- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
- Points
- 100
Some news first. I found a Z3 in need of some TLC and at a very good price (South African prices).
Montreal blue M52TU motor 2.8 with 100,000km on the clock. Paid around £1500 in real money.
Anyhow apart from a myriad of small items that need sorting, I reversed into a power boat which was on a boat trailer and managed to get the boat prop come in through the soft top just behind my right ear. New top required, which was on the to do list, but now became a priority.
Ordered a new roof from USA and it arrived last week.
I have done this job before, and swore "never again".... after looking around for an auto trimmer to do the swap at a reasonable price, I decided to save my self £250 and DIY - again.
First time I did this and the reason behind the "never again" attitude was because of the butyl sticky sealant that needs to be cleaned off everything at the back in the well.
Butyl is really good sealant - something like silly putty from hell in consistency - it sticks to everything though.
Last time round I tried all manner of solvents and finally found some stuff called Xylene which dissolves it quickLy. Problem is there's piles of it back there on the car body and on two other "bows" which hold the roof to the body. One bow has it on both faces, and the other on one face only. It's about 2mm thick and scraping it off is a pain. It doesn't want to come away cleanly and even with a metal scraper blade it leaves a thickish film of the stuff on the surface. It sticks to the part, the scraper and one's hands.
I decided to knuckle down and suffer.... after 10 minutes £250 was beginning to look cheaper...
I had a brain rush, went in and got my can of Q20 spray. gave the stuff a liberal squirt on a small section and went back at it.... well I was happily surprised !! the stuff had softened to the consistency of soft gummy sludge, and because the Q20 is kinda oily, it didn't stick to anything anymore once it was moved along.
What took me 2 1/2 days the first time I did a roof change clean-up, now took 30 minutes... I gave the final wipe off with the Xylene which removed all trace of the gunk and now I can get on with sticking the new butyl strips on and fitting the roof.
So guys, if you ever want to DIY a roof, Xylene and Q20 will make it a breeze for removing the old butyl sealant.
BTW. there's an excellent "How to" on google. Complete with pictures and detailed instructions on removing the old and fitting the new roof.
Link :- https://webspace.ringling.edu/~dplassma/str/str.html
Montreal blue M52TU motor 2.8 with 100,000km on the clock. Paid around £1500 in real money.
Anyhow apart from a myriad of small items that need sorting, I reversed into a power boat which was on a boat trailer and managed to get the boat prop come in through the soft top just behind my right ear. New top required, which was on the to do list, but now became a priority.
Ordered a new roof from USA and it arrived last week.
I have done this job before, and swore "never again".... after looking around for an auto trimmer to do the swap at a reasonable price, I decided to save my self £250 and DIY - again.
First time I did this and the reason behind the "never again" attitude was because of the butyl sticky sealant that needs to be cleaned off everything at the back in the well.
Butyl is really good sealant - something like silly putty from hell in consistency - it sticks to everything though.
Last time round I tried all manner of solvents and finally found some stuff called Xylene which dissolves it quickLy. Problem is there's piles of it back there on the car body and on two other "bows" which hold the roof to the body. One bow has it on both faces, and the other on one face only. It's about 2mm thick and scraping it off is a pain. It doesn't want to come away cleanly and even with a metal scraper blade it leaves a thickish film of the stuff on the surface. It sticks to the part, the scraper and one's hands.
I decided to knuckle down and suffer.... after 10 minutes £250 was beginning to look cheaper...
I had a brain rush, went in and got my can of Q20 spray. gave the stuff a liberal squirt on a small section and went back at it.... well I was happily surprised !! the stuff had softened to the consistency of soft gummy sludge, and because the Q20 is kinda oily, it didn't stick to anything anymore once it was moved along.
What took me 2 1/2 days the first time I did a roof change clean-up, now took 30 minutes... I gave the final wipe off with the Xylene which removed all trace of the gunk and now I can get on with sticking the new butyl strips on and fitting the roof.
So guys, if you ever want to DIY a roof, Xylene and Q20 will make it a breeze for removing the old butyl sealant.
BTW. there's an excellent "How to" on google. Complete with pictures and detailed instructions on removing the old and fitting the new roof.
Link :- https://webspace.ringling.edu/~dplassma/str/str.html
Last edited:
