Arne Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 Hi, guys. I don't post much here, but do visit for research now and again. I'm much more active on CZCC.com since my Z is mostly stock. But I thought I'd share this here as well, since I did some reading here on this subject prior to having this done. I just got my '71 back yesterday after having the roof reskinned to eliminate the sunroof. Here are some before and after pictures. I don't have pictures of the process itself just yet, we couldn't get his camera to download to my laptop (bad USB cable, I think), so I'll have to wait for him to e-mail them to me before I can post them. Soon, I hope. The guidecoat on the primer makes the roof look a bit wavy in the pictures. Trust me, it's not. The work was done at Evolution Auto Body, a one-man shop (Scott Daniels) in Salem, OR, basically next door to ZTherapy. I don't know how many S30 roofs he has re-skinned, but I do know that mine was not his first, probably more like his fifth or sixth. I could tell the first time we talked that he knew exactly what he was doing. And he is incredibly affordable. I supplied the donor roof, and the total was all of $450! He invoiced me 14 hours at $30/hr. That included a couple hours to do a touch of rust repair under the windshield seal on the donor roof. I dropped the car off Monday afternoon, and picked it up late Friday, so four days. I can't recommend him enough for this type of work. The job was fairly straightforward. Drill out all the spot welds on the donor panel to remove it intact, cut the bad roof off the car and grind down (not drill) the spot welds on the car, and re-weld the new panel into place. I'm certain that any competent sheet metal guy could do it, but I'm glad I picked one who has done it on these cars before. Scott also cleaned and applied a nice glossy epoxy to the underside before he welded it on as part of the job. Perhaps it's not a stiffener, but it sure seems like it might be. On the trip back home (60 miles) the car seemed much quieter, even without any headliner. Now that the car is back home, I'm going to strip it the rest of the way down and deliver it to my local paint shop week after next. I would have let Scott do the whole re-paint, but he said he is so busy that he's not taking in any full repaints right now. But he said squeezing in a roof skin job was no problem. So I'll have the rest of the paint done locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCLOBERNOCKER47 Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 Id like to see those pics once you get em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 EDIT: Pictures attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Wow, on my car I had them reskin the roof and they only did the top portion I believe. Mine appears to be done "correctly" and it looks great too, although not painted yet. I had them eliminate the side vents and the drip rail while they were at it. Cost me $650. I thought that was more than fair Your car looks great and it'll look even better with new paint. I hope I get there too some day Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Damn thats a steal for that type of work!! Looks great. I have not seen a shop rate below 60/hr in a LONG time. Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Some in process pictures would be great! I plan on doing this myself this summer, but I might just stick to cutting a patch panel from my donor car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zwannabe Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Damn thats a steal for that type of work!! Looks great. I have not seen a shop rate below 60/hr in a LONG time. Evan yeah, the shop i work at charges $75/hr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 16, 2008 Author Share Posted May 16, 2008 Finally got the pictures from the shop. First, the donor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 16, 2008 Author Share Posted May 16, 2008 ...and then the work as it progressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Edit: Someone posted asking about the future color of the car, but that post disappeared after my reply was posted. I'm pretty much a factory kind of Z owner, but visit here for research, and ideas for a possible future project. So this Z will be repainted in factory 905 red. I've been documenting the exterior refresh over on CZCC http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30588 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 That was me posting too quickly before seeing the more finished project. It was like, "Duh! The car is going to be red, stupid." So, I just deleted my post. Funny that you should have seen my post that was displayed for a max of 20 seconds before I deleted it! Thanks for posting the pics--they are extremely helpful to someone contemplating the same. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 That was me posting too quickly before seeing the more finished project. It was like, "Duh! The car is going to be red, stupid." So, I just deleted my post. Funny that you should have seen my post that was displayed for a max of 20 seconds before I deleted it!E-mail notices of replies rock! I can get here and see it before it gets deleted!! Thanks for posting the pics--they are extremely helpful to someone contemplating the same.That was my hope. My reading here was helpful as I prepared for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Niiiiice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundmasterg Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 That looks great Arne! I picked up a donor roof over the weekend for my '72 240Z because I've got a sunroof just like the one you had and want to get rid of it. I'll be talking to the place you went to when I'm ready so thanks for the heads up and good luck on your car. Maybe I'll see you at the Canby show.... Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 Maybe I'll see you at the Canby show.... Greg I plan to be there, even if the car isn't ready that soon. But it looks like I'll have it back in time to get it at least partially assembled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COmputoman Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I had the roof reskinned on my 280zx without the use of a doner roof. I assume this was much more easy because the large flat spot as apposed to a rounded bubble shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 you inspired me-cut the roof off my parts z today, figured someday myself or someone else would need it... come to think of it, it might be driveable-a targa top z car! z going to the crusher on thursday-anyone need anything let me know quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS1 240Z Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 i wish i lived closer.. id come get a lot of parts off that z i wish it was illegal to cut sun roofs into cars.. they are so stupid. someone butchered my car too and its the thing i hate the most about my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike240zt Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Thx so much for posting those pics. My car is once again a full hard top. Just a couple spots left to grind but all welded in now. Just can't believe I didnt see doin it this way sooner or I would have done it long ago. Anyways thx again for sharing and someone make this a sticky it could potentially save a Z somewhere especially with how often this topic comes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arne Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 Thx so much for posting those pics. My car is once again a full hard top. Just a couple spots left to grind but all welded in now. Just can't believe I didnt see doin it this way sooner or I would have done it long ago.Yeah. I talked to several people who wanted to patch the hole before I talked to Scott. When he explained the way he did it, it was so obviously the correct way to do it that I knew immediately that I would have him do it. This is the only way that makes sense. Now that the paint is complete, the roof looks great. As expected, you'd never know that a sunroof ever existed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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