Hi there, ive been searching around looking for information on how to replace the roof skin on my mk1 golf. I havent found any detailed information as yet, only post mentioning bonding carbon skins on and others talking about chopping the roof off at the pillars. Im looking for information or a guide on how to remove the skin from the gutter channels which is where i believe they were attached originally as i dont fancy chopping through the pillars, which i believe are double skinned anyway?. I also read that there was a VW manual available containing information on how to do this job and a few members had spoken about it and how it would be good to put up in an archive. I cant seem to find it anywhere so i was hopeing a few kind members might be able to come forward and point me in the right dircetion .
All the ones I have seen chopped have also been at the pillers but never seen the job done think your right about doing the job as it was orginally made, drilling out any of the spot welds and working backwards - I'd pick the brains of every bodyshop guy I knew and everyone any mates would know and still worry about doing it! it's one thing I'd like to do to one of mine
dont know if these manuals are the real thing but looking at the second link they look factory? http://www.emanualonline.com/Cars/Volkswagen.htm?osCsid=348bdae2b4053a96a7ade43e66396261 http://volkswagen.workshop-manuals.com/golf-mk1/index.php?id=79
I think its definately worth finding out how its done properly. I doubt ill be tackling it myself as im no professional and whilst id love to have a go i dont have the right environment to do it in as the car is just parked on a driveway. Id not want to risk getting too much moisture in there once the old skin was out of the way. The bodyshop im taking it to might well know how its done propely and ill speak to them about it soon but id auite like to find this elusive guide as to how it was done by VW. Thanks for the links to the e manuals, i wonder if they contain information on a skin replacement. I know the manual that was spoken about on this forum was a hard copy and id really like to find out the name of it. Ive posted in the original thread where i first saw it mentioned so hopefully some information will come to light as its definately something that needs to be in the archive, something that will save a few mk1`s that have the dreaded sunroof rot.
We've done a few roof skin replacements on cars at work like an Opel ascona and an rx3,we cut the main part of the roof off with a cutting disk leaving the inside parts of the roof still on the car,also leaving a small amount of the roof in the gutters ect,drill the spot welds front and rear then using a solid grinding disk grind through the the remaining spot welds down both sides being careful not to go too far,it's probably one of the easier ways to do it
a few more links http://www.vw-one.co.uk/sunroof.htm http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f13/mk1-golf-project-68816-3.html http://www.dubforce.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=16117
Thanks once again for the links and the information. My only question is has anybody actually removed it from the gutter ie unfolded the gutter and drilled it out rather than chopping it off all the way along the length of the car which to me doesnt seem like the ideal method. Surely having to reweld such a long cut is asking for trouble if its possible to replace it where it was originally spot welded in the roof gutter? This would avoid the risk of distorting it and then having to use a skim of filler the length of both sides of the new skin.
That sounds like utter ball ache and maybe doesn't get you away from further work to neaten up the job compared to cut and weld?
It does sound like utter ball ache but if its possible then i dont see why a professional panel beater couldnt do it. Id rather do it that way than slice the roof if its possible but ill have to find out if its actually possible. The more im looking into it i dont think it is feasible. I havent heard from one person who can tell me exactly how it would be done the way i want to do it. The closest ive got is someone saying it needs to be "picked" out of the gutter. Not much help really.
I *think* that Jim cut the old roof skin off his shell, inside the gutter lip and at one point I think I saw a dremel being waved around near it to do a very neat but slow job. I think the new one was put on by the bodyshop, after they'd installed the cage, so I didn't see it again till the shell was finished. Edit... I meant on this old thread. http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?173416-Replacing-Roof-on-a-MK1 Was reading on my phone and didn't realise you'd started a new one lol
To be fair we do have a pretty decent spot welder to re do the welds down the gutters reducing distortion,I wouldn't even attempt it with a normal mig welder down the sides
So no-one has been involved with unpicked the skin from the gutter then? Gaz when you say you have been involved with a few roof skins, have you been doing them yourself or other people in the bodyshop. Im just hopeing someone will come forward and say yes i know its been done this way and this is the best way to do it. So far everyone is either saying they have chopped the roof off and welded it along its length or that they know someone who has done it but not sure how.
I have been closely involved with it as I do the paint and body,the fabricators are the ones that do it,and it is pretty much 'unpick' in the gutters except we use grinders to remove any remnants of the roof skin as it saves sooo much time!
Thanks again for your input, is there any way you could find out how they actually "unpick" the gutter? As far as i can tell its the roof gutter folded over the roof skin, so the unpicking would involve unfolded the gutter lip back, allowing you access to the roof skin underneath. Id really like to know what tools/techniques are used to minimise damage to the gutter when folding it back. Thanks for the link by the way, i take it thats where you work Gaz? some great work going on there
Yes mate,and thanks,as it goes I'm working on a mk1 at the mo!,had a good look round the roof today,front and rear look piece of p#ss,the gutters look a bit of a challenge but if it was me I'd cut as much roof off to start with then you can kind of stand in the car to get a better angle on the gutters
Also didn't realise till today that it is folded round sorry,the ascona ones are spot welded into the gutters,think it would be a case of using a chisel/drift and kind of chase it along and tip it back,il see what the lads think tomorrow,I no the whole job seems a bit daunting but it really isn't that hard,also it may be best to get your head round it on the doner roof,that way if you wreck the gutter rails on that it doesn't matter
Yes i think thats definately the best approach, i look forward to your feedback on how the skin can be extracted from them, i imagine the panel beaters where your working will have done a fair few in their time. As i see it, the gutter folds over the roof skin, meaning that the fold needs to be prised back. Im away with work so i cant go and look at the car to work out if the spot welds are done after the gutter is folded over the roof skin or before. If its after then the spot welds would need to be drilled out first and the gutter unpicked second and vice versa. Would be great to hear some feedback from those that have actually done this part of the job.
Spoke with stu one of our metal work guys today,I totally forgot a guy came down a while back asking about doing a roof swap on a mk1!,stu was talking about either going for the tip the gutter back approach or (which sounds better to me) cut into the gutter leaving a small amount of roof still there,grind totally thru the other gutter on your new roof and using high strength panel bond,bond it into the gutters on the car leaving your original gutters untouched,and spot weld front and rear,most car manufacturers use this approach on roofs these days
Thanks Gaz, really appreciate the feedback. I think the cut down close to the gutter approach has been adopted widely by the people who i have seen tackle this job on a mk1. I think i can picture what you mean, sitting the new roof on top of a small part of the old one left at the gutters and not touching the original gutters. My problem is there is rust in the gutters too so it leaves me with no choice other than unfolding them. Like you say having a go on the new roof would give a good idea of what to expect and it would give you chance to perfect a technique of unfolding them with minimal damage. If your panel beaters were to unfold the gutters, what tools would they use?
No probs!,Myself I think I would use a small pry bar to start it off,Ive got one and its the same size as a medium screwdriver,the we were talking about having a go with a small drift to try and chase it along,or a blunt chisel that way minimising tearing the metal,if your lucky the prying tool may work all the way down?,is the rust really that bad?,will a wire wheel and some rust killer not sort it?
