Vinyl Roof Repair/Replacement

dmcsweeney

dmcsweeney

Active Member
My Almond/Huntsman 3500S has a damaged vinyl roof and I'd like some advice on how to repair it. It seems that just before i bought the car it was stored in a building which caught fire. Plastic, either from the roof or some sort of cover melted and dripped onto the car. The previous owner managed to remove most of the plastic from the paint and i replaced all the damage door to glass and rear window to deck panel seals. The only remaining damage is to the vinyl roof. The plastic melted through to bare metal in places and scorched and discoloured the vinyl in others. Is there a product available that could fill the holes and recolour the vinyl. I would also consider chaning the colour to black as i think it suites the almont paint better. If not where can i buy new vinyl and glue (i live in Ireland but could have it shipped). I've also considered swapping a complete roof and side panels from a scrapped car, is this viable. The car is in good nick but not perfect, and to be honest i'll probably sell it at some point to concentrate on my other cars so i'm not interested in spending huge amounts of money.
Cheers,
Dave.
 
Easiest way by far is to bolt another roof on.

I don't think that you can get vinyl in that size now so have to have joins on the sides and bonding vinyl is an art form in itself.

Best of luck with it

Richard
 
Whichever route you go you're going to need to take the roof panel off the car. This isn't as scary as it sounds, as with most things just take it slowly and steadily! The only real knack involved is getting the roof lining out. There are a number of posts a while back from people who have done this (I haven't!), Pilkie is probably the most accessible expert here!

Roof vinyl is not a problem - try Woolies first. But they are very unlikely to be able to match the huntsman - Black won't be a problem. If you want to stick with the origial colour scheme a replacement roof panel is the answer. They can also suply the adhesive. Main requirement is two people and the space to do it in!

Chris
 
Thanks again chris, i'll have a look at the wollies website and weigh up the costs. Finding a good roof here in ireland mightn't be too easy. Most of the screppers i know of don't have vinyl roofs. Will have a chat with the regional organiser to see if he knows of one. It would be far more cost effective to buy new vinyl than getting a roof from the uk. I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
Dave.
 
Hi Dave.
Just a thought!!!
As you say most scrappers dont have vynil roofs!!
Hows about geting hold of a good non vynil roof,and covering that in black or huntsman??? :wink:
That way,you can keep your roof on till the last minute,and all you have to do is unbolt it and bolt the replacement on!!
As you have no sunroof,you can leave the headlining in place,and just unbolt the roof!
You will need to remove very carefully the front and rear headlining trim panels!
It will need at least 2 people,and you must clean all the old sealant off and renew it!
A good silicone builders roofing black is what I used! Use plenty of it,buy try to avoid getting it in the holes for the screws!! Tighten down a bit at a time working your way round to even out the seal!!
It should fall into place naturally,with a little jiggle to get the front and rear screen seals in place,A little WD40 and a blunt toll to ease it in will help!!
Give me a call if you need any more assistance!
Will do what I can!
Dave
 
Cheers for that, good solution. At least if i get the vinyl wrong i won't be left without a roof!! There's a car less than a mile from my house which would make the perfect donor. My car currently has a leak somewhere around the roof panel so i'd be killing 2 birds with one stone. Will be back home at the weekend so i'll checkout the condition of that roof, though as far as i remember it is perfect and has unmarked headlining. Have plenty of black windcreen sealer lying around as well (the type that stays slightly flexible). Just a word of caution regarding sealer, a friend used some type of bathroom sealer some years ago on a battered Toyota Cressida to seal the rear screen, it rotted the metal rapidly until eventually the screen fell out! I also used sealer to pack an electrical junction box years ago and it corroded the copper contacts within months and caused a failure. I'll take you up on your kind offer if i need more help.
Regards,
Dave
 
It's best to use a bituminous or Butyl based sealant for this type of work.

The normal type (acetoxy) silicones will give of acetic acid during the curing cycle, and can also give it off in smaller doses whenever it gets wet. This can cause tin worm and corrosion of copper etc. Other types of silicone including Alcoxy and Oxime cure sytems will not rot metal, but will cause disruptions in painting systems. Best to leave silicones of all types well alone when working on cars.

The windscreen sealants are based on either polyurethane (similar in sec to Tigerseal with silane additives for better bonding to glass) or Butyls. If you use a polyurethane, you will never get the roof off again.

Butyls are non setting systems and will not bond the roof on, just seal it.

Personally I will use a Butyl, like Soudals 'Butyrub'. (cos I can nick it from work 8) )
 
Cheers for the advice, will read the labels carefully from now on! I have a load of different sealers and products thrown in the workshop that i got off an ex-wurth rep. He was cleaning out his garage and had boxes and boxes of samples that the company never took back when he left!
 
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