Sunroof fix

[Big Jon]

So sometime in its early life, my 260z had an aftermarket sunroof put in. And sometime between then and now, the sunroof went missing, leaving a GIANT hole in my roof. I am trying to decide whether it is more feasible to have a custom cover made for it, or to have it welded back up. I am not the best fabricator yet, so I would more than likely have to pay someone to weld in new metal. Or i could find someone to make a new cover, either glass/lexan, or fiberglass. Does anyone know of kits that might have been sold back in the day that look like what im dealing with? Or was this a one off?

[hoov100]

It's easier to replace the roof sheet metal then you think.

[Big Jon]

could it be done with a stick welder, or would that be too heavy duty for thin sheet metal? once again, im just learning how to weld, so even though some might think its a walk in the park, its going to take me a while to get to that point in confidence and know-how

[josh817]

could it be done with a stick welder, or would that be too heavy duty for thin sheet metal? once again, im just learning how to weld, so even though some might think its a walk in the park, its going to take me a while to get to that point in confidence and know-how

The roof has a curve to it. When he says its easier, I'm pretty sure he means you cut the roof out of a donor car. You could TRY to bang out your own sheet metal but since you aren't a body work man, you will probably be left with a sheet of metal with a bunch of divets in it that will need several layers of filler to even it out. You don't want an entire roof of filler...

 

I'm not sure exactly how much of the roof you cut. I think the roof and the rear pillars meet up and were like lead filled in or something. When I sanded my Z down for painting I had a ton of bondo on one pillar because I think the rear quarter panel was hit at some point, and then replaced. There was an obvious huge gap between quarter panel and roof pillar. You can see where all the bondo was cracking:

 

And then here it is after I got all the bondo out and sprayed sealer over the car:

 

I'm no professional, and like I said, I don't know how far people go when they cut the roof out, but if it were me I would go conservative. Find a donor and cut out the portion that the sunroof is in, if it were on that car. So for instance, if your sunroof is perfectly centered, then cut out the exact spot on the donor car, this way the curve of the roof is matched since obviously it curves a little more as you get towards the hatch. Then, to give yourself some wiggle room, if the sun roof is lets just say a 24" x 36" rectangle, cut out 26" x 38" from the donor so you have an inch of extra metal on all 4 sides, allowing you to do a little bit of fitment.

 

Be careful when you weld because its thin stuff, I bet you can easily blow holes through it. If your roof liner is out from inside the car, I'd even be tempted to weld on the inside and then grind flush, this way the roof liner will cover the welds. You can do a skim coat of some bondo around the edges on the outside of the car, where the donor metal meets roof surface.

 

Do some searching, this has probably been covered before, with pictures which can really help you out.

Edited April 10, 2010 by josh817

[Sparks280zt]

Did you search? This was literally covered in a thread two days ago.

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/90464-280z-moonroof-delete/page__p__857956entry857956

Edited April 10, 2010 by Sparks280zt

[Big Jon]

Did you search? This was literally covered in a thread two days ago.

 

http://forums.hybrid...56entry857956

 

No i didnt. Sorry, i forgot about it.

 

While we're still on the subject, what do you think about the other approach i mentioned? Im not going to be racing this car, so i guess i dont need to worry about approval of a solid metal roof. Does anyone have a good reference for a fiberglass sunroof cover?

[rturbo 930]

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/66240-successful-roof-re-skin-s30/page__p__621574__fromsearch__1entry621574

[ktmp]

Same thing going on with my z. The sunroof was broken when I bought the car. I just zipped some sheet metal from a roof of a 280zx and will cut it to fit the existing hole of my 280z. Then I will tack weld it in place with a wire feed welder. Do this very slowly and take your time. I usually use a wet rag or air to cool the welds to avoid warping. You can get a donor roof piece from smaller cars at salvage yards. Lose the sun roof unless you really want it.

[19762802+2]

I say you make a sweet ragtop buy one of the VW ragtop conversions and put it in there , but if you don't want to I'm sure everyone else will guide you to put in a new roof.

[ModernS30]

I just thought about this for like 2 days. I have a 280z that I could take the roof skin off of. Then I thought, he really doesn't sound like he knows what he is doing. I personally think you spend your hard earned $$ having a reputable shop do the job right. No you can not stick weld it, you will just get crappy welds and blow holes everywhere. Plus you will be warping the metal all over the place. If you don't want to spend the money put a sun roof back in it and do your best to keep it from leaking. Not trying to say it's a bad thing your new at body work and welding (not so far off my self) just trying to keep you from making mistakes. Stick welding a roof on with very little practice just isn't going to happen.

[Big Jon]

Heres the thing about "knowing what im doing". It might sound weird, but im not bad at body work. I took a bunch of shop classes back in high school, and since being out of high school ive helped with bodywork on a lot of my friends cars and even made spray booths. What im not good at is welding, which is why i brought up the topic. I literally just started to learn, and i my dad and i have an arc welder, which i guess is a little more difficult to learn on verses a wire feed. But after reading all of the posts, im pretty sure im going to just get a donor roof and either see if my uncle will weld it in, or just take the roof and have a shop do it. But i dont want the sunroof. After much thinking, i definitely dont want a sunroof in my car. Thanks again for the pics posted though, it gives me a nice example of what needs to be done. And ill do searches from now on, sorry bout that!

 

Too bad these cars didnt come with T-tops. I kinda like them actually...

Edited April 13, 2010 by Big Jon

[ModernS30]

Heres the thing about "knowing what im doing". It might sound weird, but im not bad at body work. I took a bunch of shop classes back in high school, and since being out of high school ive helped with bodywork on a lot of my friends cars and even made spray booths. What im not good at is welding, which is why i brought up the topic. I literally just started to learn, and i my dad and i have an arc welder, which i guess is a little more difficult to learn on verses a wire feed. But after reading all of the posts, im pretty sure im going to just get a donor roof and either see if my uncle will weld it in, or just take the roof and have a shop do it. But i dont want the sunroof. After much thinking, i definitely dont want a sunroof in my car. Thanks again for the pics posted though, it gives me a nice example of what needs to be done. And ill do searches from now on, sorry bout that!

 

Too bad these cars didnt come with T-tops. I kinda like them actually...

 

That's cool if you can do body work, Like I said I wasn't trying to say you suck at everything or anything like that. Sounds like you have a plan. Like I said I may be able to get a donor roof for you but I don't know where you are located shipping probably isn't the best option.