Roof rain gutters - Guidance restoring rusted rain guttering

A

Archimedes

New Member
Hi,

Is anyone able to offer advice, guidance or tips on the restoration of the rain guttering running along the side of the roof of a P6.

Is the rain gutter an integral part of the base unit or is it spotwelded to it? Are there repair sections available?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated
 
Hi, I have got the same problem with mine. To my knowledge there is no repair panel available but it is usually the case only a section of the guttering will need replacing (so I have been told). A piece of sheet metal can be cut and bent to shape before being seam welded in or alernatively a section which has been removed from another P6 (I know it is a sin thinking of doing such a thing) can be welded in. The greatest down side however is that the roof section will have to be removed which I understand is no easy task! You will find plenty of threads on the forum on how to do this as some of the screws are really hidden, Good luck.

I feel sure if I am wrong or if better advice is available, someone on the forum will advise you.

Jules65
 
I think you've got it right there Jules. Like you say the hard bit is stripping the area down in preparation for the work. The gutter trims I found easiest to remove with a claw style bottle opener wrapped in masking tape to protect the stainless.

I don't know if I would cut the gutters from another car myself since it's a simple section to fabricate and anything on another car is likely to have some corrosion anyway which could make it difficult to weld. Also my personal preference would be to weld in the replacement section with neatly placed short runs or tacks. It would be just as strong and would avoid the hassle of cleaning it up with a grinder afterwards. The join could be sealed with polyurethane sealant to keep the water out.

Bennet
 
Hi Paul the chairman here, i can confirm all this as i have first hand experience in this matter.
Yes the roof must be removed but not untill the inner linning comes out first, this is to get to the "hidden" screws.
Naturally remove the roof trim and you will see the "cant" rail or roof guter as it is normally called. You will see lots of spot welds. The ideal way is to drill all these out and replace with a good section from a donor car, plug welding through the "old" spot welds.
You could go down the road of welding another section onto the old channel, but you will increase the thickness of the steel and maynot get the roof trim back on.
It is a pain of a job to do but will look "correct" andmakes it a very satisfying job. Hope this helps
Regards
Paul ;)
 
Paul again, forgot to add, the gutter is shaped to hold the trim in place so if you fabricate a new section and weld it in the trom wont have anything to grip to.
Bye.
 
Out of interest how do you get the headlining out of a car. I stripped one out a scrap car the other day and I could not see how to get the frame and material out through the any of the four doors. The only way out I could see was by taking out the front or back window. Since I only needed the material to form a new section in the estate I unclipped the material and left the metal frame in the car. (Sorry to the next person who has to remove bits from it)

Is it possible to get it out whole or does something else need to be removed??
 
Okay.
The linning will come out through the door opening but is difficult, best with two people, but it can be done. You have to remove the inner head linning side trims, then if memory serves me correct there are two screws left in the clips at the centre posts, remove these and lower the whole roof, you may also have to pull the wires apart for the roof light.
The roof could be left across the seats but protect it by covering it to avoid it from getting damaged.
Paul
;)
 
I had to replace the rearmost 8-10" of my roof drainage channel on each side recently. It was completely rotten. I had three feet of correct profile steel made up. You will need to take the roof panel off completely. I got the headlining out through the front passenger door opening in one piece --- with the door off. Put the front backrests down as far as possible, and get one or two people to help. Be careful with the headlining material --- it's easily torn.

Do not weld any additional steel over existing concealed parts of the drainage channel where it is welded to the roof perimeter frame, or you will not be able to seat the roof correctly when you put it back on.

You may find some rot on the roof panel edge flange (underside of roof panel) when you remove it, particularly towards the rear.

Make absolutely certain that you seal the roof panel with plenty of semi-setting sealant all around the roof/perimeter frame mating surface prior to refitting or you will be plagued with leakage problems.
 
Many, many thanks to all who gave of their time to reply to this query. Your advice and guidance has been greatly appreciated and has given the neccessary insight into the job.
All I need now is a suitable opportunity to 'raise the roof'
 
I always thought you got the headlining out by taking the roof off first? Perhaps Ian W could comment on that?

Chris York
 
hi,
the headlining has to be dropped first so you can get to the screws along the front and rear of the roof, then lift that. then the headlining will come up through the roof, but it will also with extreme care come through the front door with the door removed.

ian
 
Hi All,

The last time I took a headlining out of a car it came out through a front door.

I didn't remove the door but did remove the seats and it came out ok. This avoids problems getting the door to line up again.

Colin
 
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