July 2008

Well,  I finally managed to get a decent second hand Webasto sunroof to replace the leaking one fitted in my Scimitar and all I had to do was simply fit it....  

After a very kind offer from Graham Jackson for a complete sunroof, frame and roof my good friend Barry Hollingsworth drove me to Newmarket in his campervan to collect the roof.  The Webasto had been fitted to a car that had been restored, but then was sadly written off after an accident.  Although the roof was very dusty due to storage, the sunroof and frame were as good as new!

My plan was to simply swap the complete vinyl top.

    The first job was to remove the Webasto from the roof by removing the aluminum runners.

  Once the runners have been removed the whole sunroof can be flipped backwards to you can get better access to the screws that hold in the rear plate the secures the sunroof to the car.

  Ta daaaa....  Once all the screws have been removed then the sunroof will lift out. 

My next job was to remove my old sunroof from my car

  I removed the alloy runners and flipped the Webasto over the back of the car to allow access to the back plate which secures the sunroof.

Once the Webasto top was removed it gave me a chance to further inspect the wooden framework.  On closer inspection I realised that the wood was beginning to rot in places where water had got in due to the Webasto roof not sealing properly.

I made the decision to swap the wooden framework from the spare roof.

The wooden frame is simply screwed into the fibre glass by over a 100 screws and boy did my arm ache afterwards!

  Then I flipped the roof over to get at the metal bars that secure the frame to the cut out section of the old roll bar.  I removed the 4 bolts that fit through the framework and then removed the metal bar from the old roll bar and lifted out the wooden frame.

That bit was all too easy, I just knew it would be a little more challenging to remove the framework from my car!

Once again, due to my old Webasto roof not sealing properly it let in water, which in turn started to rot and warp the wood and turn the screws rusty!

  The first few screws came out quite easy...

Then it all when pear shaped! The remainder of the screws either snapped off or the screwdriver ruined the screw head, so I had to drill quite a few out.

  I then tried to gently peel back the roof lining to get access to the metal bars that secure the framework to the old roll bar.  I didn't have much success in saving the original roof lining, it was quite brittle in places and tore very easily.

  My trusty precision tool kit.  Reliant Tool number 1 and number 2

  With the old frame out I put the two frames side by side I made sure they were the same dimensions.

The old roof lining was beyond saving, so I decided to get a local guy to fit me a new one, which meant I had to remove the windows and door seals.

Do you ever get to that point where you wish you had never started a job????

With the windows removed the car was starting to derelict  

  I decided to varnish the new wooden framework to help improve it's longevity.

  Next I fitted the metal bars back into the cut away section of the roll bar ready to secure the wooden framework.

  Once the varnish was dry, I fitted the new wooden framework and of course not many of the original screw holes lined up, so I had to drill new ones.

    Inserted 4 new bolts to secure the frame and refit alloy runners on top of roof.

  Pete the local trimmer helped me out by supplying and fitting my new roof lining at very short notice and did a wonderful job.  THANKS PETE!!!

Now for the tricky bit!  Lining up the holes to get the correct tension and screwing in the back plate.

After a few attempts at lining up the sunroof top and adjusting the tension I was able to open and shut the sunroof and maintain a decent seal.

  Next job was to refit the sun visors and interior light. (still got to get a black lining made for the Webasto rather than the brown lining it came with)

Then I fitted a wind visor

Then finally the car had to be thoroughly cleaned and polished ready for the Silverstone Classic Retro Run. 

 I would like to thank the following people for all their help and support in one way or another:

Mick Gaughran, Graham Jackson, Barry Hollingsworth, Pete the trimmer, Tony Devonport and finally my mum and dad!