Sunroof Delete

I recently aquired my first mk1 golf gti and it is in really good condition apart from a horrible leaking aftermarket sunroof that i would like to remove all together. I work as a car mechanic and my boss says to weld in a plate (which ive been told is possible) but apparently its really difficult to prevent distortion of the roof, has anybody done this before.

Any advice would be great, Cheers!

Oh and i could do with one of the roof support bars that has been cut out of mine, so if anybody has one lying about im willing to buy it off you for a reasonable price.

Im also very interested in doing this as i hate my factory sunroof.

I looked into it a while back and found a company on ebay that do carbon sunroof blanking panels for mk2's that you bond into place.

unfortunately thats as far as i got as the car had already made its way into the paint booth so id missed my chance at deleting it. I guess if it can be bonded successfully it wouldnt damage any of the existing paint?

It would be easier to
Weld a whole non sunroof roof skin in place of the sunroof skin. 

To simply weld a plate where the sunroof is would be very hard to disperse the heat so would cause warping and distortion. 

All down to how good you can weld, confidence really. 

I have welded roof skins before and to avoid distortion tack the piece really well first and it will work a treat

I've just done this myself on a factory sunroof.

I would recommend not wasting your time trying to get it right as I'm after a full new skin.

Although I didnt weld mine in place, a good friend of my dads recommended sticking the plate in with the stuff they use to bond windscreens in, dont get me wrong, the plate is stuck in there good and wont budge, but theres a god awful hump between the plate and the bak of the roof, and trying to fit a flat plate into a curved roof doesnt seem to really work.

And if I did weld it in I can imagine the roof would be in a right state.

New roof skin it is.

Curtis

What ever you do dont use windscreen bonding there is a special metal to metal bonding. We use it a lot at work for quarter panels and roof skins and no need for welding its another option but your roof will require filling afterwards 

Owill said

I recently aquired my first mk1 golf gti and it is in really good condition apart from a horrible leaking aftermarket sunroof that i would like to remove all together. I work as a car mechanic and my boss says to weld in a plate (which ive been told is possible) but apparently its really difficult to prevent distortion of the roof, has anybody done this before.

Any advice would be great, Cheers!

Oh and i could do with one of the roof support bars that has been cut out of mine, so if anybody has one lying about im willing to buy it off you for a reasonable price.

Is the after market one glass? and is it the same size as the original? If so I will happily buy it from you leaky or not. I want a glass sunroof in mine. Its got a tilt and slide in it at present either Mk2 golf or Audi 80 so im told.

Would obviously prefer a non leaky glass "pop up" style sunroof but if the price is right i'll buy a leaky one and silicone the death out of it. lol. What with the black headlining and my black leather interior……its dark in there! So a temporary fully fixed one would be 2nd best option for me.

Let me know.
ta, Dean.

Hello mate, Its a glass pop up type sunroof and im fairly sure its genuine VW as it has the logo in the corner (so i dont know why i put aftermarket ha), but its not original to my car as the previous owner hacked a hole in the roof and chopped out the roof support in order to fit it. I want rid so I'd be happy to sell.

Just to add, I dont actually think theres alot wrong with the sunroof, it was just very poorly fitted with self tappers.

Ok well I did take some measurments of my sunroof but for the life of me cant remember where i wrote them down. I shall be working on it sunday and will retake measurments.

Can then compare. If you could get a pic or 2 it would be great. Whole sunroof from top and underneath and one of the corners to try and gauge if radius is similar.
Put on here or send to deanhorwood@yahoo.co.uk if easier.

Where are you located matey?

I can take pics for you no trouble I'll send them to your email, I'm located near Stamford, Lincolnshire

Carbon roof skin!

Thats my way round the aftermarket roof! i dont want it carbon look so will be smoothed in to the body and painted white.

Ok. so the actual hole for the sunroof (not the panel itself as thats irrelevant) is 810mm x 400mm.

so i am guessing that the glass sunroof has a frame with a lip thats sits into the actual roof. therefore if that frame is smaller than the sizes above it will fit. However if the frame is alot smaller the the top seal must be able to cover hole. I can then mount in place and seal with a fine bead of silicone to make water tight.

Does that make any sense at all? lmao.

It sort of makes sense, the sunroof I have has the frame that sits underneath but that doesn't lip over the roof the sunroof itself has a lip that is just bigger than the hole and that gets bonded to the roof and the frame secures it underneath

Ok. Well send some pics and measurements.  Try and figure it out from there. Lol