roof panel change

boxpleat

New Member
Hello chaps,
Has any of you changed a roof panel? I'd like to know what's
involved. I've heard they unbolt, but there's no mention of
this in the Haynes manual.
 
Hello Boxpleat,
If you do a search in this section from the beginning, look at page five and "raising the roof" you will see the answers that you need. Hope this helps.
Regards, John.
 
Haynes, schmaynes!


The Rover repair operations manual gives detailed instructions of how to change the roof panel. I cannot believe how much information this book has in it!
 
The roof does indeed unbolt, I found that after putting an air-saw half way across mine !

You need to remove the roof lining first, then there are about 20+ bolts all the way round, plus it is sealed on with a black "mastic" type substance.

Richard
 
Boxpelat,

The roof swap is one of the easiest jobs on the p6.

There are only 20 odd screw holding it in place. I removed one from a car a while back and it took less than 10 minutes, I did use a battery drill and screw bit for the job though.

Any other car you would be right to shy away but the p6 is simply. I am swaping mine for an undented vinyl one. The spares guys usually have a few which saves you the effort of covering your own and looks better than painting black.

Arthuy
 
You big baby!! If you do decide to go for it i've got a hot tip for removing the gutter trims: A claw style bottle opener with some cloth and masking tape wrapped round it. Ease the bottom part of the trim away gradually working along the length several times. Should come off undamaged.

Can't remember were I got this tip from so apoligies if i'm repeating something i've read on this message board!
 
Hello BBLongman
I don't want to start a job I don't think I've got the confidence to finish. I don't want to end up with a p6 cabrio
or with water peeing in through the roof panel, so re-painting
still seems my safest bet. Sorry if you think I'm being a big
baby, but that's just the way it is.
Are there still people around who can supply and fit vinyl
roof kits ?
 
Sorry boxpleat didn't mean to upset you. Just meant to be bit of good humoured cajoling. There are plenty of suppliers and trimmers who will fit a vinyl roof for you but the roof panel will still have to be removed to do it properly as the edges will have to be tucked under. One plus point about removing the roof is that you'll be able to do attended to any corrosion in the roof rails before it gets too advanced.
 
Hello BBLongman
That's ok mate. I'll explain what I'm up to. I bought a tobacco
leaf brown v8 about a month ago, course, the first thing you
do is get the t cut and autoglym out and give it a good going over. Well, it's ended up like a checkerboard, where panels have been added over the years, the paint miss-match is pretty shocking. I've now bought a second p6 in red with good panels and paint, so I'm going to swap the lot over. The
only problem is I'm going to end up with a red p6 with a delightful tobacco roof !
Maybe I'm alone on this one, but I think a shiny black roof will look nice.
 
I think your right. I always think the painted roofs look better then the vinyl trimmed ones anyway. Good luck with the job and I certainly appreciate your desire not carry out more dismantling then neccessary. One day your idly poking at some rust with a screwdriver and before you know it the entire car is littered around the house in cardboard boxes!!
 
Hi,

On the subject of roofs, I have a complete 'Huntsman' Webasto roof to swap into my car.

The trouble is that the spare roof was cut off a scrap car together with bits of the base unit's roof-rail. When I have removed these, I'm left with a 'sandwich' of outer roof, wooden spacers & headlining, all screwed & bonded together.

How can I get this into my car without splitting it up? The screw heads of a few screws (fastening the outer panel to the wooden spacers) have sheared off & I don't want to do any more damage unless I have to. It seems to me that the headlining will not flex enough to get the assembly into my car's roof space without dismantling the webasto roof further.

Problems..problems...

Phil Robson (Hull & E Yorks RO)
 
Hi Phil,

It sounds like the roof you have has been cut at the top of the pillars. unless you cut and weld this on to the car it will never fit.

Take your time and unscrew the lining if possible. I can see the problem you have with the wood spacer. Did you see the practical classics the month before last ( I think ) they fitted one to a princess would be worth a look just to see how they put it together.

You may need to use exctactor to get the screws out but it they are glued together I would use a low powered hair dryer. It is hot enough to soften the glue in most cases but shuldn't do much damage to the vinyl.

If you are brave Just cut the lining around the hole and use your current one to make a new lining, which might just be easier in the long run.

Arthuy.
 
Thanks Arthuy,

The roof was indeed cut off near the top of the pillars of the scrap car, but I have removed this metal by cutting it into sections & taking it out.

I now have the roof panel, the narrower 'hole' below it (the wooden bits), then the headlining which is almost as wide as the roof. It's this that I can't flex enough to get it below my car's roof frame. I might try harder - if I damage it I'll just have to do it the long way round!

Phil.
 
Can anyone tell me the difference between a webasto roof
and a huntsman ? It was a question asked of me by a mate
at work ( also a p6 enthusiast ).

Boxpleat
 
Hi Boxpleat,

This is an easy one.

Webasto roofs are big sunroofs which fold back similar to the old citreon 2cv's, mini, etc.

There are other companies that make this type of sun roof but Webasto are the most famous.

huntsman roofs are brown vinyl covered ones, like the black ones but brown. can't remember if they are vinyl or fabric covered but you would know one to see it.

fancy names really.

Arthuy
 
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