Welding an Aftermarket sunroof over.
- Thread starter bditty50
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MahFiVeOh
Founding Member
I haven't had my headliner off but in other cars i have owned the roof had support "beams" i guess you could call them to reinforce the roof.Also it'll probably be pretty tricky to get the roof nice and smooth after the repair work is done.
Notchbck93
New Member
Foxes use 22-24 gauge sheet metal and I have seen sunroofs closed up, but they usually show through after a year of sunshine. You also get a lot of warpage from the heat of tacking here and there, unless you have a buddy with a TIG and use welders putty.
The age of the different metals expands and contracts at different rates.
The age of the different metals expands and contracts at different rates.
LiquidGT
Member
I heard of T-top roof swaps, so it has been done; but that's almost up there with welding the sunroof shut... I wouldn't bother.
IMO I think I would pass on any car with an aftermarket sunroof, I never seen one that still worked and didnt leak. My buddy bought a SN95 with an aftermarket sunroof, he sealed it shut with RTV since he had no idea where to find replacement parts.
I'd swap out the roof completely before welding a sunroof hold closed.
How nice is the car otherwise?
How nice is the car otherwise?
Its alright needs to be restored new paint etc. The interior has tweed seat the dash and console need restored. The car needs some tlc its more of a 50/50 it looks good until you get close. Some trim on the outside etc. It has a clean car fax but, it has splits on both sides of the fender aprons. I took pics of it and think that it had a front end collision.
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Negative. My '89 came with a factory sunroof and the headliner has been gone from that car for ages. The roof support bar you're thinking about goes across right where the dome light is (since that's what the dome light mounts onto). So unless yours is some weird aftermarket hackjob sunroof where they deleted the dome light to do it, then no, there's no hacking of the roof support bar at all. The sunroof is usually mounted ahead of that area (otherwise you wouldn't be able to easily reach back to open/close it while sitting in the front).
Personally, I would just put in another sunroof and be done with it. I had the same problem as you when I bought my '89. Some jackhole broke out the sunroof to get into the car and steal the stereo, so the prior owner had taken a sheet of hacked-up Plexiglas and siliconed the thing in place of the factory sunroof glass. UGH.
Mine's been in there since '05 and hasn't leaked a single drop. Cost me somewhere in the ballpark of $200 from JC Whitney at the time. Doesn't rattle, opens and closes perfectly fine, no extra wind noise, and the added ventilation is pretty nice to have, especially since I don't have A/C in that car. Only downside is out here in AZ, a clear or lightly-tinted sunroof sucks because it lets in that much more light and heats up your interior REALLY quickly when you're not moving, but a layer of some 2% limo tint (which I haven't gotten around to using yet) will help take care of that pretty easily.
MahFiVeOh
Founding Member
Carfax won't always show everything, especially if the PO never reported an accident and fixed the damage themselves. The Carfax on both my '89 and '84 showed no history of accidents, but both of them have beat-up and tweaked radiator supports; the '84 looks like someone ran it into a ditch at some point, and the '89 looks like it actually had a full collision of some kind that was repaired with a new bumper and/or fender(s), but the front-end frame is still slightly tweaked enough that the gap between the fenders and the hood on the left and right sides aren't straight or even no matter which way you adjust the hood (looks like it's tweaked slightly toward the passenger's side).
Except on NON-sunroof cars, the roof support does run right through the middle. It needs to be cut out to install an aftermarket sunroof.
How do you figure that? The roof support is in the same spot on my '84 as it is on my '89, and the '84 has never had a sunroof put in there.
Look where the dome light is - wayyyyy the hell back past the headrests. Again, the dome light is mounted to the roof support, so there's PLENTY of room for a sunroof in there without cutting the roof support.
I would dare to venture a guess the roof support is in the same location on T-top cars, as well - I don't see how or why Ford would be moving that bar all around all over the place from one vehicle to the next just for three different options.
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