Getting rid of sunroof - anyone done it?

swapping a roof on a mk1 golf has taken about 3 days
and probably cost about £200 including the donor roof
if you can do it yourself, £1k plus for labour if you
pay someone to do it.
mate of mine has plated a mk1 rocco roof and tbh you
can see where its been done, luckily its a track car

I'm about to do this on my Capri. I've go a new roof skin, but I'd think it wouldn't be too much to make a filler panel up.

there used to be a sunroof here..




the bodyshop made an insert on an english wheel , you cant tell now..
Wasnt cheap getting it done though..

You will need to wheel your panel to put a little shape into it. You are best to buttweld the panel in place (panels side by side with a 1mm gap) when you weld the metalwork will shrink and distort. Once welded in place grind the welds down on both sides of the panel and then panel beat the welds using a hammer and dolly, by doing this you are stretching the metal and reversing the shrinking. It's hard work and you must not over do it because the weld can crack (if mig welded). When shaping up with body filler spread it far and wide and use a long rubbing down block and most of all be patient.

I've plated over sunroof holes a couple of times - on racing or rally cars, glass sunroofs are not permitted (steel is OK though, so long as it stays closed).

"industrial chic" version:

A flat steel cover panel, same shape as the sunroof with an extra 1" margin all round and radiused corners, plus about 100 pop-rivets, has usually done the trick :-) Always bedded on a generous bead of mastic and with another smear over the rivets to prevent any leakage. Foam sheet stuck onto the inside to prevent condensation (always annoying when it drips down your neck). Did the job, but looked a bit crude even when painted the same colour as the rest of the roof.


"cheated" version:

Removed glass, replaced with medium-density polyethylene sheet cut to same shape, original hinges and clamps plus a handful of countersunk screws (the MDPE of course was more flexible than the original slightly curved glass, so it needed the screws to get it to take the correct shape). Looked horrible. Don't remember it leaking significantly, but we wrote the shell off on its first outing so that didn't matter too much!!!


"tried hard but no cigar" version:

Sunroof and frame removed and edge of hole 'lipped' with joggling tool, plus plug holes punched through for MIG spot welding. New plate rolled to correct curve and trimmed to fit into the 'ledge', then plug welded all round. Dressed flat, filled and painted. Smooth finish, but the roof inevitably rippled slightly here and there so you could see it had been done. Didn't leak a drop.


TBH I think it's very hard indeed to get a pukka finish that looks as if you never had a sunroof in the first place, unless you replace the whole roof skin. If it's a factory sunroof, the roof skin might have a 'rim' rolled in around the hole, which helps give the roof its shape - in that case you should be able to weld a plate in without it distorting the rest of the roof, but you will get distortion of the infill panel itself (some of which, at least, you can flatten and fill).

Good luck - suggest you take some photos before and after, and post them on here!

pull the felt seal off of your sunroof, mask room up, fill entire car with polyurethane seam sealant

It is a big job no matter how you do it.

Since I suspect that the finer points of metal finishing elude your current skill set, (apologies if I am wrong) I would advise a donor panel rather than trying to fabricate and butt-weld an insert.

The best way to harvest the panel from the donor is to grind off from the backside using a 40 grit flap-wheel(after decapitating the donor vehicle) so that you end up with a panel that does not have a bunch of holes where you drilled out spot-welds. Breaking the spot-welds is also going to distort the donor panel and you end up with rather large holes to fill in as puddle-welds.

Second option would be to just use the appropriate section of the donor panel. Trim the roof panel on the car to whatever size you want, place the donor over the hole and scribe from inside the car. Then proceed to weld in the repair panel stopping to hammer the distortion out as it occurs. Might want to google up"shrinking disc" while you are at it.

Going full ghetto, I would get a piece of insulating foam in the hole and use a sanding board to get the the roof curvature just right. Then I would lay out a big piece of fiberglass cloth that goes about a foot either side of the hole. Finish with as much filler as it takes to look good.

Edit:

I love my E-wheel, but if there is one thing I have learned is that if I can find a solution that does not require it's use, go for it. The e-wheel is a lot of work and often involves making  practice scrap before you get your part.

I've thought about this on my mk3 Astra - it's finding a non sunroof model in the scrapyard, they're getting thin on the ground now, can't imagine you'd ever find a Capri breaker.
I would just drill out the spotwelds and weld the new one in, are Capris gutter type?
Easiest way is to pay someone to weld a panel in!

sunroof seals are never perfect, that's why you have sunroof gutter/drains, but on old fords these go straight into the sill...