Hi all, I've had this nasty chipping going around my sunroof since I bought the car. I plan on painting it a much more tolerable color in the near(?) future, and was wondering how much concern this is. It seems to be pretty thick, like maybe the roof panel is cracking? Does anyone have any idea what I should do prior to paint so that it doesn't happen again? By the way- the orange you see in the middle of the chip in the last picture was just a small though up I did on top of the chip. Thanks
[This message has been edited by grkboy707 (edited 04-15-2017).]
It's the SMC (fiberglass-but not really) chipping on you. It's due to small cracks then moisture getting into it. It has to be repaired before painting. Sand out damage with 25 grit. Fill with "Vette Panel Adhesive". Sand to smooth ending up with 400 wet, prime and paint a
The best thing to do is replace the whole panel.It sounds worse then it is.Under the panel is what you need to is.All sun roofs leak.The steel framework can get very rusty.If your headliner is stained or you have a musty smell this may be your problem.One good fix is correct the metal and put a solid top on.
spray paint is Not a good idea either. Rattle can spray paint will be incompatible with what you put on top of it. Get some body filler for SMC plastic at your local auto paint supply store, dry out the spots with a heat gun (hair dryer), and smear in the body filler to cover all the fibers. It does not have to be pretty - you can worry about that later.
I like Raydar's idea, if you can find a helper.
[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 04-18-2017).]
By "replacing the roof panel", you are talking about just the stick-on plastic panel, right? And keeping it a sunroof? It sounded like Roger was saying to remove the sunroof, which I'd definitely like to avoid at all costs
By "replacing the roof panel", you are talking about just the stick-on plastic panel, right? And keeping it a sunroof? It sounded like Roger was saying to remove the sunroof, which I'd definitely like to avoid at all costs
Seems to me he was just explaining the situation. Repairing, even if doing it yourself is a question of how much is your time worth for the same thing to occur again if not done properly. Replacing with a good roof is not that bad but you have to be careful if you are the one taking the roof off of another car. I would say replace the roof. hopefully with a sunroof in place. If you are going top paint your car now is a good time to do it. With the roof off you can do it easier and while you are at it do the headliner.
Seems to me he was just explaining the situation. Repairing, even if doing it yourself is a question of how much is your time worth for the same thing to occur again if not done properly. Replacing with a good roof is not that bad but you have to be careful if you are the one taking the roof off of another car. I would say replace the roof. hopefully with a sunroof in place. If you are going top paint your car now is a good time to do it. With the roof off you can do it easier and while you are at it do the headliner.
But again, when you guys are saying "replace the roof", do you mean just the plastic panel that sits over the fiberglass, or the fiberglass as well? I can't imagine you mean the steel and all.
But again, when you guys are saying "replace the roof", do you mean just the plastic panel that sits over the fiberglass, or the fiberglass as well? I can't imagine you mean the steel and all.
There is one glass-filled plastic roof panel sitting atop the spaceframe. This is what needs changing.
The sunroof is just an opening in the roof panel/headliner; sunroof/hardtop Fieros are otherwise identical.
So replace the roof panel with another sunroof panel if you like the sunroof, or get a hardtop roof panel and a hardtop headliner.
Before putting the new roof on the car, that's the best time to paint it!
