Putting a panel over sunroof - what material and thickness?

Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:02 pm

As above, I want to remove my sunroof + mechanism and put a panel over the hole (also covering some nasty rust in the process) but am unsure of what material to use.

I'm planning on using a rivet gun and some sikkaflex to seal it, and would welcome any suggestions on steel/ally and thickness. Obviously weight is the enemy, but structural integrity is also a priority.

Cheers

Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:27 pm

1mm steel i'd have thought would've done.

Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:31 pm

the sunroof is double skinned and you can remove the outer skin and stich weld it back in.
Fill the remaining gap (where the gasket used to be) with screen mastik and it will look like the sunroof is still in place

Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:18 pm

TBH the rust on the roof is pretty awful, so I thought it might be easier to kill that rust and put a large panel over the whole area i.e. quite a bit bigger than just the sunroof panel. It'll look a bit ugly, but as it's a track car I'm not too bothered. The other option is as you say to retain the original sunroof panel, but that would mean the rusty areas would need to be quite carefully filled and I'll have to take a closer look and decide which is the better option. Would be nice if it looked normal I suppose.

Thanks btw

Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:31 am

I have done this recently mate so will try and take some pics tonight for you.
Its a bit of a ball-ache to do well but it saves a HELL of a lot of weight!

Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:20 pm

Right at the top of the car too!

If it needs to meet the 'blue book' regs I think it is supposed to be 3mm thick steel

On our 205, I just bolted on a 2mm thick ali sheet, I wanted 1.5mm but they didn't have any and I would have had to buy a whole sheet! No thanks. It is much bigger than you'll ever need as the sunroofs in 205's are massive. It weighs 3 kilos, compared to the 14.5 that came out.

Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:39 pm

My sunroof panel is the same thickness as the roofskin a al PBMWC/MSA regs.

I also looked at using the steel sunroof panel that was removed but wasnt happy that I could make a decent job of it.
It also has a steel strengthening rib bonded to it which doesnt help.

Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:22 pm

HTH with the pics.
Let me know if you want any more or search on here for links.
Ste.

Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:56 am

Ste, thanks very much, that's a big help - likewise the pics of the harness points in the other thread, nice one dude

Sat May 02, 2009 9:40 pm

Ste, that is brilliant thank you for the pics.
We removed the sunroof cage today. What a poxy job.
Going to get the panel sorted sharpish to replace. What was the thickness of the steel you used?
Was thinking of using 2mm stainless but will go thiner if regs allow.

Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:42 pm

wow great pics, thanks very much as I will be starting this task aswell next week