welding up sunroof hole...how i went..

[leso]

OK guys and girls...I decided to piss off the sunroof in my ra23...having read a previous thread re this subject, i was a bit doubtful of the result i may achieve. My welding skills would be somewhere between home handyman and can weld a bit..!!! My welder is a 15amp mig ( with gas ) and i use the smallest wire i can buy.

Started by removing the sunroof... ...and then making a template from the hole. Went to the parts car and cut out the corosponding part of the roof. Its a real bitch to hold that piece in place buy yourself...the next 2 pics should explain how i got around this prob.



then placed few tacks around to hold it in...


as i went i just added more and more tacks...


then came the first problem........

[30psi 4agte]

Shit looks the goods so far ! Bet it was a pain in the arse to cut the steel out so precisely !!!


So what was the first prob

[leso]

........noticed that it all wasnt lining up as it should..


anyway a bit of pushing and it kinda went ok




The result looks better in the pics...as the new piece sat well until i pushed down on it..it popped down..but popped back into place pretty easy... Think they call this the oil can effect..the next photo shows how it tried to heat some spots by welding...and then cool them down with a wet rag..aiming to shrink the metal....FAILURE...hehe


Ended up just using the dolly and hammer...and a rubber mallet...and got it pretty close to good.

The other thing you may notice in the last pic is some pieces of 2mm flat steel stuck to the roof with super strength construction adhesive..( liquid nails )...DO THIS it worked a treat... unsure how long it will last but all good for the moment...

[leso]

as it went along ...it's looking ok...so far




cant remember where i heard this quote from...but it's my motto now...

IT AINT A FORMULA 1..... or a show car for that matter...only time and some paint will tell if i am happy with the result...

cheers for now ...leso

[Dale]

Nice work.. is that bog just a light skim? Be sure to put something on the underside of the welds to protect it from rust!

[leso]

Dale,
The amount of bog that remained ended up being very small...however due to my poor application skills ...it was add and sand...add and sand...took a whole fukn day

btw...cold gal ftw...

Leso

[Dale]

Ah there's always a lot of adding and sanding with bog to get it right (with something covering a larger area anyway).

Will be good to see how it turns out once you get the paint on there

[30psi 4agte]

M8 i must say ..... I am impressed as it is no easy task even for the pro's


Just goes to show that the motto that i always stand by holds true.

IF YOU WANT A JOB DONE PROPERLY ... DO IT YOURSELF !

[cri_ag]

top effort dude! looks good.

[takai]

And this is how you do it on a race car when you dont have enough time:

Aka, how not to do it if you really care.

Its a 1mm lip around the main sections using 1mm alloy strips, and then with the roof section laid on top of that lip. The whole shebang is being held in place by rivets, sikaflex, spot welds and bog...
Soon i will take that out and then clean up the hole again (you are lucky that your sunroof was put in by someone who can cut straight with a jigsaw) and put a new panel in in the same way you have.

Also if you are worried about the 2mm sheet coming out and braining you then just drill 4x3mm holes and spot weld the plate in...

[LeeRoy]

Just out of curiousity if you have another parts car why didnt you just cut the whole roof panel out ie pillar to pillar and put that in. I cant imagine it being any harder?

Anyways, very impressed

- LeeRoy

[hi-ace]

Very impressive, top marks for a top job (so far) good luck with the rest of it. I will be keeping an eye on this one for the end results.
I always like to see people have a go them self. +for effort.

[leso]

thanks for all the positive comments guys... this site and it's members continue to provide support and inspiration...

LeeRoy...the rear part of roof on the parts car was full of cancer...

cheers Leso

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

well done leso, impressive work!

would it be easier to sqaure out the sunroof hole so a square edged sheet of steel could be used?

[MR 1JZ]

damn nice effort there mate...very neat...and very impressive!