A bit of advice please. . .

[Renault18]

Now as some of you already know, I own this. My dad was the first owner and by pure luck I managed to track it down back in London back in 2004 and haul it back home to Cheshire. I then spent a hell of a lot of time, effort and money sorting it out. Looks nice. . .

 

 

until you see the roof.

 

All R9s and 11s fitted with the steel sunroof suffered rust problems, as they were moisture traps. Back in 2004 the roof had bubbles of grot all around the sunroof - some of those are now small holes - and the whole area is weak. In the next year or so, I've got to bite the bullet and do something that isn't a bodge.

 

My question - has anybody any experience of what a fekkin' pain in the arse unstitching the welds of a roof could be? I WON'T be the one doing it - I just haven't got the know-how. But this car means a lot to me and I want to put a new (my plan is to remove one from another R11, by cutting through the pillars) roof in. I need to find a R11 as a donor first - that'll be a right laugh and whilst I want the car right, I'll quite happily settle for a standard non sunroof panel. The last Renault items were the ones with the hole in them - they were last available in 2003 - and cost £1400

 

Any advice is welcome - including spottings of R11s (without sunroofs) in scrap yards!

[Owain-328i]

Taking the roof off is rather involved, screen out, rear hatch off, headlining etc etc, not to mention drilling out every single spot weld thats holding the roof panel in place!! It might even need supporting in a jig while this is being done depending on the roof design, most roof skin panels can be seperated from the roof frame though, but still theres plenty of things to think about, lining up the new panel spot on aswell is vital, so make sure ur garage are shit hot...

[Rocket88]

Any chance of some pics of the roof, so we can see how horrendous it is. If do-able, you could rip the whole roof out, and replace by a large piece of smoked perspex [i've seen this done before, and it looked ok] It just depends on how much of a double curvature your roof is.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I wouldnt fancy chopping screen pillars etc. Are the edges of the roof rotten or just round the sunroof panel? I wonder if you can chop he sunroof section out and stitch in a new big flat panel. Any better pics of the damage??

[garethj]

I've welded a new roof section in a VW Beetle when I put a full length fabric sunroof in. Try and find somewhere the welds will be covered, maybe by some edging strip on the roof gutters? That'll be a good place to join it, although it's one hell of a job to do the whole roof.

[Renault18]

I'll try and sort some pics out. I didn't mean cutting the pillars of this car. I thought that it would be easier to remove the roof from a donor car by doing this, then unpick the welds in the comfort of my own garage, to leave just a roof skin.

 

I half wonder whether there might be a way of perhaps doing this and then doubling the replacement skin over what is already there. The gutter area would hide the welds. The screen would obviously need to be out and the hatch removed. I don't know - but something will need doing and I fear ain't going to be cheap.

 

Perhaps one bloody huge Webasto roof (available for the R18) is called for!

[carlo]

I was thinking a nice Webasto might be the most cost effective solution. Be nice too, lots of 70s/80s Renaults had big fabric rooves aswell, didn't they.

[fiatdaft]

its a very time consuming job,here is a crappy pre digital pic of a mirafiori sport i wanted rid of the aftermarket glass roof,you can just about see the number of spotwelds at the front.

 

[TagoraSX]

I have some experience of roofs, all of it bad.

 

Here's the 200 I bought over phone, to say it wasn't as described would be a rather large understatement.

 

 

 

[CIH]

If I were you I'd be asking the Opel Manta fellas. They have exatly the same problem with factory-fit, sliding steel sunroofs. Lots of those guys hae experience of either reskinning or pillar-chopping in a new section (usually non-sunroof!)

 

On the mantas thedrain channel runs back and down the c-pillar. In really bad cases a whole line of rot can develop along the channel.

[nigel bickle]

I'd fit a Webasto/Britax -or suchlike.

Done it 3 times now Triumph 2000, Renault 5, Fiat 125) - using 2ndhand roofs found in breakers. As long as the curvatures about the same -its no real hassle. Period too.

Do it yourself -takes a day -if you exclude headlining.

[mattblack]

I would have thought that chopping out the grot and welding in new metal (in small sections if it's an awkward shape) would be a hell of a lot easier that replacing the whole roof?

[KruJoe]

The problem with that is you'll never stop it warping, bending, buckling, twisting and rippling from the localised heat, so it'll never look right.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

The problem with that is you'll never stop it warping, bending, buckling, twisting and rippling from the localised heat, so it'll never look right.

 

I know it's a cherished car and all that, but why would you care about what the roof looks like? It's not like you have to look at it all day- unless of course the driveway is directly below your bedroom!

[dieselnutjob]

what about a 205/309 sunroof?

they fit on the outside of the roof, in fact they look like an aftermarket thing although they aren't

[barefoot]

What about a bit of a repair to replace all the rusty bits with new metal

and then a proper shitey vinyl roof to cover it all up?

[mattblack]

The problem with that is you'll never stop it warping, bending, buckling, twisting and rippling from the localised heat, so it'll never look right.

 

Not if you take your time and just use widely spaced tacks, gradualy filling in the gaps. Like fitting a new wheelarch.

 

Skim over with puddin' and the job's a good 'un.

[HillmanImp]

Is the whole roof rotten? I cant see anyone getting a roof on right with any kind of ease. A MASSIVE job. It would be easier to simply cur out all the rot and either stitch in a new sunroof (or webasto) or simply get shot of the sunroof altogether.

 

Have you not got anyshots of the roof so we can either say yay or nay?

[TagoraSX]

Is the whole roof rotten? I cant see anyone getting a roof on right with any kind of ease. A MASSIVE job. It would be easier to simply cur out all the rot and either stitch in a new sunroof (or webasto) or simply get shot of the sunroof altogether.

 

It is a MASSIVE and extremely expensive job.

 

There would be no point trying stitch in new metal as you would never get it right and the rust would come though again.

 

A Webasto or vinyl jobbie would be the easiest solution, provided its not rotten around the edges or pillars.

[Renault18]

Have now had a look in the genuine Renault manual. It's dead easy, as the whole process is described in just three easy to follow pages

 

Seriously, I think many of you have confirmed what I was already expecting - it's a bloody nightmare to do. At some point in the future the roof will need a respray as the lacquer has crazed and the paint finish is shit. The real reason for wanting to do something is that there is a line of holes (currently hidden under the wind deflector - it's there for that purpose only!) at the front end of the roof which allow water in.

 

Another solution could be to remove the headlining (I've done this before on 11s) and get somone to sort the holes out, tackle all the other blisters, weld the roof panel in place and then paint it.

I know it's a cherished car and all that, but why would you care about what the roof looks like? It's not like you have to look at it all day- unless of course the driveway is directly below your bedroom!

 

It's the wet arse from sitting in it after it's rained that bothers me more

[RENOMAD]

Have now had a look in the genuine Renault manual. It's dead easy, as the whole process is described in just three easy to follow pages

 

Seriously, I think many of you have confirmed what I was already expecting - it's a bloody nightmare to do. At some point in the future the roof will need a respray as the lacquer has crazed and the paint finish is shit. The real reason for wanting to do something is that there is a line of holes (currently hidden under the wind deflector - it's there for that purpose only!) at the front end of the roof which allow water in.

 

Another solution could be to remove the headlining (I've done this before on 11s) and get somone to sort the holes out, tackle all the other blisters, weld the roof panel in place and then paint it.

I know it's a cherished car and all that, but why would you care about what the roof looks like? It's not like you have to look at it all day- unless of course the driveway is directly below your bedroom!

 

It's the wet arse from sitting in it after it's rained that bothers me more

 

Richard,,,I'll sell you a perfect 11 roof,,,that just happens to have a car attached to it