Removing Unwanted Sunroofs - Roof Skin Replacement

Big thanks to Mark Cogan for providing this information...


I have had a few discussions lately on how to get rid of unwanted sunroofs from Escorts.

Some people weld a plate into the hole, then put lots of bog on the roof and sand back to shape.
Personally I reckon that's the hard way to do it, unless you are very good with bog it's unlikely to be perfect as the roof skin will warp when welding a plate in place, and with that much bog in it there is always a good chance it will crack later.

For me it's easier and better to change the whole roof skin, so I thought I would post a few pics to show how:

First take an Escort that has had a Large Microwave Oven Door fitted into it's roof


Then hacksaw a roof of of a scrap car



On a MK2 Escort the 2 door and 4 door roof skins are the same, we won't be using the pillars

Remove the old roof skin from the car, (pictures show how)








Then remove the unwanted pillars and inners from the replacement roof, until you are left with just the outer skin, handle carefully now as it has just become very bendy and easy to damage


Punch or drill holes for spot welds at windscreen joins, gutter joins and rear pillars, then plonk it onto the car to seee if it fits OK



Clamp and plug weld all the holes, then carefull grind back till smooth





Fill the pillar joins, you can use lead if you want it to be original, but bog works fine, you can also braze the edges of the pillar instead of welding, this is how they are done at the factory, but it's not needed.
Use seam sealer on the gutter join
Mask and prime




Then paint and refit windscreens