Taking off roof skin

Is it just a matter of drilling out the spot welds in the gutter to seperate the roof skin?

need to remove the tailgate and windscreen, carefully cut through the outer skin of the a pillars, drill out spot welds on windscreen frame upper, gutters, cut two seam welds at the back and the roof should come off vw repair manual does say about folding the gutters down to do this but im not sure its realy needed, will also save some work

And the internal roof beams, are they glued?

lhasa said

And the internal roof beams, are they glued?

I think they are - On mine I can see some glue like substance that has been squeezed out as the skin has been put into place.

lhase, if you go ahead with this job is there any way you could do a photo record of it?  I might have to do the same on mine depending on how bad the rust around the sunroof turns out to be.

Blimey lhasa, you're a brave man!  8O  Good luck!

I've now got a mint  4 door roof I hope it will fit!

Made a few inquires at a body shop(asked for a quote and asked them how they would go about it) to find out how to remove the glue from the beams running across the inside of the roof. I was told that they user a hot dryer which will soften the mastic from the seam and also the glue from the runners, after drilling the spot welds the roof will peel off!! They told me they would only fit a new roof panel.

Have I just blown 40 quid on a roof?

Are the panels still available?

The job seems easy enough and I don't really know what all the fuss is about. When I get some spare time the welding set will come out.

Hey lhasa
   
If it goes wrong you could always turn it in to Cabriolet  


Brave man…. very brave man…….

Pictures please , before and after !!

I can't think of any job on the Mk1 that I would be less inclined to take on. Good luck. This is stating the obvious but make sure you support the shell evenly.

don't worry about it, just take your time and drill out the spot welds and then just peel it like opening a can of beans. dont worry about the shell twisting either as all the strengh is still going to be there as you are not removing the crossbars, i have done this job loads of time it will only take a day honest!