Difficult Repair?

Hi folks I've heard sunroof repairs can be tricky - would this classify as a tricky repair?

Ive seen resto shack in exeter drop the tray repair it and refit.

Not a DIY job then? And possibly expensive?

I've had to salvage a mk2 tray with much better drain holes and replace.

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I have had this repair done by a bodyshop. I removed the tray myself which was quite tricky but doable. Its spot welded on the vertical edge to the roof skin all The way around the sunroof aperture. At the rear is where is becomes tricky as the two panels are folded together and a fold has to be put back into the roof skin.
If the roof panel itself needs new metal putting in which is quite likely this is also tricky as your welding a very large thin panel that wants to distort with all that heat. I'd say if your a competent welder and have plenty of experience welding panels and getting a good cosmetic finish it's doable but a very tricky repair for an amateur and something best left to the professionals in my opinion.

Another point to note is that the tray and roof skin ate bonded together with seam sealer so you have to break this seal without causing any further damage. With it out repairs tonthe tray can be tricky.
  The critical part of the repair is getting it back exactly where it came from. To facilitate this I cut mine through the metal supports inside the car exposed when you remove the headlining. The sunroof mechanism will then need to be accurately reset before any paint goes on the car and tested.
  Hope this helps, let's us know how you get on as this problem has spelt the end of a good few mk1s and seen a lot of them have a non sunroof skin welded in instead.

Good info, thank you it is appreciated 👌🏻 I haven't actually bought this one yet. Owner sent me this pic amongst others and I thought I'd seen threads about how difficult these repairs could be (or expensive being my main concern) I was keen to take on a project but this may be a step to far for me………is it easier to weld a new roof akin on than repair the sunroof, I don't mind not having one as we don't often get the chance to use ☀️Roofs 🤔

daniboy123 said

I have had this repair done by a bodyshop. I removed the tray myself which was quite tricky but doable. Its spot welded on the vertical edge to the roof skin all The way around the sunroof aperture. At the rear is where is becomes tricky as the two panels are folded together and a fold has to be put back into the roof skin.
If the roof panel itself needs new metal putting in which is quite likely this is also tricky as your welding a very large thin panel that wants to distort with all that heat. I'd say if your a competent welder and have plenty of experience welding panels and getting a good cosmetic finish it's doable but a very tricky repair for an amateur and something best left to the professionals in my opinion.

Was it an expensive / time consuming fix ?

Both difficult jobs for a diy enthusiast and I'm not sure which i would rather do. In terms of cost I'd say your talking around 1.5k for a body shop to repair and repaint the sunroof problem to a high standard as a rough estimate. Mine was done with a lot of other repairs so it's difficult to say. How much is the seller asking? Is there a lot more rot?

It took me and my dad a good 10 hours to get the tray out as a few tools had to be made to facilitate it's removal. It feels quite brutal at times. Putting the gold back into the roof skin would be my concern if i was doing the whole job along with minimising distortion whilst repairing the roof.

daniboy123 said

Both difficult jobs for a diy enthusiast and I'm not sure which i would rather do. In terms of cost I'd say your talking around 1.5k for a body shop to repair and repaint the sunroof problem to a high standard as a rough estimate. Mine was done with a lot of other repairs so it's difficult to say. How much is the seller asking? Is there a lot more rot?

Thanks again Daniboy123, i'm not really sure what else will need done, it's been off the road for 17 years or so but it runs and everything's there, I'm going for a look in the next week or so, I do know the entire  car needs painted…the asking price is 2k ish. 🤔

Well if everything else was solid I'd consider it but its doubtful. Have you owned any mk1's before? Where is this car located? Definately worth taking anither enthusiast along with you if you can even if you know what your looking for. It's all been covered on this site and I'm sure you will have done your homework as you can easily buy yourself into a complete nightmare as i did myself.

daniboy123 said

Well if everything else was solid I'd consider it but its doubtful. Have you owned any mk1's before? Where is this car located? Definately worth taking anither enthusiast along with you if you can even if you know what your looking for. It's all been covered on this site and I'm sure you will have done your homework as you can easily buy yourself into a complete nightmare as i did myself.

 yes I have another buts fair to say it's pretty much free from any rot or rust. Fancied a wee project, see if I could get this one looking reasonable and back on the road, but not at any cost, need to be worth at least what I put into it at the end, and although I'm a fabricator / welder to trade I've never done any car repairs and worry this may be beyond my ability! I have seen some of the other posts on sunroof repair subject 😱

2k sounds a lot for a project to me. I'm a bit out of touch though and without seeing it it's difficult to say. Is it far away?

daniboy123 said

2k sounds a lot for a project to me. I'm a bit out of touch though and without seeing it it's difficult to say. Is it far away?

8 hour round trip in the car! 😬🤔

Not round the corner then. Are you going?

daniboy123 said

2k sounds a lot for a project to me. I'm a bit out of touch though and without seeing it it's difficult to say. Is it far away?

Price wise you dont see many complete GTI’s less than 2k though, and ive seen some with a plate tacked onto the roof sell for 4k on ebay this year.  the roof is a big expense and would see a lot of cars scraped.
My roof is shot in my campaign, i have a replacement roof, but awaiting funds now to get it replaced.


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daniboy123 said

Not round the corner then. Are you going?

 yeah I'm gonna 👀

volkswarren said

daniboy123 said

2k sounds a lot for a project to me. I'm a bit out of touch though and without seeing it it's difficult to say. Is it far away?

Price wise you dont see many complete GTI’s less than 2k though, and ive seen some with a plate tacked onto the roof sell for 4k on ebay this year.  the roof is a big expense and would see a lot of cars scraped.
My roof is shot in my campaign, i have a replacement roof, but awaiting funds now to get it replaced.

eBay prices……hmmmmmm I paid 5k for mine and it's spotless, 112k miles 4 owners, campaign spec minus the leather wheel, prices seem to be all over the place 😬


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Let us know how you get on