How to remove roof ?
Sep 18, 2010 | 03:51 PM
#16
Sorry to revive an old thread but I just successfully (and quite easily) removed a roof panel.
I had to pull a panel from a non-sunroof car to install on my current rally build, an evo WITH a sunroof. There were TWO reasons for this...
1 - Rules state I cannot have a glass sunroof panel in the car. I can either weld a steel panel over the hole (ghetto) or I can swap out a non-sunroof panel.
2 - I have to weld the top of the roll cage anyway, so having the roof out of the way make SOOOO much sense.
So, I still have to pull the sunroof panel out of the racecar, but the first panel is done and boy was it easy. MUCH easier than any video clip of guys grinding and hacking and bending up a panel only to destroy it beyond reuse and replace it with a carbon fiber panel.
I am thinking about writing (and documenting with pictures) the process when I do the EVO. I think it would be MAJOR helpful. But in answer to the OP, here's what I did:
TOOLS you will need:
small flat edge screw driver
medium sized needle nose pliers.
1/2" - 3/4" wide wood chisel
hammer
Drill
SET tool (or small punch)
1/8 Drill Bit
5/16 Drill Bit
3" metal putty knife
Medium Phillips Screw Driver
10mm socket and ratchet
small channel locks or vise grips
curved needle nose or something you can grab plastic clips with and pry them out.
OLD CREDIT CARD YOU WILL NOT WANT TO KEEP (I know weird, but trust me)
1 - remove the gutter trim. This is the trim that runs from the hood, up the a-pillar, over the top and down the c-pillar. Do this with a small flat edge screw driver and tilt the trim toward the center of the car while you simply pop the tabs along the way. Work slowly and it will come out clean without bends or breaking the tabs.
Set them aside in a safe place so they can be reused.
2 - Go back through the newly revealed gutters and SLOWLY pry the tabs along the roof section toward the center line of the car while pulling up on them with a pair of needle nose pliers. These things are brittle, so be careful. If you do toast a few, they are cheap at the dealer.
3 - Go back through the a-pillar and c-pillar cutters and pry up on the locking tabs just enough to release them from the metal pegs. Slide them along the grove and remove them. NOTE the color order, they should go back in the same order.
4 - Remove the front and rear windscreens. You can have this done or buy this tool: to remove them. NOTE - It's HARD to pull the blade through the glass, so if you have a buddy handy, get him to hold the handle straight while you put your full strength behind the pulling handle. Between the two of you, it will go easy.
On the FRONT windscreen, remember those little metal pegs from the trim pieces, they will get in the way. You will also have to hand pull/remove the top rubber trip piece by simply lifting one end and just pull it out of the car. The window guy will put a new piece in when he installs the new glass (as I do NOT recommend you doing it yourself).
On the REAR window, there are plastic tabs that support the bottom edge of the glass, simply pop them out and reuse them (if they survive). If they don't, your window guy will likely have something like them or go to the dealer for more.
5 - Get a smooth, flat wood chisel and gently tap it under the remaining window "goop" seal stuff that remains. You only need go across the top edge of the windscreen opening and down the pillars about 3 - 4 inches to clear what you need to work with. It will leave alot of itself behind, that's fine. That's what the next step is for. NOTE - Don't go to deep, you are just trying to get as much off as easily possible.
6 - Get a twisted wire wheel for a 4" grinder and go to town. Run it along the gutters and front and rear edges take off the paint and the glue seal along the sides. You need to be able to see ALL the spot welds along the front, back and sides. It is not necessary to get every bit of paint off, but you do need to see the spot welds well enough to know where the center is.
NOTE - At the front and rear CORNERS of the panel, the roof panel has tabs that extend a bit farther down onto the a-pillar and c-pillar so go ahead and wire wheel it down a bit and find those edges.
7 - Use a SET (drift pin or spring loaded drill set) and mark the centers of every spot weld.
8 - Use your 1/8 drill bit, (the size is up to you but I recommend nothing larger than a pencil lead) and drill a pilot hole into every SET you made.
8 - Get the 5/16 drill bit (or the size of the biggest spot weld) and drill through the top later of steel (or aluminum) all the way around the roof panel. NOTE - There are 4 hooked tabs will COME OFF as you drill out the spot welds, You will see them, make note of them as they will spin on the drill bit when they do. BE READY for them.
9 - When the entire roof panel is drilled out, pick up your 3 inch putty knife and hammer and move to the inside.
10 - Remove the A, B, C pillar panels from inside the car. Pull them out.
11 - Remove the sun visors, interior lights (don't forget the plug) and oh $#@%$% handles. They are all Phillips but also 10mm for the handles. NOTE - the clips that hold the sun visors from swinging are TOUGH to get out, but they are a snap in design.
12 - Remove the headliner panel. (If you are doing a sunroof panel, remove that now, instructions not included here).
13 - At the rear, remove the two 10mm nuts holding the rear antenna on. Unplug it and pull it out from outside.
14 - Take a look along the inside of the roof panel. All along the edges (where you drilled) there are tabs that coincide with the spot weld areas. You should see the holes where your pilot holes were drilled (or bigger if you went all the way through with the 5/16 bit.
There will also be several areas along the the side where those tabs are that have an extra long tab that is rounded and bent up toward the roof top. These need to be bend downward to give you access the panel better.
DO NOT PRY against the roof, use your small channels or vise grips to carefully and gently bend them down. You will be sliding the putty knife in above them so not too far, but far enough only.
15 - Go all along the sides, starting from the front, and tap the putty knife into the tiny space between the outer panel and the side frame rails. There's nothing to damage here, so don't be to timid, but also don't go after it like goliath. NOTE - It will take a bit to pop the panel loose so only go the width of the blade at a time and work down the entire side then move to the other.
Once you have gone down both sides, move on to the next step, DO NOT TRY TO PRY THE PANEL APART AT THIS TIME.
NOTE - the two rails that go across the mid section of the roof (from side to side) CAN go with the panel of you choose. Just be sure you have drilled all the way through those welds and you will not have to worry about breaking the glue seal bind on those rails.
16 - Get back out of the car and work your way along the front and rear edges (slightly up and underneath the edges) and separate the glue, also by moving along, blade width at a time and them gently priing UP on the handle (NOT driving the blade into the roof panel).
Move back into the car and pry the sides in the same manner.
PAY ATTENTION to any spot welds that maybe have been missed or might be hanging on a bit. If they are not back, simply drive the putty knife through the offending material and move on. Otherwise, get the drill back out and hog that hole.
When ALL four edges are LOOSE, put the tools away and GET OUT THE CREDIT CARD!
17 - The front and rear inner roof rails are glued on the front and back edges. You will NOT get the roof panel off without bending it UNLESS you separate that glue. This is where the credit car comes in. It is plastic, pliable and will not crease the roof panel from the inside like your putty knife will, so DON'T USE THE PUTTY KNIFE. Use the credit card.
From inside the car, simply start at one side and "saw" the credit card between the beam and the roof panel. It should cut through VERY easily and cleanly. Do the rear as well.
When this is done, you should be done.
NOTE, gently push up on the roof panel to look for hangups or left over welds. DON'T LIFT IT OUT YET.
18 - Get a buddy. The panel is very flimsy when not welded in place. Be careful or you will twist and crease it.
Clean it up, paint it if necessary, whatever you are going to do and reinstall in reverse order WITH the exception that you will have to put back all the spot welds and glue and sealer. If you are going to install a Carbon Fiber panel, follow those instruction or if you are doing aluminum, Pop rivets may be in order.
That's it. As I said, I will take tons of pics when I bull the racecar's roof panel and put images with these instructions. I will then move the entire instruction process, with those pics, to a new thread.
Hope that helps!!!
Scott
I had to pull a panel from a non-sunroof car to install on my current rally build, an evo WITH a sunroof. There were TWO reasons for this...
1 - Rules state I cannot have a glass sunroof panel in the car. I can either weld a steel panel over the hole (ghetto) or I can swap out a non-sunroof panel.
2 - I have to weld the top of the roll cage anyway, so having the roof out of the way make SOOOO much sense.
So, I still have to pull the sunroof panel out of the racecar, but the first panel is done and boy was it easy. MUCH easier than any video clip of guys grinding and hacking and bending up a panel only to destroy it beyond reuse and replace it with a carbon fiber panel.
I am thinking about writing (and documenting with pictures) the process when I do the EVO. I think it would be MAJOR helpful. But in answer to the OP, here's what I did:
TOOLS you will need:
small flat edge screw driver
medium sized needle nose pliers.
1/2" - 3/4" wide wood chisel
hammer
Drill
SET tool (or small punch)
1/8 Drill Bit
5/16 Drill Bit
3" metal putty knife
Medium Phillips Screw Driver
10mm socket and ratchet
small channel locks or vise grips
curved needle nose or something you can grab plastic clips with and pry them out.
OLD CREDIT CARD YOU WILL NOT WANT TO KEEP (I know weird, but trust me)
1 - remove the gutter trim. This is the trim that runs from the hood, up the a-pillar, over the top and down the c-pillar. Do this with a small flat edge screw driver and tilt the trim toward the center of the car while you simply pop the tabs along the way. Work slowly and it will come out clean without bends or breaking the tabs.
Set them aside in a safe place so they can be reused.
2 - Go back through the newly revealed gutters and SLOWLY pry the tabs along the roof section toward the center line of the car while pulling up on them with a pair of needle nose pliers. These things are brittle, so be careful. If you do toast a few, they are cheap at the dealer.
3 - Go back through the a-pillar and c-pillar cutters and pry up on the locking tabs just enough to release them from the metal pegs. Slide them along the grove and remove them. NOTE the color order, they should go back in the same order.
4 - Remove the front and rear windscreens. You can have this done or buy this tool: to remove them. NOTE - It's HARD to pull the blade through the glass, so if you have a buddy handy, get him to hold the handle straight while you put your full strength behind the pulling handle. Between the two of you, it will go easy.
On the FRONT windscreen, remember those little metal pegs from the trim pieces, they will get in the way. You will also have to hand pull/remove the top rubber trip piece by simply lifting one end and just pull it out of the car. The window guy will put a new piece in when he installs the new glass (as I do NOT recommend you doing it yourself).
On the REAR window, there are plastic tabs that support the bottom edge of the glass, simply pop them out and reuse them (if they survive). If they don't, your window guy will likely have something like them or go to the dealer for more.
5 - Get a smooth, flat wood chisel and gently tap it under the remaining window "goop" seal stuff that remains. You only need go across the top edge of the windscreen opening and down the pillars about 3 - 4 inches to clear what you need to work with. It will leave alot of itself behind, that's fine. That's what the next step is for. NOTE - Don't go to deep, you are just trying to get as much off as easily possible.
6 - Get a twisted wire wheel for a 4" grinder and go to town. Run it along the gutters and front and rear edges take off the paint and the glue seal along the sides. You need to be able to see ALL the spot welds along the front, back and sides. It is not necessary to get every bit of paint off, but you do need to see the spot welds well enough to know where the center is.
NOTE - At the front and rear CORNERS of the panel, the roof panel has tabs that extend a bit farther down onto the a-pillar and c-pillar so go ahead and wire wheel it down a bit and find those edges.
7 - Use a SET (drift pin or spring loaded drill set) and mark the centers of every spot weld.
8 - Use your 1/8 drill bit, (the size is up to you but I recommend nothing larger than a pencil lead) and drill a pilot hole into every SET you made.
8 - Get the 5/16 drill bit (or the size of the biggest spot weld) and drill through the top later of steel (or aluminum) all the way around the roof panel. NOTE - There are 4 hooked tabs will COME OFF as you drill out the spot welds, You will see them, make note of them as they will spin on the drill bit when they do. BE READY for them.
9 - When the entire roof panel is drilled out, pick up your 3 inch putty knife and hammer and move to the inside.
10 - Remove the A, B, C pillar panels from inside the car. Pull them out.
11 - Remove the sun visors, interior lights (don't forget the plug) and oh $#@%$% handles. They are all Phillips but also 10mm for the handles. NOTE - the clips that hold the sun visors from swinging are TOUGH to get out, but they are a snap in design.
12 - Remove the headliner panel. (If you are doing a sunroof panel, remove that now, instructions not included here).
13 - At the rear, remove the two 10mm nuts holding the rear antenna on. Unplug it and pull it out from outside.
14 - Take a look along the inside of the roof panel. All along the edges (where you drilled) there are tabs that coincide with the spot weld areas. You should see the holes where your pilot holes were drilled (or bigger if you went all the way through with the 5/16 bit.
There will also be several areas along the the side where those tabs are that have an extra long tab that is rounded and bent up toward the roof top. These need to be bend downward to give you access the panel better.
DO NOT PRY against the roof, use your small channels or vise grips to carefully and gently bend them down. You will be sliding the putty knife in above them so not too far, but far enough only.
15 - Go all along the sides, starting from the front, and tap the putty knife into the tiny space between the outer panel and the side frame rails. There's nothing to damage here, so don't be to timid, but also don't go after it like goliath. NOTE - It will take a bit to pop the panel loose so only go the width of the blade at a time and work down the entire side then move to the other.
Once you have gone down both sides, move on to the next step, DO NOT TRY TO PRY THE PANEL APART AT THIS TIME.
NOTE - the two rails that go across the mid section of the roof (from side to side) CAN go with the panel of you choose. Just be sure you have drilled all the way through those welds and you will not have to worry about breaking the glue seal bind on those rails.
16 - Get back out of the car and work your way along the front and rear edges (slightly up and underneath the edges) and separate the glue, also by moving along, blade width at a time and them gently priing UP on the handle (NOT driving the blade into the roof panel).
Move back into the car and pry the sides in the same manner.
PAY ATTENTION to any spot welds that maybe have been missed or might be hanging on a bit. If they are not back, simply drive the putty knife through the offending material and move on. Otherwise, get the drill back out and hog that hole.
When ALL four edges are LOOSE, put the tools away and GET OUT THE CREDIT CARD!
17 - The front and rear inner roof rails are glued on the front and back edges. You will NOT get the roof panel off without bending it UNLESS you separate that glue. This is where the credit car comes in. It is plastic, pliable and will not crease the roof panel from the inside like your putty knife will, so DON'T USE THE PUTTY KNIFE. Use the credit card.
From inside the car, simply start at one side and "saw" the credit card between the beam and the roof panel. It should cut through VERY easily and cleanly. Do the rear as well.
When this is done, you should be done.
NOTE, gently push up on the roof panel to look for hangups or left over welds. DON'T LIFT IT OUT YET.
18 - Get a buddy. The panel is very flimsy when not welded in place. Be careful or you will twist and crease it.
Clean it up, paint it if necessary, whatever you are going to do and reinstall in reverse order WITH the exception that you will have to put back all the spot welds and glue and sealer. If you are going to install a Carbon Fiber panel, follow those instruction or if you are doing aluminum, Pop rivets may be in order.
That's it. As I said, I will take tons of pics when I bull the racecar's roof panel and put images with these instructions. I will then move the entire instruction process, with those pics, to a new thread.
Hope that helps!!!
Scott
The following users liked this post:
Babyjaez (Jan 26, 2022)
