Has anyone ever removed or patched a sunroof before? Here is my problem, about 2 years ago I bought a Plain Jane 67. The car originally was butternut yellow and had a 6 cylinder, nothing special on the cowl tag. The car is now dark blue, has a 350/350 turbo, a Ford 8" (Yes Ford 8" yuck!!) and a wonderful sunroof. I know I should have waited for a better car when I bought it, but I wanted another 1st Gen bad, and I had just been outbidded at an auction for a 67 RS/SS, so when this car came along I bought it. All the other 1st Gens I looked at were trashed, this one was driveable and looks decent (accept for the sunroof). I drove the car occasionally for about a year and parked it because I race at a local dirt track and spent most of my time on the stock car. Now that the season has been over for a few months, I'm getting the bug to start tearing into the Camaro. How can I get rid of this sunroof? I am not a body man. I have someone who that says he can fix it. He works at a body shop and does collision repair. It's not that I don't trust him but in one of my Camaro restoration books it says the only way to get rid of a sunroof is to cut the roof and weld in another. If they are talking about cutting the entire roof off, I know for a fact that the car will be tweaked. I've cut off plenty of them to weld in cages for stock cars and when you cut the roof pillars the car tweaks. Sorry this is so long, I'm just trying to see if I'm wasting my time. Thanks!!

first does it have insulation strips...if so take them off...get a peice of sheet metal about an inch too long on all sides weld it up..then use body filler for the top...sand her down once she's dry and then coat w/ paint...worked on my dads 71 cam

if you have any questions let me know
prcptvwon@aol.com

if you do that you need something under taht piece of sheet metal to support it or otherwise you will wasting your time

Or you could re-place the roof, that way your roof wont be 1 big sheet of plastic due to its large flat area.

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67 Camaro SS Conv.
70 Challenger R/T Conv.

how about a vinyl top?

:)

Thanks for all the replies!! I'm not ruling out replacing the roof, I'm just not sure how
to go about it, that's why I wanted to see if someone has done it before. There are pro and cons to both. If I just patch it, yes I'll probably end up with a layer of mud across the roof to make it look good. If I replace it, I would have to find a donor car. Not an easy task since most of these cars are either
restored, in the process of being restored, or junked. Straight 6, what gauge of sheet metal did your Dad use?

Got just what you need........KZ http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=518804367

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John D. Smith
69' SS/396
www.geocities.com/kz1000ltd (http://www.geocities.com/kz1000ltd)

You could cut the top off and make it into a convert.


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Rick
Everything I own is for sale. What were you looking for?

Racer#00 I had my roof replaced on my 69. The body shop drilled the welds out in the drip rails and window chanels. He did one hell of a job. I have a roof in the cellar that I didn't use it has small holes above the drivers driprail and a 1" hole above the 1/4 panel lead joint.(100.00 plus shipping) I just sent a roof to Washinton state. They are hard to find in good shape. They usually have a hole or two. If you find one you can have it sent by yellow freight, that's how I send the ones I sell.

Bob

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69 Coupe
Frame-Off Resto, ZZ-502/502 Crate, A/C, Grifin Rad., March Serpintine Sys., 2800 Stall with HughesT-400, Currie 9" with 370 Gears.

I have done a few roofs on late model cars and SUV's. Heres what i would do.first take out the sunroof.then take a air crimper and use it to make a downward flange all the way around the hole.use a piece of cardbord as a template and cut a piece of sheetmetal that will fit right in the hole leaving a slight gap between the new panel and the original roof.tack weld it all the way around, then weld it jumping from side to side or else you will bow the heck out of the roof.another idea would be to use panel bonding adhesive to bond the patch because you wont warp the roof this way.then finish it off with filler.you may end up with a coat of filler over the whole roof but thats ok as long as its done right.the vinyl top isnt a bad idea either.if the patch area is flimsy you can get some pillar foam,kind of like that expanding stuff in a can,and drill a small hole and blow some in the roof,just dont use the triple expanding kind!changing the whole roof panel can be done but is extreme. http://members.spree.com/entertainment/ochrisl/

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68 camaro,hugger orange ,white stripes.327 4 speed.

[This message has been edited by ochrisl (edited 12-07-2000).]

The suggestion by mobiletools is the way to go. I have done a number of roof skins this way and it is pretty straight forward. Just clean out all the caulking from the drip rails and identify the spot welds (this is probably the hardest part of the project). The front and rear glass has to be removed of course and you will find spot welds under them (again hard to find them all). Just look at the spot welds as bolts...drill out the top surface on everyone, don't drill though the bottom sheet...just like removing a bolt. When they are all out the roof skin lifts off like a hood or head that you have unbolted.
Clean up the surfaces to weld the new one in. Now you have to remove the doner the same way. The holes that are left when you drill out the spots will be your holes to "plug weld" the roof into your car, it works perfect!
If you spend the time to align and trial fit the glass and moldings before you weld in the panel, you will have a perfect repair.


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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

[This message has been edited by MARTINSR (edited 12-08-2000).]

1/8 inch cubic steele low grade...pretty cheap at a metal shop

you could also take the measurments of the hole and bring them to a metal shop they could cut you a peice to fit it and you could weild in in place

Thanks again guys for the suggestions! Sorry I didn't get back here earlier, I've been working long nights. I didn't realize that a roof could be gutted like that. I skinned hoods before for stock cars, but never paid attention while cutting off roofs to think that one could be done the same. Lack of experience!(LOL) Mobiletools, I'm interested in the roof, don't know how much it would cost to ship it from your place to Omaha,Ne. Send me an e-mail, DAMUTH@QWEST.NET and we can work out the details. Thanks again
everyone !!!

Dean

67 Plain Jane
76 Trans Am Street Stock

Dont try to patch it. Even if whoever does it is a great body man, it will show at different times. I mean it may look great on a cool day but on a very hot day the metal will heat differently than the filler and it WILL show. RE ROOF is the only way to go for a good job.

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95 Z28 Convertible M6
70 Chevelle SS 396,
66 Nova SS 327-350HP M20