Some of you may remember this woeful 70's dealer modification on my car. Some of you may have the same. Hint: its on my roof.

Well...


Pop.

Cut.



Fit.

Paste.


Besides the bumps from the tack welds, the panel is perfectly flush with the rest of the roofline. Those will be ground down and smoothed once I make some more.

Thank you Hobart, thank you Eastwood flanging tool, and most of all thank you donor '73.

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-Chris

looks great man! yeah i actually like my sunroof. but then again i don't have the dual design like you did.

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Mine leaked, no new seals available, made whistling sounds at highway speeds, and didn't match the contours of the body. It had to go.

The flanging tool also made the roof a little stiffer, an added bonus. Feels very tight.


But now I have to paint again...

Also, MAYHEM!!!

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-Chris

awesome i look forward to seeing it in person when it's finished.

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

When its finished....


That is a good question...

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-Chris

Sweet. So glad you decided against swapping the entire roof over.

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." -Aesop

Me too. the edges were just too rusted to bother. I guess this way if I get in a bind this year I won't have to repaint and weatherstrip the ENTIRE car. Instead, maybe spot paint will get me through the summer and I can do a full spray redux later. We'll see. The more projects I take on, the more I find to do. I'm even going to have to make a custom pickup for the oil pan, since none of the stock ones will fit.

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-Chris

Yeah ~ I remember the day you took the donor roof off the '73 at AJ's, and laid it on the lawn. I have a picture of it somewhere. I tried to picture how you intended to swap it over without messing up the windscreen and side window alignment. Glad you did it this way.

This looks like a very professional job, altho you make it sound as if it was your first attempt. Really good work!

See ~ if you ever decide against saving lives for a living, you've got a profession waiting in Z rehab.

Q: Do you have a useable headliner to fit into this, now?

Frank

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1970 240Z

Thanks for the kind words, Frank!

Yep, its the first time I've done this. I used the engine stand and the fenders to both practice and build up my gumption to undertake the roof. I researched a few other jobs that others did by either butt-welding the new roof plug in or swapping the entire roof at the columns. I was originally going to do the whole roof thing, but the edges of the donor were a bit too rusty. Someone suggested using an Eastwood flanging tool ($30 ebay, its like a set of vice grips with a flat-ish jaw)) to get the best of both worlds, so I tried that. I found it works perfectly, and the best part was that it didn't warp and the roof now feels more solid than it ever was, on either car.

The brown headliner stock to my car is trash. Not only because of the giant hole in it cut by the sunroof installer, but also from the tears I made in removing it. I was able to take the old black roof liner out of the donor, and besides a small cut in the middle (not from me) its entirely reusable. I can probably make that disappear with a tiny drop of glue. I might have to find a replacement for the foam though. Before installing it I'm going to lay down some of the acoustic barrier mat to make the car a little quieter in the cabin; according to others it takes out a load of unwanted road noise.

I might keep car restoration as a side job, but not my main line of work. Don't know if I'll be taking any customers anytime soon. Right now my labor costs are pretty high, as I only work for the highest quality beer: Coors Light.

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-Chris

Well, thank goodness you don't demand Corona Gold! I know a guy who won't let you in his garage unless you come prepared with some as barter.

I agree the more places you can find to insulate the S30 cabin, the nicer your ride will be.

Out of curiosity, how did you cut the piece out of the donor, and how did you ensure it was a straight cut?

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1970 240Z

1: I chopped out a big piece from the roof near the seams, just enough so it included the two front corners and went into the drip rails when I laid it on my car.

2: I then sat inside the cabin and marked the bottom of the roof with a scribe to get the outline.

3: I grabbed the flanging tool and crimped a flange all the way around the "circumference" of the sunroof hole, making sure it bent the metal at the edge down in relation to the rest of the roof, creating a step.

4: Took a few measurements of the flange to see how far it went (the side flanges were thinner due to lack of space). The side "headliner" beams blocked the bottom of the tool so I couldn't get it in as far as I wanted.

5: Next, I made a second cut, with a little room for error, around the new line so that the panel would sit flush inside the flange. Then I test fitted it.

6: Test fitted it a couple more times and trimmed as needed. Put a large fiberglass welding blanket inside the car to prevent wayward molten metal from burning things. That's what you see sticking out of the top of the driver side door/window.

7: Made sure all the surfaces to be welded were clean, bare metal and then carefully tacked at each side and corner, alternating to different sides of the car as I tacked to prevent warping. I had to reposition my ladder and welding cart... a lot.

8: I haven't completed this yet, which is tacking until all the spaces currently between my current tacks are filled. Then I get to grind it down completely flush and use a tiny amount of filler, most likely short strand marine grade fiberglass bondo (waterproof).

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-Chris

Is that roof from the car I donated? I'm kinda curious to see where the parts of that car are ending up....

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

I dunno, MadLarkin brought the shell to Airjockie's, where frame rust deemed it unworthy of a restoration. We then swarmed the car like ants, and everything useful was removed... almost... I still wish I had thought to cut out the tail panel along with the area above and below it.

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-Chris

Darn fine work!
(If you've still got the sunroof maybe Airjockie could install it in the bottom of his kayak...)

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240zgoldie.blogspot.com