hi all
been restoring a 90 spec escort rs turbo for a fellow pf member and arranged for the rusty roof to be sorted today and after stripping head liner ect ect out the bottom part of the roof where the sunroof slides into the car is totaly rusted away to the rear water channels, you can push a bit of plastic through it and the roof itself had rust all over it on the surface but was ok once it was wire wheeled off and only a few holes right through which will have new sections of steel welded in to sort
we weighed up the pro and cons of us getting a new replacement panel to keep the sunroof and with a car this old i doubt there is a panel on a shelf waiting for him to snap it up,and finding a complete mint roof to replace his is rare also, but just had a chat with him and he wants me to remove the sunroof completely to remove the issue of rust returning in years to come
will post up some pice of the rusty bits shortly will include a few stages of the process for a look at
he will be having a custom roof lining made to fit
i can see the benerfits and the downside of this what do you people think and this is not the case of just bodging it up so it last a while he likes his rs tobe rust free and i mean rust free
before pepole say it will be weak it wont as i will be making a custom roof support to increase strengh of the roof and increase head room as a bonus (inch or 2)
yes or no
mark2

 

Im getting rid of my sunroof in my pickup as it has no use and im unsure what to do!! either just stick on a panel and smooth it over or what lol i could get a carbon roof

 

ry mate get the carbon roof from carbon delight Ł450 notes,will sort all the problems as its a direct replacement

hth

 

hi
yeah he suggested that to me a complete carbon roof he found one around the 500 quid mark but i think he wants it painted so go steel got tobe alot cheaper i think
i even suggested turning his rs into a pickup but he said no
if my memory serves me right you got a blue one that was on ebay a while ago i was looking at to buy but was to far away to have a look at first but i might be wrong
as regards your roof dont just remove the sunroof and then plate it over unless your leaving in the sofit where the sunroof goes as that frame work around the sunroof gives the roof stability bit hard to explain but might become clearer when i post pice up
mark2

 

yeah mate the blue one i own ive got a resto thread on it here so feel free to have a nosey!!
ive removed the glass part and the actual metal frame it sits in but ive left the rest


my sunroof are is minted and theres not even a hint of rust but it has no function so i dont see the point in having it there lol

 

it looks ace as well mate but im just doing 1 thing at a time for now and the sunroof isnt at the top of the list lol im getting a carbon bonnet

 

ry cool mate itl look well fat

 

iv got a mint full roof if you need it

 

how much jacko?

 

not a clue mate it is perfect though

 

unless you want to remove it for weight saving reasons, you could stick a fezzy tilt sunroof on it?

 

i just dont like sunroofs lol so it had to go

 

nice
what you have left in is wots totaly rotted on the one i am doing and goes from the front to back
pics are coming of it tonight
(yeah it was the pickup i was intrested in when it was forsale)
mark

 

cool well its never gonna be for sale lol ive spent 2 much money on it so its a keeper for life

 

I had a brand new gen ford roof until short ago,sold it for Ł100 as i thought im never gonna use it! Shoulda kept it now!

 

So, tell me this.

This Carbon roof you speak of, do you just fix it over the top of the original rusty roof? Also, what happens with the pillars? The Twins had to make pillar covers to go with theirs.

 

no its a direct replacement,replaces the top of the roof not the a pillars,and comes with carbon a pillar covers

 

So, you take the original roof away completely? You sure about that?

 

well thats the impression it gives on the website,are you just trying to catch me out and have a pop or something

 

just checked the site and it says "replaces the original roof for optimum weight saving".

 

LOL, catch you out? Chill, man.

 

I'm genuinely interested. I just cant imagine how you can cut the roof out of an RST. Maybe you cut a hole in the middle.

Main thing that puts me off a Carbon roof, apart from the fact that I'm not really into Carbon is what happens with the Pillars. Twins car is awesome, but I really wouldn't want to have Carbon pillars on mine.

 

i think you just cut it of at the top of the a pillars and at the highest point on the back,then i guess get the carbon one welded somehow,
im interested in it also,am a bit miffed about the strength of the car after as the one in the picture soesnt have a roll cage

 

hi again
done some work on the roof today cut out all the bad


after a bit of cutting here and there

as you can see the rust was right at the back of the roof and was sandwhiched between the head liner and roof so had to come out tobe put right

well got a sheet of 1mm steel to suit
i started by getting everythink in postion to cut the roof past its rust holes once done out came the ange grinder an proceeded cut



when i was happy i fitted a 25mm x2mm strip halfway across the join to support new panel and to aid with strengthening which will be done tommorow

then i offered up the new panel



so now the roof is gone

 

i think you'd need to do something along the lines of what luke has done with his fiesta turbo. i.e cut the old roof panel out and bond it onto the original mounting points at the sides front and rear. i'm pretty certain phil at carbon delight recomends you have a full cage to strenghten the shell but in my opinion the strenght could be gained by having a few more layers of carbon and a decent honeycomb centre to the roof panel itself. baking the panel in an autoclave would also help it to be stronger as the pressures are much greater than a vacum bag. but this would cost quite a bit more i'd imagine. HTH

regards

Tom

 

The ERST is very different to the FRST though?

 

you can do mine one day mark you can hear the rust grinding when i open the sunroof lol.Looks alright

 

whateverrrrrrrrrrrr!100 credits coming my way soon!

 

thats what i thought too

 

LOL
what will the misses say
got all the strengthening bars in now looks better will post pics soon
mark

 

Well I had my RST restored body wise a little while back, (You may have sen it), I was advised against plating the roof as the skin tends to ripple and bow with the welding. Or even crack the finished paint in strong sunlight.

There are traces of rust flake in the sunroof tray on mine (Grinds when opened and drops on my head when you hit bumps lol) and I had to cut it back to rust proff the skins. I am looking at a Wesbasto replacement as I want the RSTub to loof great and have a little panash, they trim out the original and some of the roof panel. Its sweet, but costly. The Wesbasto 900 series comes with a built in strengthening frame and electrics. Not cheap at Ł1295.00 fitted. .But as I said sweet as I don't want carbon fibre on me roof or any other panel really. (Already spent a fortune so a few quid more, what the hell).

Anyone found a place to get replacement power window regulators?

Hope the rest was of Interest

 

Oh, Also Mark, how did you get the tray out, did you heat it to release the adhesive around the edge?

 

ha ha spoofer check out the resto thread and you will see im getting on quite nicely with no showstoppers

 

hi
the cracking is heat shrink i leave a 2mm gap all around then i weld from one corner to the opposite corner then spot it 10cm all round then 5cm then 2cm you dont stay on one side you go 1 spot each side untill complete but plenty of cooling time and i mean alot this stops the metal getting to hot and warping the under tray is a bit tricky as its got spot welds here and there and 2 tabs welded into the boot structure heating does release it but makes alot more mess as the sealer can drip and you can damage the outside paintwork i go for the old carving knife and hammer approach i tap it in then tap the back of the blade untill it is all round but when you get over halfway it may pull down but you have to mind the roof as it may distort as you tug at it
i will post pics up tommorow of the strengthening bars in
mark2

 

just a pic of welding spaced apart
also putting the 25mm x2mm underneath all round stops it being weak
mark

 

hi all
roof bars in they have been spliced in between the roof and door frames



mark

 

Nice job Mark2.Regards,Micky

 

Yeh does look good..

 

cheers mickey, boothy
mark

 

i'd ave been more inclined to link the a and c pillars diagonally to be honest. triangulation will always be stronger and you can use less metal so it'll be lighter.