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burner208
Samba Member
Joined: November 11, 2016
Posts: 223
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 Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:19 pm Post subject: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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| Ive got a 66 with a leaky sunroof. I am seariously debating about welding it shut. Yay or nay? Another idea i had was using bondo to seal the roof shut so it could be undone later if desired. |
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Keith
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 3635
Location: Brodheadsville, PA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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Steel sunroof cars are desirable, fix it the correct way by getting the proper seals or sell the car off for a hard top.
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Formerly known in the forums as "OVALTEEN"
"I firmly believe that some villagers from Botswana could probably build a better road than PennDot."- Splitty
"If you do anything to your car someone will hate on you for it. People absolutely love to complain and find fault with others. Don't let it bother you. Just live and have fun."- Lind |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7020
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:39 pm Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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| burner208 wrote: |
| Ive got a 66 with a leaky sunroof. I am seariously debating about welding it shut. Yay or nay? Another idea i had was using bondo to seal the roof shut so it could be undone later if desired. |
Both of your proposed solutions are poor choices in my opinion. I'd echo the sentiment to fix it or sell it to somebody who will.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga" |
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KTPhil 
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006
Posts: 33986
Location: Conejo Valley, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:52 pm Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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The felt seal is a wind/noise deterrent, not a water-tight seal. Your drains may be plugged. Search on this and see if you can get them free flowing, perhaps replacing the stubby plastic hoses connecting their segments in the A and C pillars. Sounds like work, but it's less than hacking it shut.
Last edited by KTPhil on Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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pondoras box
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2004
Posts: 1213
Location: Eerie PA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:32 am Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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Fix it! Do some research to determine why you are getting water into your car and find the solution. I can almost guarantee you that someone else had the same problem and would be more than happy to share the solution to the problem. most likely there is a thread already on here with the detailed fix.
Fix it properly or sell it on, or try to do a trade but don't go through more hassle to turn it into a hardtop when the fix is probably easier.
Just my 2 cents though.
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.
1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk |
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theastronaut
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2007
Posts: 1630
Location: Anderson, SC
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:05 am Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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The drains are probably clogged or undone. My '64 was missing the felt seals around the edge and it never leaked. Permanantly closing it is a bad idea.
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57BLITZ
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2012
Posts: 2385
Location: DEEK - U.S.A.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:31 am Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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| burner208 wrote: |
| Ive got a 66 with a leaky sunroof. |
Do yourself a favor . . . before attempting a repair . . . on anything . . . first learn about it so that you know what you should do to do a proper repair. The VW repair manual uses several chapters in each section to explain their design and the proper operation.
In the case of steel sliding sunroofs . . . brand new from the factory they would ALL LEAK!!!!!!! The drains prevented the water from getting inside the car.
This is the same thing that happens with your door glass, so clean the drain in the bottom of your doors instead of welding sheet metal over the window openings!
As KTPhil points out . . . the sunroof has dust/debris delfectors . . . NOT seals!
The only way to prevent water from splashing into the cars interior . . . CLEAN DRAINS!
If you do not desire an opening sunroof, fine . . . clean the drain tubes and then leave to top closed. 
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bluebus86
Banned
Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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| burner208 wrote: |
| Ive got a 66 with a leaky sunroof. I am seariously debating about welding it shut. Yay or nay? Another idea i had was using bondo to seal the roof shut so it could be undone later if desired. |
NAY to both weld and Bondo. Fix the leaky or clogged drains. you can search both this forum and the later Bug forum for how to fix, it maybe be as simple as blowing out the drain tubes The later forum covers more steel sunroof year models than this forum, so do a search of both forums to get the best advice Dont ream the drain tubing with a coat hanger wires, use something more flexible, a stiff wire can tear the tubing, then you got a bigger problem, the drain tubes must be treated delicate like.
Bug On, Nice and Dry Inside!
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burner208
Samba Member
Joined: November 11, 2016
Posts: 223
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:38 pm Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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Thruthfully id trade it for a small window bug.
I also have a issue with one cor er of the sun roof not raising in to place. I assume thats a cable problem?
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tisius
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2011
Posts: 1570
Location: Rotterdam,NL (+Chicago,IL)
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:19 am Post subject: Re: 66 sunroof weld shut? |
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Stop whining about it, it's time to fix your sunroof 
Nice car by the way 
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