into that. It may also help me get the car going a lot sooner, too
Thanks Cloggie. I think I know of a few people that have done this mostly with bonding, so I appreciate the advice to look into that. It may also help me get the car going a lot sooner, too
Keep us all in the loop as to what you do, all I would say is use the absolutely best bonding agent you can find and follow the application instructions to the letter.
I don't have a picture, but I took the crossbrace out of the sunroof cassette and bonded it to the roof (welded to the side structural tubes) and used a Wurth bonding agent....and I would suggest that the car would be destroyed before that brace comes off. I wanted a little more stiffness on the roof even though allegedly the removal of the sunroof and the weld up of the drip rails (which is a huge PITA by the way) stiffens the chassis. There is a lot of stress transmitted through the roof structure according to Kremer (I used to have a Kremer engine in my previous 911 and they where really good at sharing advice) and they really liked doing anything that stiffened the roof/c pillar combination.
11-19-2020, 05:18 PM
Sunroof Delete in Detroit
