Britax Folding Sunroof

[MartynT]

Hi Folks, My Fulvia has a pretty worn out Britax folding fabric sunroof and I was thinking as I may be getting the Fulvia re-sprayed, I could get this sunroof removed and the aperture filled in. The alternative is I look to replace for a new one. The sunroof is a nice feature but my question is does it detract from the cars value as I don’t believe a sunroof was an original option. I appreciate this question does come down
to personal taste to a certain extent but I would welcome the views of the forum.
Cheers, Martyn.

[lancialulu]

Most folk fill them in. Surprising how much air flow is created when driving in a hot climate with the rear quarter lights open and centre vent prioritised. A few Fulvia left the showroom with Webasto sun roofs. Not sure if you could find one now. The pop ups were after market and not right for the car IMHO.

[frankxhv773t]

They are still available www.tudorwebastosunroofs.com. They are a period accessory, sometimes dealer fitted, and if you like having one it's probably less costly to replace or refurbish it.

[Wangler]

I've only ever had one car with a Webasto type folding sunroof, a 2.3 Vauxhall Firenze. I hated it and hardly ever used it. The corners of the roof metal where it was fitted in to cracked due to body flex, although admittedly the car was driven quite hard.

Having seen a Fulvia with a Webasto (or similar) roof I didn't like the look of it.

[MartynT]

Thanks for the input. I spoke to a spray shop about filling it in and the best way apparently is to replace the entire car roof rather than attempting to patch it is this can create “oil drumming” I think was the phrase that was used. If this approach is the preferred option for removing the sunroof then I guess it’s a non starter as betting gold of a Fulvia roof panel I guess would be rather challenging 😬!?

[Wangler]

I understand that good stick on acoustic pads can be effective in reducing drumming and unwanted resonance problems.

[DavidLaver]

I think the body shop means that welding in a panel is likely to cause distortion due to the welding heat.  I've been watching Richard Hammond's Workshop on TV and he tries to save money with a door bottom repair rather than a whole skin and very soon (or after a LOT of hours) understands the merits of "whole skin" rather than "welding in".

It can be done...but highly skilled and a lot of hours...

[davidwheeler]

Gas welding, yes but not MiG or TiG I think.