So, I've been stressing for weeks about how to sort my roof out without being able to spend fortunes on it and had pretty much come to terms with the fact that it's going to cost, but finding a donor car has been a nightmare. It got me thinking.

Now I have stripped the roof out and the sunroof assembly has all gone, I am left with a single skin with what is, in all honesty, a layer of surface rust over it, really nothing major atall, then half a dozen more serious rust patches very close to where the sunroof hole is, so could be cut back that far in my opinion. Could a decent bodyshop not weld a plate in and get the roof flat again with less agro than cutting the entire roof off? Let's not forget exactly how much work it is to replace the roof and it looks like I will need to spend £300-400 on a donor car to start with, on top of the cost of actually carrying out the swap!

This car will never be concourse, there's just no point, I do want it nice, but have to remain realistic about what it has to put up wth. Therefore it's just not worth a full detailed resto when I will just throw it down a runway as soon as its back on the road.

 

Carbon roof job done

 

If ya cut the roof and try to piece it/plate it, it will warp! Be hard to get it something like then!

 

i repaired my roof, had 3 tiny spots behind the sunroof. ground the rust out and plug welded them up.then repaired and painted.
stripped the whole sunroof out. removed all traces of rust with wire brush heads etc then treated it withe P O R 15 acid rust converter/ treatment. then P O R 15 paint.
all the above items are available from frost.
the paint is brilliant, it actually gets harder in damp conditions. its used on boats etc.
it was a shitty job, but beats replacing the whole roof

that was two years ago, so far so good.

hope this helps

 

Stu H's shell his up for sale

 

my roof did warp very slightly, but a good friend of mine builds limo's and used to filling/smoothing large flat area's. did a fantastic job on mine.
also white is a very "forgiving" colour, ie white does not show flaws in paint as obviously as say a mercury grey.

 

Reshell. Don't bother with chopping roofs etc

 

Reshelling has its complications too.

1. What are the chances of finding a shell that is as good as mine? (Battery tray/Fusebox/Underside are mint)

2. Full colour change. Expensive.

3. ID.

 

Easy this one, go for a carbon roof.

You lose the rust and get a decent 'mod' out of it too.

 

christian a decent bodyshop will take less time fitting a roof than it will welding one woth the change of warping it thus having to do the job again

reshelling,,,,, well thats just stupid for the car it is tbh

take into account what MOST bodyshops do these days,,, they dont panel beat as much as before but cut/strip and replace panels

carbon roon is another option though,,, well not as safe as a actual roof

 

does it have to be an rs, as apart from the id, stu's shell is mint. you've seen it yourself

 

Carbon is nowhere near as easy on an Escort as, say, a Fiesta. I don't really like the idea much and don't have a hard-on for Carbon to be honest.

 

No grot in the sunroof cavity? Rear arches? Chassis rails? Battery tray? etc.

Because if it has any of those against it, its not really any better than mine for what I want.

 

does to show it at RS shows im sure,,,, or is that rule just to them whos not a " face"

wont be worth as much as a XR3I either im sure

 

chrisitan why not overlap with a fibreglass roof but done PROFESSIONALLY, like carbon but not and just get the edges done proper

if not find a car restorers who do old jags ect as they would be able to leadload or wht ever its called and get a PROPER finish to the roof rather than filler it

 

it could be repaired.... it could even be metal finished...

you need to find the right person near you....i know a guy here who could do it easily....

 

Stu's shell is mint christian, 'Mint'.

 

Give Jacko a ring mate

 

You've seen it with the sunroof cartridge out? Mine looked MINT 6 months before a TINY rust bubble appeared. It still doesn't look anywhere near as bad as some I have seen. However, it does need to be tackled now.

I have the engine practically ready to go back in, I can't believe it will be this fucking roof that could see this whole project fall on its arse.

 

I'm pretty sure it had a full bare shell resto, Not that long ago.

Pete (warleydaddy), Karl Norris,and loads more all shout about how mint it is.

 

Yeah it is a very very mint shell, one of the best out there i'd imagine......i haven't looked at the sunroof area, but Stu'll confirm it for you.

Obviously ID will be the only downside.

 

Mine is getting lead lined at moment,hope thats does the job as there ain't any other options unless you want to search for a new roof skin which is probably impossible,and i imagine carbon would be very costly.

 

The roof i cut off to mould the carbon one with cost £20 down the scrappys ,they are out there

 

i wouldnt warp it lol

 

Put a carbon roof on and just paint it!

 

reshell it with cabby body

no need to worry about the foor then

or, even better, do one of then biger sunfoor jobbies that some of the newer cars have that goes the whole lengths and bredth
then replace the glass with a bit of metal

 

I've trawled EVERYWHERE I can think of. Scrap money is so good at the moment, that they just get weighed in. I've been looking for weeks.

You'd want to come for a passenger ride at over 170mph in an Escort with a soft-top??

 

I just cut off a mint roof waiting to go on another car

 

it's in writing
on the internet
i have blagged the first passenger ride in xian's new 170 mph mk4 cabbie

 

it's a lot easier to swap an i.d. over invisibly on a reshell than it is a section of roof (although technically illegal of course)

 

Or I reshell it into a Bonus shell and make it a sleeper.

 

can you not reshell it into a mk 5 or 6?
or do you want to stay with the mk4?

only asking ebcause if you were to swap over i'm sure that the desgin and structures would be up to withstanding 170 better than the mk4

and don't forget, if you are havig difficulty sourcing a mint rst, how much mroe difficult will it be to find a mint mk4?

 

If you mean welding a plate over the sunroof & just making it non sunroof i woulnt advise this.The heat of the weld will sag the roof then it will end up all filler.

 

OK, fair point.

I reckon its gonig to get a plate pop-rivetted over it for now. I could do without the agro and just want the car up and running. I need to put some bracing inside though as its only single skin and feels 'wobbly'.

Then I can tackle the roof properly once I have the car up and running and I have recovered from the latest financial hammering it's giving me!! LOL.

 

its really not a difficult repair, any decent panel beater would have it into primer in under a day.

I'm much rather repair a roof than fook about reshelling. If thats its only fault (sorry i don't know your car and history i'm fairly new on here)

Talk to some body shops, look about for one with some real old bastards in there, they are the proper guys that should know what they are doing. I've worked in a few and these are the guys that are still stuck in the repair theroy over the "cut it off and fit new"
You should get a decent job for the right money, but have a look at what else they are working on. a couple of shitbox resprays or taxis is usually a bad sign. A restoration in the corner and some small to medium repairs on otherwise tidy cars is a good sign.

Just my views. Ian

 

I wouldnt re shell it either. As hard as it is i would trawl ebay the lot & bide your time & prepare to travel a bit for a bonus shell.

 

Bonus boy is selling his 'track' car.....

 

new roof...?

what happened?

 

dont reshell to a lesser shell.

no offence to anyone but im a snobby cunt!

 

dumb cunt never shut the bonnet iirc