What's the best way to repair a car roof after removing a sun roof?

Question

6 months back I had a sunroof removed & the roof repaired, but the filler over the patch in the centre of the roof has now cracked, with a few adjacent cracks running off the sides of the main crack. The crack is approx 45cm long. Before I let the guy who done the body work attempt another repair, I'd like to know how it should be done to ensure it doesn't crack again.

Answer 1

Your best repair for this situation is to have the roof panel replaced, you did not say what kind of car it is, If its a small compact car, the repair may not be that bad to try again, but if the roof panel is good size, then all the welding may create more trouble then it's worth. the roof is not the structural part of the car, it's the inner reinforcements and the glass, so if you are worried about  changing the roof, it won't make your car weak, I would take it to a good bodyshop for this repair

Answer 2

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to auto repair. Last year I had an accident with my Toyota Camry and I wasn't sure how to fix them. I tried to search the web for help, but the procedures were too difficult for my skills. I ended up going to the dealship for my repairs. The dealership tends to charge more than mom and pop repair shops, but they've seen all sorts of situations (auto insurance problems, repair warranty issues, etc) and they seem to always find a way to help me. Maybe you can try calling auto repair shops in your area to see if they can help you. http://www.autorepairshoplocator.com

Answer 3

Steel and welding my friend. It's the only sure way.

The roof of a vehicle is integral to it's structure, which is why convertibles weigh more than hard tops. They are heavily re-inforced in other places to prevent the car from folding in half.

Your roof probably has some stress which cracked the bondo (bondo sucks)

The only sure way, is to have a properly shaped piece of steel to take the place of the old sunroof. Weld that sucker in GOOD.

That's how i'd go about it anyway...  

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EDIT: A good TIn Banger (metal worker) can bang you out a nice piece of a steel and weld it in without rippling the rest of the roof. IF it's welded in well, the bondo and bodywork after the fact will not break away.

And LARRY H...   car windows are structural?....  Interesting theory.

So driving your car with all the windows rolled down would make it weaker?...   Is that why WRC Rally cars have plexiglass and rivets?.. Those woven mesh things in race cars aren't really to keep the driver from getting tossed or hit with debris?.. they're structural?!!..  WOW!

Anyway, this car either sits on a chassis or it has a uni-body. in either case.. the ROOF is STRUCTURAL!

Go chop the roof off your car, pick up a car-load of friends and drive around every night for a week. Your car will look like a banana by dinner on Friday. The stress of daily driving and crappy body work are to blame here.

Answer 4

put a whole new turret on or put the sun roof back in.