Sunroof repairs

My sunroof is rotten.  All around the tray and the roof panel itself are corroded.  I have come too far with the car to let this stop the restoration and am looking for any pics/stories of people who have repaired their sunroofs.  I have even heard of some people swapping roofs! 8O .

dani - I have a reasonable sunroof roof

what's the score with roof welding? would it be legal to just 'patch' if you remove the sunroof or do you need to get the whole roof and weld on seams?

I might take you up on the offer of the new roof.  How much would you be wanting for it and do you know of anyone who has done this repair before? I would appreciate it if anyone with more information on this could shed a bit more light please.

what's the score with roof welding? would it be legal to just 'patch' if you remove the sunroof or do you need to get the whole roof and weld on seams?

You can do what you want in that department . Daisy {Darren} has had his roof welded shut and painted looks okay . In fact make that very good .

Any genuine steel roof especially where the tray has rotted is going to be a pig to repair . What ever you decide daniboy good luck with it . Just remember be carefull with welding and the like on the roof its a big expanse of metal and will distort easily . Changing the whole roof is not for the faint harted either , there was a Golf Gti on ebay recently sold as is due to making a mistake trying to change the roof over . It sold for peanuts and would have been good for spares only .

Cheers……

Roof on that one was mint! I got outbid on it when just the roof sold on Ebay originally. I am going to sort the rust out on my roof, but it seems that the easiest way is just to use a good roof skin and sunroof tray. I was advised not to muck about with the pillars unless absolutely necessary.

I will take some pictures of it and if someone can post them up for me (how do you put them up without the need for a link?) people can have a look and tell me what they think.  Still waiting for someone to come forward with any pics of this job, cheers.

Drop the headlining and you will prob be able to patch up the sunroof tray from the underside. It's then just a skim of filler to make good on the topside.
Good luck with it,
Mark

It has also gone on the inside seam around where the drain tubes go to the front of the car.  I`m hoping that we will be able to get in at it to clean it up.  I have a new headlining for the car so the whole thing will be coming off.  I get some pics in the next day or two.

My mate is coming round with his camera to take a few pics tonight, is there anyone that will put them on here for me if i email them?

Dani - I can put them up for you

Sorry about the size of the pictures but they give you a good idea of the state of my sunroof.  Any feedback on restoring this area appreciated.

Hi,
I'd take the roof mechanism out and sand / strip back as much paint and rust as possible from outside and inside (when headlining dropped of course). I'd then fibreglass from underneath and make good with filler on top side. New roof better of course, but you'll prob find some scabs in most factory sunroof roofs. And then there's the hassle of fitting it (!)  If you pull off the door trim holding headlining to body of car, you can peak in and see what it looks like from the underside of the roof.
Good luck with it,
Mark

Fit another better roof - not seen one this bad for a while  8O

I`ve got the proper manual for doing Mk1 bodywork and have the pages for renewing a Mk1 Golf roof on a zip file i can e-mail to you if you like, shows you how to replace the roof  they way they would have at volkswagen…..
Thats about the worst i`ve seen, another option would be to install a webasto full sliding roof - roofing the sunroof completely and you`d be cutting out most of the rust eaten metal that shown in the pics….
If you don`t fancy that a glass sunroof ( the biggest you could fit) may be an option although not the choice of most Mk1 owners - might be a lot easier than replacing the roof skin - its about the most difficult panel to weld on a Mk1 due to the chance of distorting it…..