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Day two of the deconstruction. The sunroof cassette is out of the car along with 32.5 lbs. of dead weight! What we're replacing the roof with, however, has grown unclear...
I'm slowly stumbling through this project, and learning while I go. The goal was to minimize the harm to the roof skin, and try to keep the lip of the roof along the sunroof completely intact. Experimenting on a small portion of the roof, we soon learned that the sunroof cassette is actually welded to the lip of the roof skin that runs along the perimeter. Doh. So I drew a line along the perimeter of the welds and carefully cut the lip. The sunroof cassette dropped right out. Most threads describe the roof skin as being quite flimsy at this stage. But with a 1/4" of the lip still intact, and with the cross brace still in place (we cut around the cross brace), the roof remains quite sturdy
After sanding down the edges, we test-fitted the Fenn Lane panel. Many folks have had good results with the Fenn Lane panel. Unfortunately however the lip on the Fenn Lane panel is quite shallow, and it requires removal of the entire lip along the perimeter of the sunroof. Eliminating the lip and cross brace will only weaken the roof, so I'd prefer to find a panel with a deeper recess. That said, the Fenn Lane panel reportedly tightens it all up when secure. Helion has a carbon fiber sunroof panel that looks a bit deeper. I've reached out to Todd at Helion, and will explore that option. So the car remains totally gutted, with no firm plan in place for the replacement panel. Helio or Fenn Lane, something must fill the void.
Day Two. Cut out a small section of the sunroof cassette to see how it releases from the roof skin. The test revealed that the cassette is actually welded to the lip along the roof Drew a line along the welds and cut the perimeter with a dremel Sanded and smoothed the edges Sunroof cassette is out, but we retained the cross brace.
Need to pop s few more welds Overzealous with the drill. Doh! Here's the view from the outside - Will patch that later. Thankfully it's out of sight under the rear window. Ready for a test fit 32.5 lbs. of dead weight off the roof of the car.
Learning curve - slight bend in roof discovering the welds on the inseam. Test fit of the Fenn Lane panel was disappointing as I was hoping to retain the lip. The edge of Fenn Lane panel has very little recess, and will require removal of the entire lip. Perhaps it's because the cross brace is still intact, but this template appears to be of little help What's next?
Foxman, nice progress with the calipers. I am a few steps behind you to repaint mine. I noticed on my calipers there are a bunch of nics in the soft aluminum. How is the coverage/thickness of VHT paint? Does it fill the imperfections nicely or do you need to sand them out?
For the roof...Cut the lip around the sunroof to the thickness of the roof sink then use the fenn lane panel,secure it and MIG weld it in completely top and bottom being mindful of the heat from welding (see Spyerx red 964 or Ilko's red 993RS RL threads/instagram posts). Then use the template and work the metal shouldn't need any filler if done right.(If you must use metal based filler i.e. upol-d max amount tea spoon if more than that your doing something wrong). This result will be just as strong as factory non-sunroof cars. Also factory non-sunroof cars had NO additional internal bracing or supports just a smooth roof on the inside. Some ppl want to add it or retain it fight the urge, wasted weight.
I just did a quickie touch up on my new 993 calipers with vht. The vht color and clear does have a decent thickness to smooth over issues. But sanding out rough spots will always help. I went for functional though, Foxman went full “Pebble Beach”
I did learn a few things using vht-
1. Make sure you’re within the temperature range they suggest, otherwise the paint mist comes out thick and the droplets don’t “melt” together as well.
2. Make sure to wait a full 10-15 minutes between coats, even the initial tack coats. Otherwise you can get “solvent pop” that looks like tiny bubbles and gives a non-smooth texture. My understanding is that the top coat traps solvent that is still flashing off the coat below.
Of course, extra coats and rubbing compound can go a long way toward fixing paint issues.
Also, a plug for Acromann for Porsche caliper decals. The 3” version was an (almost exact, 1.5mm longer) match for 993 calipers and easy to apply. Spendy though, for stickers... http://www.acromann.com/product_info...oducts_id=2609
Foxman, nice progress with the calipers. I am a few steps behind you to repaint mine. I noticed on my calipers there are a bunch of nics in the soft aluminum. How is the coverage/thickness of VHT paint? Does it fill the imperfections nicely or do you need to sand them out?
Thanks Samurai! Your car is coming along very nicely.
As Nick notes, the VHT provides very good coverage - but sanding always helps. I sanded everything down before hand. I waited ten minutes between coats working with just two calipers at a time.
Im anxiously awaiting the decals that I ordered and will post the final results.
For the roof...Cut the lip around the sunroof to the thickness of the roof sink then use the fenn lane panel,secure it and MIG weld it in completely top and bottom being mindful of the heat from welding (see Spyerx red 964 or Ilko's red 993RS RL threads/instagram posts). Then use the template and work the metal shouldn't need any filler if done right.(If you must use metal based filler i.e. upol-d max amount tea spoon if more than that your doing something wrong). This result will be just as strong as factory non-sunroof cars. Also factory non-sunroof cars had NO additional internal bracing or supports just a smooth roof on the inside. Some ppl want to add it or retain it fight the urge, wasted weight.
Thanks for that. I did find a few posts including Cobalt’s that inspire confidence in the Fenn Lane panel. If you’re looking for the stock look inside, it makes sense to eliminate the lip. I’m wondering if eliminating the brace will chance the shape of the roof at all. The template seems ill fitted, but perhaps it’s the cross brace.
The current plan is not to weld but glue the panel in. I know Chris recommends welding, and this apparently helps tighten things up a bit. But glueing seems so much easier, and glue has come a long way. Wilbur is fine being the guinea pig.
Thanks for that. I did find a few posts including Cobalt’s that inspire confidence in the Fenn Lane panel. If you’re looking for the stock look inside, it makes sense to eliminate the lip. I’m wondering if eliminating the brace will chance the shape of the roof at all. The template seems ill fitted, but perhaps it’s the cross brace.
The current plan is not to weld but glue the panel in. I know Chris recommends welding, and this apparently helps tighten things up a bit. But glueing seems so much easier, and glue has come a long way. Wilbur is fine being the guinea pig.
The panel is made to fit correctly without the lip. I spoke to Chris at fennlane and others stateside who have done it extensively before attempt this on my car. I'd remove all the under roof bracing it will help with the fitment of the panel and with obtaining the right curvature. FYI-The curvature of a non-sunroof cars roof is different from a sunroof car. As we welded the roof skin began to tighten up and we worked the panel to the curvature of the template. As to glue I know they are very advanced and used by many OEMs today but Chris recommend welding spot or MIG. FWIW He did tell me he enlarged the flange on the panel to accommodate gluing as some had requested. The issue with the glue is you need a decent amount of filler up top to make it look good and even then it may crack especially on a track car such as yours. Good luck it should turn out great either way. It was one of the best mods I did to my car, headroom was greatly improved, weight reduction was around 40-50 lbs, and that seamless roof looks so good!
03-02-2019, 10:14 PM
