Next mod on it's way...

Well we tried our very best today, but we didn't succeed.

We got the trim out of the car and had the four bolts off in about 30 minutes though. I'd been told by TC Kline that this was all that was holding the roof on, but after much heaving and pushing, it was clear the roof was stuck solid. A bit of closer inspection later revealed that the roof was indeed bonded on, or at least there was a bead of sealant running all the way around it.

We spent a good couple of hours trying to cut through it, but without the perfect tools for the job we decided to call it a day for now. I'll be booking it in with my friend who did the lacquer work on the roof - they have all the equipment necessary which would make short work of the sikoflex sealant that's holding the panel on.

On the plus side, I got to see the roof in the flesh now it's had a re-coat in lacquer and it looks stunning - far better than it did before.

A few pics....

The roof in all it's shimmering black lovelyness :)

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My mate amazed that a roof can be just bolted in! (we were yet to find out the truth!)

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Undoing the last of the bolts...

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The headlining and all the bolts off - but still no joy! :(

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It's a bit gutting we didn't get it finished as somewhere like BMW Festival would have been a great place to show it off. But it wasn't worth rushing and making a botched job of it. We'll get the right tools to cut through the sealant and take our time to do it properly another day.... Can't wait to see the finished article though :)
 
:( Shame to hear it didn't all go as planned mate.

But like you said, take your time, do a proper job and it WILL be great when it's finished.

Can't wait to see the end results :D
 
This place cracks me up....we go out and spend 50 to 60 thousand dollars on the Z4's we have and for the first month we are happy as clams just being able to drive it around.And then come the mods...starts out as a new shift knob or something like that,and before you know it It becomes habitual and we wind up pumping another 20 to 30 thousand into the car in mods....I'm right there with you...the kids can always put duck tape on the holes in their shoes (providing they have shoes in the first place)...and I'm pretty sure they can sustain life with maybe a cracker or two and a glass of water to drink a day!...And who cares about their education,all they really need to know is how to help Install the Mods we get. I wonder how many mail men have died on the job just trying to deliver all the mods we order :rofl: I think they ought to make crack legal and start sending in the troops to break up the Mod cartels :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
LOL - zee, you can't stop the mods!

Well this afternoon I was determined to get somewhere with this roof (and I hate having half-finished jobs!), so I paid a visit to a windscreen fitters to see if they had any cheese/razor wire for removing windscreen glass. My mate and I had a chat about it last night and decided this was the easiest way to cut through the silicon bead around the roof edge...

A few quid in the RAC Autoscreen man's pocket for a few beers and we had a roll of wire...

Back home, and out came the headlining and trim for a second time, and we began cutting the rest out.

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It's quite a scary job, especially when you're trying very hard not to damage anything!

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But after 30 minutes or so.. we had ourselves a Roadster! ... ok well, a Targa! :D

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It was surprisingly easy really, especially after the headache we had trying to remove it at the weekend. I've always said it makes a huge difference to have the right tools for the job, and this was certainly proved right today!

We've called it a day for now as we'll want to spend a couple of hours getting the sealant and everything spot on (don't want any leaks!). But we couldn't resist a quick trial fit... however, I'm not going to show the full car until it's finished, and all cleaned up :P




No really...





Well...



Maybe a teaser....







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Final install tomorrow!
 
Nice one!

Manes me wonder if GVfB could mod it so that it's removable for sunny days, while still looking neat up top?? How cool would that be?! :D

Cheers for the pics though, I love your car!!!
 
sp3ctre said:
Nice one!

Manes me wonder if GVfB could mod it so that it's removable for sunny days, while still looking neat up top?? How cool would that be?! :D

Cheers for the pics though, I love your car!!!
Click to expand...

We were saying that as we bolted the CF one into place...

A custom (and re-trimmed) headlining with access to a couple of latches... a male & female water seal, one on the chassis frame, and one around the roof, and a bit of tidying up generally, and you could quite easily make a targa panel....
 
mmm, maybe I'm odd but when I look at your roof I just want to stroke it (the roof I mean, before anyone says anything! ;) ).

Think I have a roof fetish!

:lol:
 
That's going to look spot on :thumbsup:
The windscreens bolted to the spar and not the roof then, that makes things a lot easier.
 
Looks awesome and I agree you should make it into a Targa :thumbsup: That'd be so much cooler than simply having a CF fixed roof.
 
Looking sexy mate!! Works well with the sun protection glass as well.

Oh and zee, your post cracked me up! :thumbsup:
 
Nice to see everyone having similar thoughts to me :D

First I thought T-bar, then I thought glass roof. If you had a glass roof with dark bits over the ugly parts around the edges, you could run it right up to the rear winsdscreen panel and it would look like a 911 targa. Bit of a pain to make it retract though, but lift out would be fine. Nowhere to stow it though :(
 
Top pup said:
That's going to look spot on :thumbsup:
The windscreens bolted to the spar and not the roof then, that makes things a lot easier.
Click to expand...

Yup. The windscreen is just sealed/bonded onto the bodywork as per the Roadster (i expect).

Another pic of the front edge with roof removed..


And yes, a Targa top would be very nice. I'm sure you could do it as well, since I would say the bonding agent was holding the roof on tighter than the bolts were (having tried to get it off!). A glass panel could be bonded on just as easily, and would definately be a very, very cool mod :D

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(Link to Hi-Res version)
 
Nice work. :thumbsup:

Were you able to weigh the old top to find out the difference between the stock and carbon?
 
Not yet, but the carbon one is 6lbs.

Just need to put the old one on the scales but I don't have any here...
 
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